The news of Jordy Bahl’s transfer portal decision, which led her to Nebraska and back to her home state, was a shocking one. It took the softball world by surprise.
In the aftermath, it left many wondering what Oklahoma would do in the circle without the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Surely, [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] and Jennifer Rocha will attack the transfer portal, but their answer for a frontline starter is already in-house.
For most of the 2023 season, it was [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] and not [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] that was leading the Oklahoma Sooners in ERA. May finished with an ERA of 0.91 and Bahl, after a fantastic run in the NCAA tournament, finished with an ERA of 0.90.
In each of her three seasons in Norman, May has improved her stat line and been a big part of Oklahoma’s national championship runs. As a true freshman in 2021, May was 15-2 and allowed an ERA of 2.37 in 85.2 innings. In 2022, she was 15-1 and allowed an ERA of 1.31 in 91.2 innings pitched.
In 2023, May was 18-0 in 107.2 innings pitched and allowed opponents to hit just .161. She recorded 130 strikeouts to just 29 walks on the season to help the Sooners defend their national title. Early in the season when Bahl was going through her struggles, it was May and Alex Storako that stemmed the tide for the Sooners’ pitching staff.
May didn’t allow an earned run in her first 42 innings pitched across nine appearances. That included outings against NCAA tournament teams Liberty, Washington, Texas A&M, and Utah.
She wasn’t as dominant the rest of the year, but still had a complete game shutout against Baylor, allowed just one earned run in a win against Texas, and allowed just two runs in a win against Oklahoma State.
Against Stanford, May battled back from allowing a two-run home run in the first inning to retire 12 in a row from the second inning until she allowed a hit in the sixth. Though she allowed a lead, she hung in there long enough to get the Sooners to Bahl, who they needed as the game went to extra innings. May was dominant from the second through the fifth and probably could have gotten the Sooners through seven innings if necessary.
You can’t simply replace a pitcher that was as good as Jordy Bahl was in her time with the Sooners. But Nicole May has shown that she has what it takes to be at the front of the line for the Sooners in the circle. She’s won big games and has gotten better as she’s gone. She’s shown a resiliency that has been critical to Oklahoma’s success.
The Sooners will likely add a pitcher to go along with May, sophomore [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag], and redshirt freshman [autotag]S.J. Guerin[/autotag]. But no matter what they do, Oklahoma will be in great hands with Nicole May leading the way.