ALLEN, Texas – Oklahoma City University's 2022 softball team features several decorated returnees.

Oklahoma City brought back six all-Sooner Athletic Conference performers from last year's squad that went 44-6, took the SAC regular-season championship by four games and reached the NAIA Championship Opening Round. The Stars have taken five of the last six league regular-season titles and reached the last four SAC Tournament championship games.

Three-time all-American Kennedy Jackson spearheads the Stars as one of the nation's foremost leadoff hitters. She stands nine stolen bases shy of the OCU career record of 167 set by Cathy Hayes from 1988-91.

Phil McSpadden directs Oklahoma City in his 35th year as head coach. McSpadden has led OCU to 10 national championships captured in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2016 and 2017 as well as six national runner-up showings, most recently in 2019. McSpadden has become a legend in the sport by accumulating the most victories vs. four-year competition of any college softball coach. 

OCU opens the season in the Southern Collegiate Sports Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Allen, Texas. The Stars meet sixth-ranked Columbia (Mo.) at 10 a.m. Friday at the Allen Sports Complex in a clash of teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.
 
TOP RETURNERS
 
• Jackson collected first-team NAIA all-American, SAC player of the year and NFCA all-NAIA Region III honors while leading the conference in batting average (.444), on-base percentage (.527), hits (71) and runs scored (51) while swiping 40 bases last year. She has nabbed four first-team all-conference nods, three all-region accolades and the 2019 NFCA golden shoe award while posting a .449 average, .508 on-base percentage, 255 runs scored, 305 hits, 21 doubles, eight triples and 93 RBIs in her career for the Stars
• Shelbey Cornelson landed second-team all-conference as well as SAC and NAIA pitcher of the week honors in 2021. Cornelson, a junior from Tuttle, Okla., produced two no-hitters with a perfect game against Southwestern Christian on March 26. She racked up a 13-2 record, 1.41 earned run average, 12 complete games, seven shutouts and 135 strikeouts in 119 innings pitched
• Nicole Robinson, a senior from Rochester, Ill., made the all-SAC second team after hitting .326 with two home runs, 18 RBIs and 21 steals
• Kaitlyn Jones, a junior from Edmond, Okla., snagged her second all-conference acclaim while accruing a .372 average, nine doubles, one homer, 26 RBIs and nine steals
• Brooklyn Mason, a senior from Lone Grove, Okla., turned in a .410 average, one double, 15 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. She became a second-team all-SAC honoree
• Mallory McCoy, a junior from Mustang, Okla., reeled in her second SAC gold glove award. McCoy helped OCU turn three double plays while posting a .945 fielding percentage, .257 average, eight doubles, one homer, 23 RBIs and eight steals
 
NEW FACES
 
• Tiffany Paul became an Oklahoma Fastpitch Coaches Association all-stater and Big 10 Conference player of the year during her prep career at Choctaw, Okla. Paul spent a redshirt season at OCU last year
• Carlee Mollet led Ripley (Okla.) to its first state championship in softball as a senior. Mollet posted a .432 batting average with seven doubles, six triples and five home runs in 2020 as well as a .607 average in the state tournament in her high school career
 
PRESEASON BUZZ
 
• OCU stood at No. 4 in the preseason NAIA top 25, garnering 421 points. The Stars have appeared in the NAIA rankings for 186 polls in a row and the past 54 polls in the top 10 dating to the May 6, 2014 top 25
• The Stars nabbed second place in the preseason SAC coaches poll, taking four No. 1 votes. Science & Arts became the preseason favorite by one point 61-60
 
MEET THE COACH
 
• McSpadden has built the nation's finest small-college soft­ball program and most storied program in the NAIA at Okla­homa City, capturing 10 national cham­pionships, the most in NAIA history, while becoming college softball's leader in wins against four-year schools
• McSpadden has directed OCU to 1,789 victories in 34 years. McSpadden recorded his 1,700th victory 5-3 on April 5, 2019 against Panhandle State in Oklahoma City. OCU gave McSpadden his 1,457th and 1,458th career wins on April 10, 2015 at Ann Lacy Stadium to surpass NCAA victory leader Margie Wright
• Among many accolades, McSpadden owns membership in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame, NAIA Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the OCU Athletics Hall of Fame
• In 34 seasons as OCU coach, McSpadden has reached the 40-win plateau 32 times, the 50-win mark 22 times, and he has led the Stars to seven 60-win campaigns. He has an overall record of 1,789-393 (.820 winning percentage). McSpadden stands 69 wins shy of Mike Candrea's win total of 1,858, 1,674 of which he took in 36 years with Arizona and the other 185 on the junior-college level at Central Arizona
 
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
 
• The Stars take part in the Red Dirt Classic hosted by Langston on March 4-5 at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. OCU used Hall of Fame Stadium as its home facility from 1993-2007 until Ann Lacy Stadium was constructed. Hall of Fame Stadium remains the home of the NCAA Women's College World Series through 2035
• Oklahoma City collides with Science & Arts, ranked third nationally in the preseason, in doubleheaders at Ann Lacy Stadium on March 1 and in Chickasha, Okla., on April 26
• The SAC Tournament title will be decided May 5-7 at both Ann Lacy Stadium and Science & Arts. The tournament will be double elimination for the first time since 2013