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OU Softball: Oklahoma LHP Kelly Maxwell Lands National Pitching Accolades

The Oklahoma State transfer continued her torrid start to the 2024 season with two dominant starts last week against Tarleton State and Texas Tech.
John E. Hoover|
OU Softball: Oklahoma LHP Kelly Maxwell Lands National Pitching Accolades
OU Softball: Oklahoma LHP Kelly Maxwell Lands National Pitching Accolades

Oklahoma pitcher Kelly Maxwell is settling in nicely on the other side of Bedlam.

The Sooners’ ace left hander certainly lived up to her decorated predecessors in Norman this week when she was named National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Week. Maxwell also earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors.

In two starts last week against Tarleton State and Texas Tech, Maxwell threw 11 scoreless innings, including the fifth no-hitter of her career against Tarleton. She struck out 17 across both games, including 10 in six innings at Tech. Maxwell also allowed just four walks.

It’s her eighth weekly Big 12 honor, and her second in Norman after six pitcher of the week accolades previously in her career.

Maxwell allowed just six baserunners in her two outings, holding opponents to just 2-for-36 batting (.056) and a meager .226 OPS.

In 14 appearances this season (eight starts), Maxwell is 8-0 so far with a 1.31 earned run average, second on the team behind Kierston Deal’s 1.25. Maxwell also leads the Sooners with 56 strikeouts, ranking just ahead of Nicole May’s 49. She’s holding opposing hitters to a .164 batting average, which ranks third on the OU staff.

No. 1-ranked OU is 27-1 this season and hosts four games this week: Wednesday at Love’s Field against UT-Arlington, and a three-game Big 12 series against Baylor: Friday at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City and Saturday and Sunday at Love’s Field.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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