OKLAHOMA CITY – The NAIA's top two softball teams collide when Oklahoma City University hosts USAO for a 5 p.m. doubleheader Friday at Ann Lacy Stadium.
No. 1-ranked USAO and second-ranked Oklahoma City have combined to capture the last three NAIA championships. USAO boasts of a 47-0 record, 34-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference, while the Stars enter the twin bill at 44-4, 26-2 in the SAC.
USAO holds the NAIA's longest winning streak ever at 54 with 8-1 and 9-0 wins over Bacone on Thursday in Muskogee, Okla. USAO's last defeat came against OCU 3-1 on May 5, 2018 for the SAC Tournament championship at Ann Lacy Stadium. OCU rang up a 52-game win streak from May 31, 2016 to April 18, 2017. The Drovers have matched OCU's NAIA-best 47-0 unbeaten start from the 2017 season.
The Drovers have secured a share of the SAC regular-season title with the wins over Bacone and could win the league title outright with a win Friday. The Stars have taken the previous four SAC regular-season crowns.
OCU's Phil McSpadden has run his career mark to 1,710-380 since notching his 1,700th career win 5-3 against Panhandle State on April 5 at Ann Lacy Stadium. OCU owns national titles won in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2016 and 2017.
USAO topped OCU 4-2 and 7-6 on March 16 in Chickasha, Okla., in an earlier matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2. The second-ranked Stars prevailed over top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett 7-2 in the NAIA Softball World Series on May 29, 2018 in Clermont, Fla. The SAC boasted of the top two teams in the NAIA ratings when No. 1 OCU knocked off No. 2 St. Gregory's 11-2 and 11-0 on April 12, 2016 at Ann Lacy Stadium. OCU opened the season at No. 1 in the ratings, but USAO has been atop the previous three polls.
Oklahoma City is home to one of the nation's top offensive lineups. The Stars top the NAIA in runs scored (515), RBIs (456), hits (579), doubles (122), at-bats (1,363), RBIs a game (9.50), hits per game (12.06) and doubles a contest (2.54).
Jaci Smith has been one of the most prolific softball players in the country. Smith, a senior catcher from Godley, Texas, leads the NAIA with 24 home runs, 102 RBIs, 22 doubles, 97 runs scored, 183 total bases, 0.50 homers per game, 2.13 RBIs per game and 3.81 total bases a game. Smith hits .541 and has stolen 33 bases. She has shattered OCU's single-season record for RBIs, topping Kali Pugh's 86 RBIs from 2017. Her 1.166 slugging percentage is threatening Tracey Mosley's OCU season-best 1.072 slugging percentage from 1993.
Kylie Dodson, a freshman from Mustang, Okla., and Jaden Shores, a junior from Newcastle, Okla., pace the Stars with 22 victories each.
The defending national champion Drovers rank second among the NAIA in runs scored (370), runs batted in (323), hits (476), batters struck out (329), opponents' batting average (.173) and RBIs a contest (7.18) entering Thursday's games.
USAO's Emily Cerny leads the NAIA with a 0.34 earned run average while sporting a 20-0 record and 217 strikeouts in 123.2 innings pitched. Kristen Prieto rates second nationally with 58 RBIs and seventh in home runs (12) while hitting .475.