Oklahoma

• Oklahoma’s current winning streak is 30 games. The four-time defending national champions carried over a win against Florida and two victories over Texas in winning last season’s Women’s College World Series.

• The Sooners rank first in the SEC in slugging percentage (.664), second in on-base percentage (.480) and home runs (54), third in runs scored (236), fourth in opponents’ batting average (.191) and fifth in earned-run average (1.94) and stolen bases (45).

• Sooner freshman shortstop Gabbie Garcia has a 13-game hitting streak and has hit seven home runs in her last 11 games. She leads the team with nine home runs.

• OU is 10-0 in away games this season and 68-6 away from home over the last five seasons.

Missouri

• The only major offensive category in which Missouri ranks in the top five in the SEC is plate appearances. Notably, the Tigers rank 15th out of 16 SEC teams in batting average (.293) and on-base percentage (.391).
• • Senior catcher Julie Crenshaw is Missouri’s leading hitter with a .374 batting average. Sophomore infielder Madison Walker brings the power with a team-best 12 home runs, tied for eighth-best nationally, and 33 runs batted in. Walker is riding an eight-game hitting streak.
  • The Tigers are a perfect 6-0 at home this season.
  • Missouri last played a No. 1 team in 2015, hosting the top-ranked Florida Gators. Mizzou lost the first two games in the series by a combined four runs but avoided the sweep with a 3-2 win in the series finale.

The Sooners will play Mizzou this weekend.

For the third straight weekend, the top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma puts its perfect record on the line in the softball mine field that is the SEC, heading to Columbia, Missouri, to take on an old foe.

The top-ranked Sooners (27-0, 6-0) and Missouri Tigers (17-13, 0-3) begin a three-game series on Friday at 2,600-seat Mizzou Softball Stadium. Oklahoma holds a 55-41 record all-time against the Tigers and is 19-10 in games played at Mizzou.

Although Oklahoma and Missouri used to play several times every season as members of the Big Eight and Big 12, the two teams have met just four times since Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC after the 2012 season. The Sooners last played in Columbia in 2011, when they lost back-to-back one-run games.

Oklahoma is coming off of back-to-back series sweeps over No. 10 South Carolina and No. 15 Arkansas, and earlier this week won 8-0 over East Texas A&M behind a combined no-hitter thrown by Isabella Smith, Kiersten Deal and Paytn Monticelli.

This is only Missouri’s second SEC series in 2025. The Tigers were swept at No. 23 Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, but have won six times since then, including a 5-3 home win on Tuesday against bordering-state rival Illinois.

The series opener on Friday will start at 5 p.m. CT, the start time on Saturday is 2 p.m. and noon on Sunday. All three games will be on SEC Network+.

NORMAN — Lauren Chamberlain, third all-time on the NCAA’s career home run list, sat perched behind OU softball’s dugout in her seat inside Love’s Field.

The former Sooners legend surveyed Tiare Jennings, fourth on the list, strolling to the plate as she entered the batter’s box. Two pitches later when Jennings returned to Chamberlain’s eyeline, the latter wasn’t alone in third.

Jennings blasted a 1-0 offering over the centerfield wall and into the batter’s eye for her 95th career homer, tying her with Chamberlain for third in NCAA history and second in program history. Jennings cemented herself further in OU postseason lore, recording her 18th career home run in the NCAA Tournament.

“She’s awesome,” Chamberlain told The Oklahoman during the game. “One of my favorite people. I’ve always been a fan of her and it’s awesome to see her now, closing out her chapter with the Sooners and doing it on top and just showing how powerful she is.”

Jennings’ solo shot gave No. 2 OU its first lead and contributed to its 11-3 win over No. 15 Florida State in Game 1 of the NCAA Norman Super Regional. Jennings is hitting .428 with three home runs and six RBIs in four games during this year’s postseason.

When asked about the hit that tied Chamberlain, Sooners coach Patty Gasso, catcher Kinzie Hansen and Jennings herself were stunned.

“I never would have thought,” Jennings said. “I honestly didn’t really know that was a thing. But records are meant to be broken, so it’s definitely a huge honor. Just shows the power of the Sooners and their home run power, but it’s just super cool.”

This season has been a trying one for Jennings. Gasso has mentioned she’s pressed herself at times to perform this season, leading to some slumps.

Jennings’ numbers have dipped a bit from a season ago and opposing pitchers are attacking her differently than in past years. She sees more pitches out of the zone and has had to adjust her approach at times.

Jennings is hitting .373 this season, a career-low. Her career batting average entering 2024 stood at .427.

Alumnae such as Chamberlain and Sydney Romero — ninth on OU’s career home run list — have been there for Jennings this season when she has sought their guidance. Jennings has handled juggling expectations to win her fourth consecutive national title, anxieties about her future and her role as one of the Sooners’ captains alongside Hansen like a professional.

“You can see her growth and the “C” on her chest,” Chamberlain said. “She’s a captain and she takes pride in it and that’s what you want as a former Sooner. To see the current Sooners carrying the torch and she’s doing a great job.”

Chamberlain wasn’t surprised in the slightest as she watched Jennings round the bases. This is who Jennings is and has been her entire career — one of the most dangerous hitters in the country.

“She’s just hitting good pitches, she doesn’t chase,” Chamberlain said. “I know, especially in the postseason, the pitching gets better. But that’s when she starts to elevate her stuff and it’s awesome to see her progress and trust herself in the postseason. She’s somebody that the Sooners can always depend on.”

Following Jennings’ surprise reaction to the news, Chamberlain made her way near OU’s locker room to congratulate her and pose for a photo.

“Honestly, every time I see her it’s a hug and she’s so warm,” Chamberlain said. “So there’s still such a good relationship between the alumni and our players and (Gasso) continues to (encourage it).”

The Sooners’ winning streak ended with a loss to Missouri.

The streak is over.

After 31 straight wins, the Oklahoma Sooners finally lost a softball game. The Sooners had started the season 28-0, plus three wins that carried over from last year after winning their fourth national title in a row.

The Sooners had been the last undefeated team still standing in Division-I softball this season for two weeks.

In what seemed like an impossible feat, it was the lackluster Missouri Tigers who beat OU 3-1 on Saturday in Columbia, Missouri. The Sooners run-ruled Mizzou 8-0 the night before to start the weekend series. Now, OU will have a rubber game for the first time this season.

As Missouri tallied its first conference win after starting SEC play 0-4, the Sooners suffered their first loss ever in SEC play after beginning 7-0 with sweeps over South Carolina and Arkansas.

The Sooners could never get their bats going, though. OU didn’t even score until Nelly McEnroe-Marinas hit a home run over left field in the seventh inning.

The Tigers put up two quick in the first inning, then added another in the fourth.

Of the teams ahead for the Sooners, Missouri seemed like the least likely to scrap together a win against them. The Tigers were the only SEC opponent on OU’s schedule that’s not ranked with a now 18-14 record.

The Sooners will now have to bounce back after a loss for the first time since last year’s Women’s College World Series. However, that obviously didn’t rattle Patty Gasso & Co. much since they recovered with 31 straight wins afterward.

OU and Mizzou will play Game 3 at noon CT Sunday.

NORMAN  — Oklahoma Softball was honored with two Southeastern Conference (SEC) weekly awards March 18 as freshman infielder Gabbie Garcia was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and right-handed pitcher Sam Landry was tabbed SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week as announced by the conference.

Garcia has earned SEC weekly honors in consecutive weeks after taking home SEC Freshman of the Week recognition March 11. Landry has now earned two SEC Pitcher of the Week awards this season, first doing so after throwing a perfect game at Baylor in February.

All told the Sooners have taken home six SEC weekly awards this season, with sophomore Ella Parker nabbing the first two SEC Player of the Week awards issued in 2025.

Garcia hit .538 last week, homering three times while driving in eight runs and scoring another six. The Chandler, Ariz., slugged 1.308 and reached base at a .625 clip across OU’s 4-0 week that included a sweep at No. 15/12 Arkansas.

For the season Garcia is hitting .379 with 23 runs, four doubles, nine home runs, 22 RBIs, nine walks and an .848 slugging percentage. She is currently riding a team-best 12-game hitting streak during which she also hit a home run in five straight games. Her streak of one homer in five consecutive games marked the first time an OU freshman completed that feat since Jocelyn Alo did so in 2018.

Landry appeared in all four of OU’s wins last week, going 2-0 with two saves, 15 strikeouts and a 0.47 earned run average. The righty spun a complete game shutout in OU’s series-opening 7-0 win at No. 15/12 Arkansas. She followed that up with saves in game two and three, bringing her to a 7-0 record and three saves for the season.

The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native ranks second in NCAA Division I in wins among active pitchers with 70, second only to teammate Isabella Smith (77 wins).

OU hosts East Texas A&M tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and a radio broadcast will be available on the Franchise 2 (1560 AM and 103.3FM).  Live stats will be available via Statbroadcast.com.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Gabbie Garcia homered twice, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas launched a three-run home run and Sam Landry continued her dominance in the circle to close the game as No. 1/1 Oklahoma (26-0, 6-0 SEC) overcame a 3-0 deficit to complete the sweep against No. 15/12 Arkansas (20-6, 1-5 SEC) Sunday, March 16.

Oklahoma put up six runs in the second inning en route to a 10-7 victory, OU’s third double-digit scoring performance in six Southeastern Conference games.

Arkansas took the lead first for the second time this weekend, using a three-run home run from Courtney Day in the first inning.

The Sooner bats responded immediately, beginning with a Garcia solo home run to right field on the second pitch she saw in the second inning. Ailana Agbayani walked and Hannah Coor doubled her home, cutting the deficit to 3-2. After Abigale Dayton worked a free pass, McEnroe-Marinas belted a 3-2 pitch to the berm in left for a 5-3 OU lead. The advantage became 6-3 after Garcia plated Ella Parker following her four-pitch walk.

Arkansas got within one in the bottom of the third after Bri Ellis hit a two-run homer to center.

Once again, Garcia answered for the Sooners, scoring Kasidi Pickering with a two-run homer to right center in the top of the fourth to bring OU’s lead to 8-5.

Oklahoma came up with more helpful insurance in the fifth inning. After Dayton walked, McEnroe-Marinas doubled to right center and later scored on a Parker single up the middle.

Ellis hooked a two-run homer to left, cutting OU’s lead to 10-7 in the fifth, but Landry worked 2.1 scoreless innings to seal the sweep.

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso was named USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) head coach, USA Softball announced Monday. Gasso was selected by the USA Softball Selection Review panel and will lead the U.S. Olympic Team through the 2025-28 quadrennial cycle, which includes the LA28 Olympic Games.

“It is truly a remarkable moment in my career and a dream come true to be asked to coach Team USA,” said Gasso, who becomes the seventh female head coach of the WNT. “This is the highest honor I could ever receive, and I’m humbled by and thankful for the confidence USA Softball has in me. I have an intense passion to make Team USA the best it can be to help win the gold medal in 2028.”

Over the last four years, few players in college softball electrified liked Jayda Coleman.

The Sooners’ centerfielder was a human highlight reel in the outfield and became arguably the best leadoff hitter in the game. She was the spark for Oklahoma’s four-straight national titles.

Coleman played in 249 games for the Oklahoma Sooners, starting all but one of those games in her illustrious career. During one of the all-time great careers, she hit .414 with 47 home runs and 185 RBIs. She was an on-base machine, recording a .545 on-base percentage for her career.

It was a career that provided a number of memorable moments from home run robberies in finals against Texas and Florida State to the walk-off home run against the Florida Gators in Oklahoma’s elimination game in the Women’s College World Series Semifinals.

“I think she’s an absolute elite athlete and if you just knew her, she’s full of energy and that’s really how she lives every day,” Patty Gasso said after Coleman’s eighth inning home run beat the Gators.

A look back at Jayda Coleman’s time with the Oklahoma Sooners

OKLAHOMA CITY — In 1982, Dot Richardson powered UCLA to college softball’s first national championship. Those Bruins launched the Pac-10’s domination of the sport. UCLA or Arizona won every national title from 1988 to 1997 until another West Coast power, Fresno State, finally snapped the streak. Cal, Arizona State and Washington later added national championships to the Pac-10’s trophy case.

“There was a dominance in the Pac-10 that ignited the growth of softball,” Richardson, a shortstop for the Bruins named NCAA Player of the Decade for the 1980s, said. “It was the example for other conferences to compete against.”

This Women’s College World Series officially ended that era and ushered in another — the arrival of the SEC Death Star, primed to lord over softball and the WCWS for years to come.

“The [Pac-]12 started softball, really,” Oklahoma’s Patty Gasso, who has coached the Sooners to seven national titles this millennium, said. “It was always UCLA and Arizona. They’re the stepping stones that led to other teams. … The idea of them dissipating the Pac-12 is really hard for me to fathom because of the history of softball. … I don’t know, I’m sentimental over that.”

Because of football-driven conference realignment, the Pac-12 played its final softball game Monday, as Texas eliminated Stanford.

Texas, the No. 1 overall seed, will face Oklahoma for the national championship beginning Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+) in a best-of-three series. The second-seeded Sooners will be going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship.

Next season, Oklahoma and Texas will play in the SEC, which, for the fourth time since 2017, had all 13 programs that compete in softball qualify for the NCAA postseason. SEC programs also had eight of the top 16 seeds, not including the Sooners and Longhorns.

The latest round of conference realignment destroyed the Pac-12 and positioned the SEC to reign supreme over softball, potentially unlike any conference over a single sport.

“It’s gut-wrenching, to be honest,” Arizona interim athletic director Mike Candrea, who won eight national titles and 1,674 games with the Wildcats to become the sport’s winningest coach, said. “We’re living in a world now that’s completely different.”

Both Richardson and Candrea saw the change coming long before Texas and Oklahoma bolted the Big 12 for the SEC. Over the years, blue-chip recruits have gradually migrated from California to ascending programs like Oklahoma. The Sooners have eight players from California on their roster, including All-American senior shortstop Tiare Jennings (San Pedro, California), who is third in NCAA history with 97 career home runs.

Off its three straight national titles, Oklahoma also unveiled Love’s Field this spring. The $48 million stadium seats 4,200 and boasts a 10,000-square-foot indoor training center. Many of the other premier softball facilities now reside in the SEC.

UCLA, meanwhile, despite its 12 national championships, plays in a stadium that hasn’t been renovated since 2005 and seats only 1,300.

“A Pac-12 coaching staff told me it’s not as easy anymore, because [recruits] look at facilities, and what do I get? You look at NIL, and what do I get?” Richardson, now the head coach at Liberty, said. She added that the SEC began to seriously invest in softball after Michigan became the first program east of the Mississippi River to win the national title in 2005. “You started to see the SEC starting to raise its development and facilities. So a lot of California and Arizona and West Coast athletes started to come east. And they came east because of the commitment to the sport of softball, by facilities as well as staff salaries, coaching staffs and commitment that was being made.”

Recruiting for the former Pac-12 schools won’t get any easier. UCLA, Oregon and Washington will have to sell players on playing in the Big Ten cold, with road trips collectively totaling thousands of miles. Pac-12 players, such as Paige Sinicki, the first Gold Glove Award winner in Oregon history, have already balked at this predicament.

The Sooners start their season this weekend with a lot of new faces.

The Oklahoma softball team has a new look and a new conference this season, but opponents beware: this team is still going to be pretty darn good. The reason why? Patty Gasso.

Oklahoma opens the 2025 season this coming weekend with six games over four days in Southern California. The Sooners will start off in San Diego with a doubleheader on Thursday against Cal State-Northridge and San Diego State.

The scene moves to Fullerton, California, on Friday for two more games against California Baptist and Cal State-Fullerton. Then single games on Saturday and Sunday in the Los Angeles area against Loyola Marymount and Long Beach State, respectively.

Long Beach State is Gasso’s alma mater, where she played two seasons. Gasso is originally from the Los Angeles area. After her playing career, she coached four seasons at Long Beach City College.

The Sooners are coming off of an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship and sixth in the last eight seasons the Women’s College World Series has been played. If that doesn’t represent a sports dynasty, nothing does.

The last four seasons, Oklahoma has compiled an overall record of 235-15 for an almost unheard of winning percentage of .940. After saying goodbye to a legendary senior class that never saw an OU softball season end without a national championship trophy, the Sooners have reloaded with an outstanding group of transfers and another highly ranked recruiting class.

Overall, Oklahoma lost 10 seniors and three transfers from last year’s national championship team.

Of greater concern, though, are five players who are gone from last season’s starting lineup, four of which — catcher Kinzie Hansen, outfielders Jayda Coleman and Rylie Boone and infielder Tiare Jennings — played on each of Oklahoma’s four consecutive national championship teams.

In addition, the Sooners lose starting pitchers Kelly Maxwell, the most outstanding player in last season’s Women’s College World Series, and Nicole May.

While many players have come and gone in Oklahoma softball over the past three decades, the one thing that has remained constant throughout with coach Patty Gasso, who begins her 31st season as coach of the Sooners.

Gasso is the fourth winningest coach in college softball history with 1,458 career wins, and she has taken Oklahoma to the NCAA Tournament every season she has been at OU and won eight national championships.

First baseman Cydney Sanders and the Sooners’ two outstanding freshmen from last season, outfielder Kasidi Pickering and designated player Ella Parker, return.

Parker led the team in hitting with a .415 average, along with 13 home runs and 62 runs batted in, last season. Pickering hit .389 with 12 home runs and 51 RBIs, and Sanders provided more power to the Sooner lineup, slugging 15 home runs and driving in 50 runs.

North Carolina transfer Isabella Emerling will replace Kinzie Hansen behind the plate. Like Hansen before her, Emerling possesses both a power bat (14 home runs and 53 RBIs last season) and is strong defensively.

Transfer Ailana Agbayani was the starting shortstop at BYU last season. She could be inserted at either shortstop or second base.

Agbayani has a career .424 batting average and was the fourth-best hitter in the Big 12 a year ago.

Freshman Gabby Garcia, a highly regarded recruit best known for her defensive skills, might also win the starting role at shortstop. If that happens, Agbayani likely would move over to second.

The other corner on the infield is expected to go to redshirt freshman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, who missed all of last season with an injury. She was ranked as the No. 6 player nationally in the class of 2023 by Extra Inning Softball.

Two of the outfield positions will be filled by Pickering and Utah transfer Abigale Dayton, who led the Pac-12 last season with a .431 batting average.

Sophomore Maya Bland, who hit .333 last season and tied for second on the team with eight stolen bases, mostly as a pinch runner, redshirt junior Hannah Coor and in-state freshman Chaney Helton will battle it out for the final outfield spot.

Sophomore Kiersten Deal, who was 14-1 in 15 starts last season for the Sooners with a 1.97 ERA, will be joined in the starting rotation by Louisiana transfer Sam Landry, who was impressive in 2024 fall ball at OU.

The left-hander was 24-10 as a junior at Louisiana last season and credited with 10 complete games and six shutouts. Also watch for top-10 recruit Audrey Lowry, a left-handed pitcher who was a two-time Max Preps High School All-American and 2024 Indiana Gatorade Softball Player of the year.

“I’m really excited about what this is going to look like,” said Gasso during the team’s Media Day on Saturday. “It’s not going to be your traditional look that you’ve seen in the last four years, but it still has all the championship mindset, mentality, grind, grit that is coming after.”

Given the significant roster attrition, Oklahoma will begin the season as the No. 3 team behind No. 1 Texas and Florida in the NCAA Preseason College Softball Top 25 rankings. It’s been several years since the Sooners were ranked lower than No. 1 to start a season.

Three Oklahoma Sooners — Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering and Abigale Dayton — were named last week to the 2025 Preseason All-SEC Team.

This year’s Oklahoma softball team may feature an all-new cast and might not be as highly regarded as in year’s past, but you can be assured that the Sooners’ championship reputation will precede them.