Sooner Softball Preview

New Season New Home Same Goal

BY: CHRIS PLANK

The Oklahoma Sooner softball team is in the midst of a historic run. During this dynastic stretch, the Sooners have won three straight and seven of the last nine National Championships. They also enter the 2024 season riding a record-setting, 53game winning streak and feature a roster that includes 10 seniors. But despite all its accomplishments, the best may still be yet to come as the Sooners open the year as preseason favorites while playing in a new stadium.

It might be hard to fathom that the Sooners could actually be “better” when you consider the overall numbers from last season. Oklahoma won its third straight National Championship last season after posting a 61-1 record, which was good for the best winning percentage (.984) in NCAA Division I history. Twenty-eight of the team’s 61 wins came via run rule, as the Sooners outscored opponents 50159. OU registered a nation-leading and school-record 35 shutouts and threw four no-hitters. Add into the equation the transfer of Jory Bahl to Nebraska and the graduation of standout shortstop Grace Lyons, it would be hard to imagine any team being better than what the Sooners were in 2023.

Despite all the accolades, the Sooners did not spend the offseason shining up awards while relaxing and counting trophies. Head coach Patty Gasso and the staff spent the offseason adding to its already talented and deep roster with one of the top recruiting and portal classes in the nation.

STAR-STUDDED LINEUP

Competition has been a cornerstone of Sooner softball in the Gasso era. Despite returning a group of position players that have started 872 games in a Sooner uniform, there is competition for several key positions in the lineup.

But there are certain areas that the Sooners feel very confident.

“Not everything is up for grabs... some of these positions are pretty locked in,” Coach Gasso said of a returning lineup that includes consistent starters at eight of nine positions. “Kinzie Hansen is going to be the lead behind the plate, but I have a very viable option in Riley Ludlam who can do a good job when we need to give Kinzie a break. Riley can also swing it well.”

Hansen returns for her final season in a Sooner uniform after winning the Johnny Bench Award as the best college softball catcher. Hansen is one of 10 Sooners playing their final season in Norman. Included in that group is one of the most electric players in college softball, center fielder Jayda Coleman.

Coleman has started every game of her career in a Sooner uniform and is a 3-time, first-team All-American. In boosting her power numbers to a career-high 17 home runs last year, Coleman was named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Tiarre Jennings returns as a fellow 3-time, first-team All-American, has been named to the College World Series All-Tournament team in each of her three seasons, and is the career record holder for career RBI in the College World Series.

Riley Boone is back in the outfield after her most productive season in a Sooner uniform which included being named to the WCWS All-Tournament team. After hitting a career-high 17 home runs and being named a first-team All-American, third baseman Alyssa Brito returns along with Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres who both became regular starters during their first season at OU. There might not be a more impressive group of returning players to one team in college softball since the early 90s for Arizona and UCLA.

Despite the amount of talent and stars that return, Gasso has challenged her players to continue to fight and grind for an opportunity.

“You might not win a position on defense, but maybe you’re a great runner - you’re going to do something to help us win,” Gasso said. “I do feel like I’m able to move people in and out and potentially empty the bench every single game. I’m looking forward to that.

“Part of it is the mindset, it’s the maturity of the team first and the mindset of saying even though I’m not the starter on day one, I’m still going to show you and I’m going to fight. I want them to prove me wrong. My goal is to keep them all pushing because they are all capable.”

It’s not just the returning production on offense that brings a ton of talent to the Sooners in their fight for four in a row. The Sooners signed one of the top recruiting classes in the country and it did not take long during Fall Ball to realize that Kasidi Pickering and Ella Parker have a chance to contribute from day one.

“I worked so hard to get Kassidy Pickering here because she has amazing leadership qualities...I don’t know if you see a leader play centerfield but, on her team, she was and she pitched,” Gasso said of the Humble, Texas product. “She’s very confident in her abilities and doesn’t listen to the noise. She is very strong and mature for her age. She will absolutely be vying for a start spot along with Ella Parker.”

One glaring piece is missing from the last five seasons in Norman. Standout shortstop Grace Lyons exhausted her eligibility after one of the most consistent and spectacular careers in Sooner history. The playmaking shortstop was awarded the gold glove last season and finished her Sooner career ranking in the top 10 of several statistical categories including home runs and runs batted in.

Lyons was the Sooner captain last season and was as smooth of a fielder as Oklahoma has ever seen at shortstop. It will be hard to replace Lyons. In fact, she is such a challenging player to replace that there will not necessarily be one player who will be challenged with doing so.

“Everybody wants to know who is going to be the next shortstop and the answer is going to be more than one person. You can be assured that Alyssa (Brito) and Tiarre (Jennings) will always be in the lineup,” Gasso said. “The beauty is Brito is so good at 3rd base, but she is good at shortstop. Tiarre is so good at 2nd but she’s good at shortstop and their experience is beyond anyone else on the team. Then you’ve got both Quincee Lilio and Avery Hodge. Avery could play second or short and be great. Q could be a very good 2nd baseman.”

Bottom line for Gasso and the lineup in 2024?

“You’re gonna see different looks in different positions,’ she said.

THE NEW LOOK PITCHING STAFF

Despite the turnover in the overall pitching staff, standout pitching coach Jenn Rocha remains. Rocha helped lead a staff that led the nation in ERA and had three pitchers on the All-Big 12 team. Under Rocha’s guidance, it will be a new-look rotation with a dose of familiarity.

While the Sooners said goodbye to Jordy Bahl and Alex Storako, the Sooner pitching staff welcomed back veteran Nicole May, along with standout youngster Kiersten Deal and the rapidly improving SJ Guerin.

To replace the exits of Storako and Bahl, the Sooners loaded up in the transfer portal including grabbing one of the best pitchers in college softball from its archrivals, adding Kelly Maxwell from Oklahoma State.

“It was weird at first,” Maxwell said about adjusting to life at OU. “But I’m feeling more comfortable and getting to know (my teammates) a lot better now.”

Maxwell joins the Sooners after a stellar career in Stillwater that included a career 1.58 ERA, 58 career wins and 746 career strikeouts.

“I wouldn’t say anything surprised me,” Maxwell said of the transition to Oklahoma. “I always knew of the program just being down the road, but I always respected how hard they worked, their blue-collar mentality and the love for the game that they played on the field, and it shows every day. That’s kind of what attracted me here.”

Maxwell joins a talented group of transfers that includes Paytn Monticelli from Wisconsin and Liberty ace Karlie Keeny. The Sooners’ impressive haul in the portal is a product of players wanting to get better and be coached by the best.

“They want to be coached by the elite Jen Rocha,” Gasso said. “I think that means a lot to them. I think from afar some of these guys, they see our culture, and it’s very intriguing to them.”

Keeney managed a 2.61 ERA and 27-12 record in 2023. Keeney dealt seven innings and allowed one run, an unearned one, on five hits in the Flames’ 1-0 loss to the Sooners on Feb. 9. She also helped Liberty eliminate No. 2 UCLA in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional with a one-run, seven-hit complete game outing on May 20. Monticelli pitched 21 games for the Badgers last season, starting 13 of them. The Cedarburg, Wisconsin, native recorded a 2.71 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 80 innings.

The meshing of the group was not immediate during the fall, but it started to come together as the fall season concluded.

“It took a while to get everyone together and gel because we have so many new faces and Karlie was out for the fall,” Gasso said of the group coming together.

“Kelly Maxwell got much better as we got through the end of the semester. Monticelli came from a tough situation in Wisconsin and is trying to find herself here and is making good strides. She’s going to help us. Add the returning of Kierston Deal, the steady force of Nicole May and SJ had a good offseason, we have six pitchers and all very viable options.

“I don’t know who our ace is... Someone is going to step forward and be that person.”

LOVES FIELD

In a lot of ways, the 2024 season is one of finality – it is the last season for 10 record-setting Sooner seniors and the final season in the Big 12 before the Sooners move to the SEC for the 2025 season.

But it is also a season that marks a new era in Sooner softball and a new beginning. When the Sooners open the 2024 home schedule, they will do so in the brand-new, state-of-the-art Loves Field.

Loves Field spans 44,000 square feet, doubling the seating capacity of Marita Hynes Field, with a 10,000-square-foot indoor practice facility.

“Every day you get reminded that you started over at Reaves Park. And now we’re going to a palace and it’s just hard to comprehend,” Gasso said of the new facility. “But it’s what has been built from the ground up and so many athletes are a part of it.

“I can’t wait to bring all of the alums back in so they can be part of it and watch these guys just shine on that.”

Even with a new stadium and the weight of incredible expectations, the focus and goal have not changed. “The Championship Mindset” will continue to guide the University of Oklahoma softball program as it chases history and does so with a foundation set in hard work and preparation.

“Confidence. Hard work. Humility. Things that I don’t know if you find in programs anymore,” Gasso said of the Sooner softball approach. “They’re searching for excellence. It’s why I coach. It’s why they love to play here. Fans are drawn to it. We won’t ever change who we are.”– SMS