Tag: Alynah Torres

5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s 5-0 weekend at the Mark Campbell Invitational

The Oklahoma Sooners went 5-0 in the Mark Campbell Invitational with three ranked wins, two shutouts, and two run-rule wins. Here are 5 takeaways.

The Oklahoma Sooners got things started with a bang in the Mark Campbell Invitational over the weekend, going 5-0 to open the season.

They were challenged in two of their five matchups, winning one-run ball games against Liberty and Washington, but also picked up a pair of run-rule wins over Stanford and San Jose State.

Oklahoma beat three top 25 teams, including a 4-0 shutout of Duke, a 10-1 win over Stanford, and the 5-4 nailbiter against the Huskies.

It was a productive start to the season that saw the Oklahoma Sooners deploy a lot of players. 15 players registered an at-bat, and four pitchers threw four or more innings pitched. And here’s a breakdown of the weekend from Seth Oliveras.

Projected lineup for the Oklahoma Sooners as they prepare for national title defense

What could the Oklahoma Sooners lineup look like when they begin their 2023 NCAA title defense?

The Oklahoma Sooners will begin their quest for three-straight national championships in 16 days when they face off with the No. 19 Duke Blue Devils for the first of five games in the opener of the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, California.

The Sooners lost key pieces to their 2022 squad, like [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag], [autotag]Hope Trautwein[/autotag], [autotag]Lynnsie Elam[/autotag], and [autotag]Taylon Snow[/autotag], but they looked locked and loaded for 2023. With transfer additions like [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag], Cydney Sanders, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag], and [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag], the Sooners could be as good or better than they were a year ago.

They have a deep lineup that features seven players with a season of 14 home runs or more and four players with a 20-home run season in their careers. You can’t replace a Jocelyn Alo, but the Sooners lineup looks incredibly deep heading into 2023. Are there enough at-bats for the talented hitters that Patty Gasso has assembled?

10 Oklahoma Sooners named to D1 Softball’s top 100 for 2023

10 Sooners land inside D1 Softball’s top 100 players as Oklahoma prepares for their NCAA title defense.

One would think that losing the best player in the history of college softball would create a huge hole in the Oklahoma Sooners’ lineup. Yet, the two-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners are looking fully loaded and ready for the three-peat.

Jocelyn Alo will be missed, but OU has more than enough firepower to make up for her absence. Since departing after the 2022 season, Alo signed with the OKC Spark of the WPF and was named Sports Illustrated’s 2022 Athlete of the Year.

Oklahoma recently broke ground on Love’s Field, the future home of Sooners Softball. According to the Sooner Club website, the ballpark will be ready for the 2024 season, which could be the Sooners’ first in the SEC.

With so many stars on the roster, the new ballpark will be a fitting home for the back-to-back (to-back?) defending national champions. Here’s a look at the 10 Sooners in D1 Softball’s top 100 (subscription required).

Oklahoma Softball lands Texas A&M All-American Haley Lee via the transfer portal

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to stockpile talent with the addition of catcher Haley Lee via the transfer portal. That’s now a combined 52 home runs via the transfer portal that Patty Gasso has added this summer.

The two-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners continues to reap the benefit of being the most dominant force in college sports. After landing transfer additions Alex Storako, Alynah Torres, and Cydney Sanders in the last couple of months, Patty Gasso and the Sooners landed former All-American Haley Lee from Texas A&M.

Joey Helmer of OUInsider at 247Sports was the first to report that the Sooners are continuing to load up their 2023 squad for another national title run with the addition of Lee.

The Aggies’ slugger led the Aggies hitting .405 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs for a team that went to the NCAA tournament. Ultimately, the Aggies were eliminated by the Sooners in the Norman regional after a 20-0 win in the deciding game.

Lee put her power on display in the Aggies’ first matchup with the Sooners to end Hope Trautwein’s shutout bid in the sixth inning to eliminate a 3-0 deficit and make it 3-2. Oklahoma would hold on to win, but Haley Lee certainly made her presence felt.

The addition of Lee, along with Torres and Sanders, brings a combined 52 home runs from the 2021 season to Norman to help replace the NCAA’s all-time home run queen, [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag].

A team with [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], who each hit more than 20 home runs last season, will have a ton of power at the plate for opposing pitching staffs to work around next season.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Oklahoma Sooners receive commitment from Arizona State transfer Cydney Sanders

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to stockpile talent for the 2023 season with the addition of Arizona State transfer Cydney Sanders.

The rich get richer in Norman, Okla. as the Sooners landed a commitment from Arizona State slugger [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] for the 2023 softball season.

Just weeks after [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] and Oklahoma added pitcher [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] and shortstop [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag], the defending national champion Sooners bring in another big-time player to add to their lineup.

In 2022, Sanders hit .425, second on the team, and led the Sun Devils with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs. Oh, and Sanders was just a freshman last season.

The Sooners add another big bat to a lineup that already featured [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], who each hit more than 20 home runs in 2022, with [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] setting the table at the top of the lineup for the No. 1 offense in the country.

Though the Oklahoma Sooners lost [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag] and [autotag]Hope Trautwein[/autotag] to graduation, they’ve restocked the rotation and the lineup with players that can hit. Patty Gasso has her crew once again in a position to be the favorites to win the national title in 2023.

[listicle id=65132]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

All-American Texas A&M catcher Haley Lee enters the transfer portal

Looking to reload for the 2023 season, should the Sooners target Texas A&M catcher Haley Lee, who recently entered the transfer portal?

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team has already made a couple of splashes in the 2022 transfer portal as they reload for the 2023 season. They’ve added former Michigan pitcher [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] and shortstop [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] from Arizona State.

Storako will fill the void felt by the departure of [autotag]Hope Trautwein[/autotag] while it’s likely Torres moves from shortstop to third base with reigning defensive player of the year [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] expected to return to OU.

Those additions will be impact players for the Oklahoma Sooners, but why stop there? Oklahoma could add another player to their ranks and one that could help fill the void left by the departed home run queen, [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag]. And that player is [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] from Texas A&M.

According to Extra Inning Softball, Lee has entered her name into the transfer portal.

Lee, a 2022 second-team All-American, led the Aggies in batting average, home runs, and RBIs in 2022, hitting .405 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs. She also added 50 walks to her ledger, displaying discipline at the plate. She helped the Aggies reach the regional round of the NCAA tournament.

In the first regional matchup between Oklahoma and Texas A&M, Trautwein was dealing as the Sooners led 3-0. Things got a little tighter with one swing of the bat as Lee launched a two-run home run to cut the lead to one in the sixth inning. Oklahoma won the game, but Lee made her presence felt with the two-run bomb.

Lee plays catcher for Texas A&M but could also slide into the designated player role departed by Jocelyn Alo. Kinzie Hansen returns for the Sooners at catcher, but Patty Gasso platooned her and Lynnsie Elam in that role in 2022.

Haley Lee is a player to watch in the transfer portal and with her credentials could land anywhere in the country. You can never have too much hitting in your lineup and Lee would bring another formidable bat to the Sooners.

[listicle id=63357]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz7cqqgxy50qwt player_id=none image=https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.