Coming off their third straight national championship, the Oklahoma Sooners are retooling in the wake of several losses to graduation and the transfer portal.
Their first splash in the portal is Wisconsin pitcher Paytn Monticelli. As a true freshman in 2023, Monticelli appeared in 21 games for the Badgers and went 7-4 with a 2.71 ERA in 80 innings pitched. She recorded 82 strikeouts and allowed an opponent batting average of .235.
Monticelli was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Wisconsin Softball Player of the Year in Wisconsin for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
The Oklahoma Sooners have had good pitching fortune out of the transfer portal the last two years with Hope Trautwein and Alex Storako. Both pitchers were instrumental to the Sooners’ national title runs. Though Monticelli isn’t as experienced as the two previous Sooners additions, the outings she had in 2023 will serve as the springboard to her Oklahoma career.
Monticelli’s best outing of the season came on May 6 against Iowa. She threw five shutout innings against the Hawkeyes. She also threw three shutout innings against Oregon on Feb. 10.
She joins a group of pitchers, including Nicole May, Kierston Deal and S.J. Guering, for the 2024 season.
B🅾️🅾️MER S🅾️🅾️NER #Committed pic.twitter.com/nixyRoBz6f
— Paytn Monticelli (@PaytnMonticelli) July 5, 2023
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