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Oklahoma Sooners softball

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The Oklahoma Sooners softball team represents the University of Oklahoma in NCAA Division I college softball. The team competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and plays its home games at Love's Field in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners are currently led by head coach Patty Gasso.

Oklahoma Sooners Softball
2027 Oklahoma Sooners softball team
Founded1975 (51 years ago)
UniversityUniversity of Oklahoma
Athletic directorRoger Denny
All-time Record2,015–794–2 (.717)
Head coachPatty Gasso (31st season)
ConferenceSEC
LocationNorman, Oklahoma
Home stadiumLove's Field (capacity: 4,200)
NicknameSooners
ColorsCrimson[1]
 
NCAA Tournament champions
2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
NCAA WCWS runner-up
2012, 2019
NCAA WCWS appearances
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
AIAW WCWS appearances
1975, 1980, 1981, 1982
NCAA super regional appearances
2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
NCAA Tournament appearances
1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Conference tournament championships
1996, 2001, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025
Regular-season conference championships
1996, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026

Oklahoma has won their conference title 17 times, and their conference tournament 10 times, winning the Big 12 Conference tournament 9 times and the SEC tournament 1 time winner. They have been to the NCAA tournament 32 times, advanced to the NCAA Women's College World Series 18 times, and won the NCAA championship 8 times. Oklahoma also appeared in the AIAW Women's College World Series 4 times.

History

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The Sooners won their first national championship back in 2000. They swept Harvard, Cal-State Northridge, and Oregon State at their home regionals to advance to their first appearance in the Women's College World Series. They beat California and knocked off Southern Mississippi and Arizona to advance to the championship game against UCLA. They beat UCLA 3-1 to capture their first national title.

They hosted and won their 2013 regional. They beat Marist and Arkansas with a combined score of 41-6. They hosted again their super regionals against Texas A&M where they outscored the Aggies 18-2. In Oklahoma City, they went through 8 seeded Michigan, #10 ranked Texas, and #11 ranked Washington to reach Tennessee in the championship. Game 1 was where Lauren Chamberlain hit her iconic two-run walk-off home run after 12 innings of play. In game 2, Keilani Ricketts drove in all four runs, and Michelle Gascoigne pitched a shut out to obtain their second national title.

Once again, they hosted their regional in 2016 where they beat Wichita State and Ole Miss. They went on to host their super regional against Louisiana-Lafayette where they swept to advance to the Women's College World Series once again. In their first game in the tournament, they beat Alabama in extra innings. They faced #12 Michigan in game 2, and beat LSU in their third to face Auburn in the championship. They won 2-1 in their final game where Paige Parker threw a complete game.

In 2017, No. 10-seeded OU hosted North Dakota State, Arkansas and Tulsa in the Norman Regional. After opening play with a 3-2 loss to the Bison in nine innings, the Sooners rallied to defeat Arkansas, NDSU and Tulsa (twice) to advance to the Auburn Super Regional. In its first game against the Golden Hurricane, OU rallied from a 4-2 deficit with 10th-inning home runs by Caleigh Clifton and Sydney Romero to win 6-4 setting up a winner-take-all match-up the next day. The Sooners then dispatched Tulsa 3-0 to claim the regional title. Boosted by their resurgent play in the regional, OU defeated the Tigers 4-0 and 5-2 to advance to the WCWS. They began WCWS play with a 6-3 decision over Baylor followed by a 3-1 victory over Washington and a 4-2 defeat of Oregon to clinch a spot opposite top-seeded Florida in the Championship Series. In Game 1, OU outlasted the Gators 7-5 in a 17-inning marathon, the longest game ever played in WCWS Championship Series history. Shay Knighten's three-run, go-ahead homer in the top of the 17th provided the difference for the Sooners. Her bases-clearing, three-run double in the bottom of the second of Game 2 paced OU to a 5-4 victory earning the program its fourth national title and Knighten the WCWS' Most Outstanding Player honor.

In 2021, the Sooners hosted their regional as the No. 1 overall seed and beat Wichita State, Texas A&M, and Morgan State. They advanced to host their super regional against Washington, which they won in two games. At the Women's College World Series, they lost their first round game to James Madison University; subsequently, they won four straight elimination games to advance to the championship series, besting Georgia, UCLA, and James Madison twice. In the championship series, they lost their first game to Florida State, but returned to win games two and three to claim their fifth national championship.

In 2023, the Sooners set an NCAA Division I softball record 53-game winning streak.[2] They finished the season with a 61–1 record and won their seventh national championship, and third consecutive championship. They became the first team to three-peat since UCLA from 1988 to 1990.[3][4]

On June 6, 2024, Gasso's Sooners again defeated Texas in the national championship series, in a rematch from 2022, winning Gasso's and the school's eighth national championship. Gasso's eight national titles tied Arizona's Mike Candrea for the most by any coach in Division I softball history. With the win, Oklahoma became the first team in college softball history to four-peat.[3][4]

Coaching history

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Years Coach Record %
1975–1976Amy Dahl18–16.529
1977–1984Marita Hynes257–188.578
1985–1993Michelle Thomas226–230.496
1994Jim Beitia58–15.795
1995–presentPatty Gasso1,567–361–2.812

Championships

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National championships

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Season Record Head coach
2000 66–8 Patty Gasso
2013 57–4 Patty Gasso
2016 57–8 Patty Gasso
2017 61–9 Patty Gasso
2021 56–4 Patty Gasso
2022 59–3 Patty Gasso
2023 61–1 Patty Gasso
2024 59–7 Patty Gasso
8 national championships

Conference championships

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Season Conference Record Head coach
1996Big 1217–5Patty Gasso
199911–3
200017–1
200914–4
201219–5
201315–2
201416–2
201514–2
201617–1
201717–1
201818–0
201918–0
202116–1
202217–1
202318–0
2025SEC17–7
202620–4
17 conference championships

Conference tournament championships

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Season Conference Head coach
1996 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2001 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2007 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2010 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2017 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2018 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2021 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2023 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2024 Big 12 Patty Gasso
2025 SEC Patty Gasso
10 conference tournament championships

Records and statistics

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Year-by-year results

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Records by opponent

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As of March 22, 2025[5]
Southeastern Conference opponents
Team TM W–L Last meeting
Alabama 18 8–10 W 7–3
June 2, 2019
Arkansas 30 28-2 W 10-7
March 16, 2025
Auburn 10 8-2 W 7-1
March 19, 2023
Florida 10 8-2 W 6-5
June 4, 2024
Georgia 8 4-4 W 8-0
June 5, 2021
Kentucky 11 10-1 W 7-1
March 4, 2023
LSU 19 11-8 W 3-0
April 11, 2023
Mississippi State 8 8-0 W 10-7
March 16, 2025
Missouri 98 56-42 L 1-3
March 22, 2025
Ole Miss 6 6-0 W 11-8
February 17, 2017
South Carolina 12 7-5 W 2-1
March 9, 2025
Tennessee 12 7-5 W 9-0
June 3, 2023
Texas 88 61–27 W 8-4
June 6, 2024
Texas A&M 83 53-30 W 8-0
February 24, 2023
Notable Non-Conference opponents
Team TM W–L Last meeting
Tulsa 58 48–10 W 8–0
April 16, 2024
UCLA 23 10–13 W 1–0
June 1, 2024

NCAA Tournament seeding history

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National seeding began in 2005. The Oklahoma Sooners have been a national seed in 20 of the 21 tournaments.

Years → '05 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '21 '22 '23 '24 '25 '26
Seeds → 1431071494171131041111223

College World Series

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Oklahoma has advanced to the Women's College World Series 18 times, winning the title in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and finishing as runner-up in 2012 and 2019.

Year Win Loss Percent
2000401.000
200112.333
200202.000
200312.333
200412.333
201102.000
201242.667
2013501.000
201412.333
201651.833
2017501.000
201822.500
201933.500
202162.750
202251.833
2023501.000
202451.833
202522.500
Total 55 26 .679

2025 coaching staff

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Name Position Seasons at Oklahoma
Patty GassoHead coach30th
Jennifer RochaAssociate head coach and pitching coach5th
JT GassoAssociate head coach and hitting coach8th
Falepolima SteeleAssistant coach1st
Lauren FosterGraduate assistant1st
Ryan WondrasekDirector of player development1st
Reference:[6]

Individual honors and awards

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This is a list of individual honors at the national and conference levels, including All-Americans.[7]

National awards

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Conference awards

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Big 12 Player of the Year
Big 12 Pitcher of the Year
Big 12 Freshman of the Year
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
  • Heather Scaglione (2004, 2005)
  • Savannah Long (2008)
  • Lindsey Vandever (2010)
  • Kelsey Arnold (2016, 2018)
  • Caleigh Clifton (2019)
  • Grace Lyons (2021, 2022, 2023)
  • Kinzie Hansen (2024)
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
  • Andrea Davis (2000)
Big 12 Coach of the Year
  • Patty Gasso (1996, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
SEC Coach of the Year
SEC Pitcher of the Year
SEC Freshman of the Year

First Team All-American

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Season Player(s)
1999 Lynette Velazquez
2000 Lisa Carey
2001 Kelli Braitsch
2003 Leah Gulla
2004 Heather Scaglione
2005 Heather Scaglione
2006 Kristin Vesley
2007 Norrelle Dickson
2009 Amber Flores
2010 Heather Scaglione
2011 Keilani Ricketts
2012 Lauren Chamberlain, Keilani Ricketts, Jessica Shults
2013 Lauren Chamberlain, Keilani Ricketts
2014 Shelby Pendley
2015 Lauren Chamberlain
2016 Paige Parker
2018 Jocelyn Alo, Paige Parker, Sydney Romero
2019 Caleigh Clifton, Giselle Juarez, Sydney Romero
2021 Jocelyn Alo, Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings
2022 Jocelyn Alo, Jordy Bahl, Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Grace Lyons
2023 Jordy Bahl, Alyssa Brito, Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hansen, Tiare Jennings
2024 Alyssa Brito, Tiare Jennings
2025 Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering
2026 Ella Parker, Kendall Wells

References

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  1. ↑ "Colors – OU Brand Guide". OU.edu/Brand. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  2. ↑ Brunt, Cliff (June 8, 2023). "Oklahoma wins third straight WCWS title, extends record win streak to 53". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Post, J.J. (June 8, 2023). "Oklahoma softball joins elite company with title three-peat". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Auerbach, Nicole (June 8, 2023). "Oklahoma softball wins third consecutive national title: How Sooners cemented a dynasty". The Athletic. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ "OU Softball Opponents". soonerstats.com. Sooner Stats. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Oklahoma Softball Coaches". SoonerSports.com. University of Oklahoma Athletics. Retrieved 8 Jan 2023.
  7. ↑ "Big 12 Softball Records" (PDF). Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. pp. 86–89. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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