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Oklahoma 1B Cydney Sanders Named National NFCA Player of the Week

The Sooners' hard-hitting junior batted .714 for the week with five extra base hits, four home runs and nine RBIs as OU started a new winning streak.

John E. Hoover

By OU Media Relations

Oklahoma Softball first baseman Cydney Sanders has been named both NFCA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week following an incredible week at the plate, announced by the organization and conference Tuesday.

Sanders reached base in 10 of her 12 plate appearances over Oklahoma’s four games, smashing five extra-base hits and drawing five walks while batting .714 (5-for-7). She belted four home runs and slashed .714/.833/2.571 for a 3.404 OPS. The junior drove in a Sooner-leading nine runs and scored six times, anchoring a lineup that produced 38 runs across four games.

Cydney Sanders 1
BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

During the month of March so far (9 games), Sanders is slashing .600/.750/1.933 for a 2.683 OPS with six home runs, two doubles, a 1:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a whopping 15 runs batted in.

OU’s first baseman enters the second week of Big 12 play leading the NCAA in OPS (1.630) and ranks third in slugging percentage (1.051). She also leads the Big 12 in both categories while ranking second in home runs (8), fourth in on-base percentage (.579) and seventh in walks drawn (15).

Sanders is slashing .385/.579/1.051 for a team-leading 1.630 OPS this season with eight home runs, two doubles and 20 RBIs. She has drawn walks in a career-high 26.3 percent of her trips to the plate and has produced a stunning .641 weighted on-base average (wOBA).

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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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