OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City hosts its season opener with a National Championship rematch on Thursday before heading to Shawnee for the NAIA Softball Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Stars meet top-ranked Southern Oregon at Ann Lacy Stadium for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday. OCU's games in Shawnee are against Baker at noon on Friday, Friends at 4 p.m. on Friday, No. 25 Evangel at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and Benedictine at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
 
OCU Notebook
Perfect Start: The Stars opened the season with four wins in as many games in Mesquite, Texas. The Stars downed Bethel, British Columbia, Friends and Concordia by a combined score of 31-5.
 
Honors: Brynlee Alsip earned Sooner Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for her efforts in the tournament in Mesquite. She was 2-0 with a perfect earned run average and eight strikeouts in 10 innings of work.
 
No. 1 vs. No. 2: The Southern Oregon doubleheader pits top-ranked Southern Oregon against second-ranked Oklahoma City in a rematch of last year's national championship. The Raiders beat the Stars twice, 6-0 and 6-3. The teams have met nine times in the NAIA Tournament with SOU owning a 6-3 advantage.
 
2000: The win over British Columbia was the 2000^th for Coach Phil McSpadden at OCU. He is the all-time winningest college softball head coach at any level.
 
Hitting: The Stars are batting .352 heading into the week, led by freshman Hadley Gibson at .583 and Kindalyn Miller at .500. Reigning NAIA Player of the Year Analise Rayburn leads the Stars with two home runs and 10 RBIs.
 
On the Bases: The Stars come into this week with 17 stolen bases in as many attempts. Iliana Ashford and Hadley Gibson have three each.
 
In the Circle: OCU heads into this week with three consecutive shutouts and a team earned run average of 1.40. Brynlee Alsip and Kindalyn Miller have matching 2-0 record with no earned runs allowed.
 
About the Raiders: Southern Oregon is off to an 8-2 start after a doubleheader sweep at Jessup last week. Vanessa Thomas (.405), Vanessa Lang (.405) and Elysia Duarte (.400) lead the team in hitting. Duarte has two home runs and Cici Kim has driven in 12 runs. NAIA Pitcher of the Year Ayla Davies is 4-1 with a 1.47 earned run average. As a team, the Raider are hitting .313 with a 1.42 ERA.
 
About Baker: Baker is 0-3 after dropping three contests at the Avila Tournament last weekend. Ava Greiner is hitting .444 but the Wildcats are batting .167 as a team. Baker enters the week with a 2.21 ERA.
 
About Friends: The Stars scored a 5-0 win over Friends in Texas and the Falcons are now 2-2 with four games this week prior to the trip to Shawnee. Tamara Lazoya is batting. 538. The Falcons are hitting .267 with a 2.07 team ERA.
 
About Evangel: Evangel is 6-0 after getting two wins the KC NAIA Softball Invite over Columbia College and Doane. Naomi Perkins is batting .625 to lead the Valor, who have a team batting average of .353. Maddy Meirer is 2-0 with a perfect ERA for the pitching staff.
 
About Benedictine: The Ravens are 4-2 and on a three-game winning streak after taking a doubleheader from Concordia. Reagan Enright is batting .615 with a home run and four RBIs to lead Benedictine. BC comes into the tournament with a 3.00 team earned run average.