Four Oklahomans Named To Team USA Softball Roster

The Amateur Softball Association and USA Softball have announced their 18-player squad and the state of Oklahoma is well represented, making up nearly a quarter of the roster.

No school will have more players on the national team roster than national champion Oklahoma, which had Lauren Chamberlain, Destinee Martinez and Keilani Ricketts selected for the squad. Joining the trio of Sooners will be University of Tulsa pitcher Aimee Creger.

The National Team will take part in three competitions this summer, beginning with the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City on July 11-14.

Following the World Cup, Team USA is then slated to compete July 16-22 at the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship in Surrey, B.C., Canada and August 5-18 at an International Softball Federation (ISF) Women's World Championship/Pan American Games qualifier in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

OU's Ricketts spent each of the last two summers with the National Team, helping the squad win the 2012 World Cup of Softball and also take silver at the 2012 ISF XIII Women's World Fastpitch Championship and Canadian Open International Championship.

Chamberlain and Martinez were teammates on the 2010-11 U.S. Women's Junior National Team, winning gold medals at the III Pan American Championship. Both will be making their first appearance with the National Team.

Creger, a senior from Yukon, is the first TU student-athlete to represent the United States as a member of the USA Softball team.

The two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Ricketts was 35-1 this season with a 1.23 earned run average and 350 strikeouts in 238.1 innings pitched. She posted the second most shutouts in the nation this year with 16 and ranked third in wins (35), fifth in hits allowed per seven innings (3.61), sixth in total strikeouts (350) and eighth in both ERA (1.23) and strikeouts per seven innings (10.3).

Additionally, Ricketts hit .379 at the plate with 15 home runs and 60 runs batted in. She slugged .725, got on base at a .534 clip and was a perfect 9-9 on stolen bases.

One of three finalists for the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Chamberlain led the nation in home runs (30), home runs per game (0.49), slugging percentage (1.113) and runs per game (1.43), ranked second in on-base percentage (.613) and RBI per game (1.38), fourth in walks per game (1.03) and eighth in batting average (.458).

Chamberlain, a first-team All-American, also set Big 12 records for runs scored (87), RBI (84), total bases (187) and on-base percentage and tied the single-season home run mark that she set last season.

Martinez was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, All-Region Second Team and earned a spot on the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team along with Chamberlain and Ricketts. The outfielder hit .347 on the season with 30 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, 24 RBI and nine stolen bases.

TU's Creger is a two-time All-American, including third team in 2013, and was the 2013 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year. In 2013, she posted 25-7 record, 1.15 ERA and 286 strikeouts, allowing 38 runs, 33 earned runs and 123 hits in 200.2 innings. She set school single-season records for wins, strikeouts, complete games (26) and strikeouts per seven innings (9.98). Her ERA ranked fourth in the NCAA, 9.98 strikeouts-per-seven-inning average ranked 11th, and the 4.33 hits allowed per seven innings ranked 13th in the nation.