Sooners, Kent St. to meet

They'll join YSU and Michigan in the Ann Arbor regional Friday.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
KENT -- Kent State is returning to the NCAA Division I softball tournament this year, their first trip to the tournament since 1990.
The Golden Flashes (32-22) won the Mid-American Conference tournament crown last weekend with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Western Michigan for its first conference title.
The Flashes will meet Oklahoma in Friday's first round game in the Ann Arbor regional, hosted by the University of Michigan.
The Flashes and Sooners (38-19-1) will meet in the regional opener at 4:30 p.m. while the Wolverines (40-13), the No. 1 seed at the regional and No. 9 seed in the tournament, will play host to Youngstown State in the second game at 7 p.m.
Saturday the two winners and two losers will meet. The tournament concludes Sunday.
Linder coaches Flashes
Karen Linder is in her ninth season as coach of the Flashes with a 193-182 record. She also coached 11 seasons at Ashland College.
This season the Flashes broke the school record for runs scored with 242.
Junior Brittany Robinson leads the Flashes, posting a school record 30 wins this season against 11 losses. She also broke the school mark for strikeouts with 413. She holds an ERA of 1.12 in 268 innings and walked just 74 batters.
She's not too bad at the plate also as she leads the team with 16 home runs and 51 RBIs.
Jessica Toocheck has the team's top average of .319 with eight homers while Whitney LeBowitz is hitting .294 with 10 doubles and 30 RBIs. Jamie Fitzpatrick has hit 11 homers and drove in 36 runs while Kim Hamilton has 10 homers.
The Flashes, who reached the Women's College World Series in 1990, are 0-3 against the Sooners all-time.
Sooners ranked 20th
Oklahoma was ranked 20th in the country this season and is making its 13th straight appearance in the NCAA event. The Sooners were national champions in 2000, have won six straight regional championships and have been to the Women's College World Series five times.
Patty Gasso is the Sooners' coach and is in her 12th season. She has won three Big 12 regular season titles and two conference tournament championships.
Led Big 12 in hitting
The Sooners led the Big 12 in batting with a .314 team average. Junior Norrelle Dickson led the Big 12 individually with a .448 average in 58 games.
Senior Kristin Vasely was second in the league with a .439 average with 16 doubles and freshman Samantha Ricketts batted .368 with 49 RBIs.
Freshman D.J. Mathis was the Sooner's top pitcher with a 14-7 record and a 2.29 ERA, while senior Nicole Denes posted a 12-5 record with a 3.20 ERA.
mollica@vindy.com