ALLEN, Texas – Top-ranked defending national champion Oklahoma City University returns to action in the Southern Collegiate Invitational at Allen Station Sports Complex.
Oklahoma City coach Phil McSpadden could add another monumental milestone to his already decorated career. With 16 wins, OCU would make McSpadden college softball's all-time winningest coach.
McSpadden directs his squad in his 36th year as head coach. McSpadden has led OCU to 11 national titles: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2016, 2017 and 2022 as well as six runner-up showings. McSpadden has made himself a legend in the sport of softball, not just at the NAIA level. He has accumulated the most victories vs. four-year competition of any college softball coach with a record of 1,843-399 in 35 years. Mike Candrea piled up 1,859 wins during his stellar career at Arizona and Central Arizona.
Oklahoma City, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA, returns all-Americans Shelbey Cornelson, Lexi Duff and Brooklyn Mason. OCU captured the national crown with a 3-0 triumph June 1 over Mobile (Ala.) in Columbus, Ga., led by NFCA NAIA player of the year Kennedy Jackson, finishing 54-6. The Stars have taken six of the last seven Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season titles and reached the last five SAC Tournament championship games.
OCU opens the season in the Southern Collegiate Sports Invitational with games on Friday and Saturday. The Stars will face off against Baker (Kan.) at 10 a.m. Friday.
TOP RETURNERS
• Cornelson became the NAIA Softball World Series most valuable player and a consensus all-American last year. Cornelson, a senior exercise science major from Tuttle, Okla., claimed a 37-3 record in 2022 with 317 strikeouts compared to 162 hits allowed. She had 11 shutouts and 32 complete games with an earned run average of 1.48 to end the season. She led the NAIA in wins, games started, complete games, appearances, and ranked second in innings pitched. She was third in strikeouts and fifth in shutouts
• Duff boasts solid hitting and pitching stats from last year in her fourth year at OCU. Duff, a senior biomedical sciences major from Lone Grove, Okla., had a record of 17-3 in 28 appearances, an ERA of 1.84 with five complete-game shutouts and 65 strikeouts in 122 innings pitched. She had 53 hits, six home runs, 13 doubles, attributed 50 RBIs, in 154 at bats for an average of .344. She was named to the first team NFCA all-American team, first-team all-SAC and NFCA all-NAIA Region III honors
• Mason returns for her fourth year as a member of the Stars. During the 2022 season, Mason, a senior nursing major from Lone Grove, Okla., claimed career bests in all major stats with a batting average of .448, 43 RBIs, 81 hits and slugged .608 in 181 at-bats
• Kaitlyn Jones returns for her fourth year as a Star. Jones, a senior biomedical sciences major from Edmond, Okla., hit two homers, 12 doubles, one triple, had 32 RBIs and averaged .325 in 191 at bats in the Stars 2022 championship season. Jones, started in all 60 games
• Amy Crabaugh, Tiffany Paul and Rally Radacy took second-team all-conference, while Mallory McCoy was a conference gold glover. Paul, a sophomore from Choctaw, Okla., studying mathematics, returns after leading the SAC in RBIs with 67, fourth in runs with 56, fifth in hits with 74 and sixth in doubles with 16
NEW FACES
• Kamryn Garvie turned in a .441 average with 15 homers and 54 RBIs last season at Seminole State. Garvie, a junior university studies major from Edmond, Okla., led Seminole State to the NJCAA World Series
• Brynlee Alsip, a freshman from Edmond, Okla., took all-conference honors for Deer Creek
• Analise Rayburn, a freshman business administration major from Yukon, Okla., made the Oklahoma Fast Pitch Coaches Association all-state team as a senior
PRESEASON BUZZ
• OCU stands atop the NAIA top 25 coming off of their 11th NAIA Softball National Title. The Stars earned all 18 first-place votes. OCU tallied 498 points
• Stars took the top spot in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with all eight first-places vote and 64 points
MEET THE COACH
• Phil McSpadden has built one of the nation's best softball programs here at Oklahoma City. In his 35 years at OCU, he has captured 11 national championships, the most in NAIA history, while becoming college softball's leader in wins against four-year schools.
• He has guided OCU to 1,843 victories in 35 years. He recorded his 1,800th win Feb. 19, 2022 in Chickasha, Okla., against McPherson (Kan.) 9-0
• 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
• Oklahoma City has reached the 40-win plateau 33 times, the 50-win threshold 23 times and 60 wins seven times under McSpadden
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
• Oklahoma City returns to Hall of Fame Stadium for the Hosea Bell Red Dirt Classic on March 3-4
• OCU opens its home schedule against Missouri Baptist at 4 p.m. Feb. 17 at Ann Lacy Stadium
• The Stars play Langston in a 2 p.m. twin bill Feb. 28 in Langston, Okla., to begin league play
• The SAC Tournament takes place May 4-6 at both Ann Lacy Stadium and in Chickasha, Okla.
