Oklahoma has certainly enjoyed its extended early home stand.

The Sooners have been back in Norman since Feb. 25, when they traveled for the Mary Nutter Classic in California. Since then, the Sooners have played 11-consecutive games at their new stadium, Love's Field.

But now, the top-ranked Sooners (23-1, 3-0 Big 12) head out for a three-game conference series at Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders (21-5, 2-1 Big 12) have boasted one of the best offenses in the country, ranking 13th nationally in runs per game (7.31). They've scored eight runs or more runs in their last eight games, which helped them beat BYU twice last weekend to secure a series win to open conference play."

"Texas Tech is tough," OU coach Patty Gasso said. "They’ve got a very nice record. They swing. And it’s a tough place to play. So it’s usually windy or dusty or things like that. It’s tough to play there. And they’ve got a good fanbase. They’ve got a very good coach. They’re very confident. And they’ve been swinging well, scoring lots of runs. So it’s definitely one of the tougher places to play, maybe not exactly because of the fans but more because of the environment and the wind and the temps. And I think we’re walking into some of that this weekend.

"We have to be tough. We have to be tough athletes this weekend."

Here's the things to watch in Lubbock this weekend:

Game 1: 6:30 p.m. Friday (ESPN+)

Game 2: 6 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 3: 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

The Sooners largely rotated their pitching staff pretty evenly in the first few tournaments of the season. But the last few days, particularly last weekend's conference opener against Iowa State, gave some insight into how the Sooners may handle their pitchers moving forward.

Kelly Maxwell started game one of the series and pitched all seven innings. Nicole May started game two and pitched four innings before being relieved by Karlie Keeney in the fifth inning. Kierston Deal started game three and pitched three innings before Paytn Monticelli closed it out.

On Tuesday in the doubleheader against Tarleton State, it was Maxwell and May getting the starting nods.

After a couple of tough outings in the OU Tournament earlier this month, Maxwell has strung together some really impressive outings. In her last 12 innings pitched, she's surrendered just four hits and zero runs — she pitched the Sooners' first no-hitter of the season on Tuesday — while striking out 15 batters. She's pitched 42 innings this season, seven more than any other Sooner. She's cemented herself as the top pitcher on the staff.

Nicole May (35.0 IP, 1.60 ERA, .189 BA) has been a slight step behind her production from last season, but she's still been solid and has established herself as the No. 2 option. The question then lies in that No. 3 spot.

Keeney is third on the team in innings pitched (28) and has put up impressive stats, but it appears Deal has been inching towards being in the top three. In her last 10 innings, she's given up just five hits, no runs and struck out 11 batters, as she's bounced back from a tough start to the year. She's started six games, which is just behind Maxwell for second on the team, and her ERA of .85 puts her in elite company.

The Sooners will likely continue to experiment with the rotation. But assuming Maxwell and May each start a game, it'll be interesting to see how the playing time is split among the other three and SJ Geurin.

There's nobody on Oklahoma's roster who's hitting the ball better than Sanders right now.

In the month of March — the Sooners have played 11 games — Sanders has logged 10 runs, 11 hits, 22 RBIs while recording a batting average of .578. But most impressively, she's smacked eight home runs.

On the season, Sanders leads the Sooners in home runs (10), RBIs (27), slugging percentage (1.140) and walks (15), and she's tied with Ella Parker for the team lead in on-base percentage (.565).

If Sanders continues to hit the ball like this, it adds a completely different dimension for the Sooners. Her hot streak could continue against a Texas Tech defense that ranks 98th nationally in ERA (3.04).