Tag: Avery Hodge

LSU softball announces addition of 3 veteran transfers

Beth Torina has reloaded the roster after quite a few big names left this offseason.

It’s going to be a changing of the guard for LSU softball entering the 2025 season.

Star pitcher [autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag] returns. However, many big names, including [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag], [autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag] and [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag], will not. Coach [autotag]Beth Torina[/autotag] turned to the transfer portal in search of experience and succeeded.

Earlier this week, LSU announced the addition of three transfers: infielder [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] (Oklahoma), outfielder [autotag]Jalia Lassiter[/autotag] (Ole Miss) and pitcher [autotag]Ashley Vallejo[/autotag] (McNeese).

Hodge was a member of the Sooners’ last two national title-winning teams, batting .284 this past season with six extra-base hits and nine RBIs. Lassiter was Ole Miss’ leader in hits in 2024 with a .314 average, four home runs and 29 RBIs.

Unlike Hodge and Lassiter, who have two remaining years of eligibility, Vallejo is a graduate transfer. In four years at McNeese, she went 45-24 on the mound with a 2.44 ERA and 306 strikeouts in 416 2/3 career innings.

After leading the Tigers to three consecutive Women’s College World Series appearances and four in her first six seasons, Torina is looking to return to Oklahoma City for the first time since 2017 after a super regional exit this spring.

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Former Sooner Qunicee Lilio transfers to South Carolina

Former Oklahoma utility player Quincee Lilio has transferred to South Carolina.

It’s the offseason in the world of college softball, and that means the transfer portal is heating up.

After [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners won national championship number eight and completed the four-peat, there was expected to be plenty of roster movement.

So far, two of the three former Sooners who entered the portal had found homes in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. Infielder [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] went to LSU and pitcher [autotag]S.J. Geurin[/autotag] transferred to Auburn.

Now, the third OU player in the portal has also found a new home in the Southeastern Conference.

Utility player [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] will be transferring to South Carolina. Justin McLeod of D1 Softball broke the news on social media.

Lilio made 31 plate appearances in 2024, hitting .129 with five RBIs, 10 walks and six strikeouts. She played second base and outfield in 2023, appearing in a total of 47 contests for the Sooners, starting 12 games. As a redshirt freshman, she hit .275 with one home run and had nine RBIs.

Gasso and the OU staff have also been busy making additions in the portal. [autotag]Isabela Emerling[/autotag], [autotag]Abby Dayton[/autotag] and [autotag]Ailana Agbayani[/autotag] have all joined the roster since the season ended.

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Oklahoma Sooners add BYU transfer Ailana Agbayani

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to fortify their roster with the addition of BYU transfer Ailana Agbayani.

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up another transfer addition, earning a commitment from Ailana Agbayani.

A middle infielder and pitcher for the BYU Cougars, Agbayani led the Cougars with a .434 batting average, hit five home runs, and recorded 33 RBIs. She also added nine doubles, two triples, and 30 walks. She led BYU in on-base percentage by 50 points.

She hit lead off for the Cougars. In BYU’s win over Oklahoma in the middle game of their three-game set, Agbayani went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. She also threw 0.1 innings, walking a batter and inducing a ground out of Kinzie Hansen with two runners aboard.

The Sooners have now added three players to the roster via the transfer portal as Agbayani joins North Carolina catcher Isabela Emerling and Utah centerfielder Abby Dayton.

Agbayani will likely play one of Oklahoma’s open middle-infield spots after the departures of [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] (eligibility), [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] (transfer portal), and [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] (eligibility).

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Sooners Alynah Torres signs with the Oklahoma City Spark

Alynah Torres is the latest Sooner to sign professionally to play with the Oklahoma City Spark.

Another Sooner is making her way up I-35 to Devon Park this summer as the Oklahoma City Spark announced on Monday that they’ve signed Oklahoma utility player [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag].

Torres, who came to the Sooners from Arizona State following the 2022 season, spent two years in Norman and played a key role in Oklahoma’s record-breaking 2023 and 2024 seasons.

In 2024, as she platooned with [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] at second base and played some in right field, Torres hit .331 with nine home runs and 36 RBIs.

She’s a versatile defensive piece that can help at third base, second base, first base and in the corner outfield.

Torres joins former Sooners teammates [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], and [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] along with Sooners legends [autotag]Keilani Ricketts[/autotag] and [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag] with the Spark.

Oklahoma City just completed their first weekend of the season with a series in Chattanooga, Tenn. They’re currently 3-1 on the season as they get set to host Great Britain and Team USA at Devon Park this weekend in the Royal Spark Challenge.

For their full schedule or for ticketing, go to OKCSpark.com.

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Infielder Avery Hodge transfers to LSU Tigers

Avery Hodge joining the LSU Tigers via the transfer portal.

One of the early surprises of the softball [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] season came when Women’s College World Series standout [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] entered the portal. On Thursday evening, she announced her new home, transferring to join the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge.

For much of the 2024 season, Hodge platooned second base with Alynah Torres, hitting .284 with six extra base hits and nine RBIs. During the Sooners national title run, Hodge was an important piece of the defensive puzzle, taking over at second and starting the final five games of the postseason.

During that stretch, she hit .400 and added a walk. She was really good in the field. Now she goes to an LSU team that was really good in 2024. The Tigers took game one of their super regional against NiJaree Canady and Stanford before Canady bounced back with a pair of shutout wins to eliminate LSU.

The Oklahoma Sooners will bring in four middle infielders through their 2024 recruiting class. Sierra Barker, Gabby Garcia, Kade McKay, and Tia Milloy will join the Sooners this fall and have an opportunity to earn a role with the departure of Hodge and senior shortstop [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag].

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Trio of Oklahoma softball players enter the transfer portal

The Sooners need to replace three players after losing them to the transfer portal.

The Oklahoma Sooners are fresh off victory in the Women’s College World Series final, winning their fourth NCAA national championship in row. It’s championship No. 8 overall for the program, all in the 21st century.

But, heavy is the head that wears the crown. OU had three players depart via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] on Monday.

D1softball’s Justin McLeod posted on social media that [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag], [autotag]Quincee Lilio[/autotag] and [autotag]S.J. Geurin[/autotag] will test the portal waters.

Hodge is the most surprising of the departures and the biggest loss of the three. The infielder stepped up when her role increased in the [autotag]Women’s College World Series[/autotag]. She is a career .278 hitter in 114 games and 97 at-bats.

Lilio is another loss in the infield, owning a .211 batting average in her career. She’s mostly played in a utility role, coming off the bench in pinch-hit situations. In 88 games, Lilio has just 71 at-bats.

Geurin is the first pitcher to depart the team. She pitched 10 innings in 2024 after a redshirt season in 2023.

While roster turnover is expected every year, the offseason is just beginning in college softball. [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] will no doubt seek to improve the champs via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] to chase ring No. 9. It’s likely the Sooners will be active in the portal, but they are adding eight true freshmen this fall as part of the 2024 signing class.

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Oklahoma Sooners beat No. 1 Texas 8-4, win 4th straight national championship

The Oklahoma Sooners made history as the first team to win four consecutive national championships with their 8-4 win over the Texas Longhorns.

The Oklahoma Sooners made history in their 8-4 win over the Texas Longhorns. The Sooners won their fourth-straight national championship, and this senior class capped off the most successful run in softball history.

The Texas Longhorns got the scoring going in the top of the second on Kayden Henry’s RBI single. But [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to put the Sooners up one.

The Longhorns tied the game up in the third off of starter [autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag]. [autotag]Peytn Monticelli[/autotag] came in with the bases loaded and kept the game tied 2-2. Texas then took a 3-2 lead in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, however, the Sooners began to take control. Consecutive singles by [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag], and [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] set the stage for [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag]. Sanders proceeded to launch a double to the right-center gap to clear the bases and put Oklahoma up 5-3.

[autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] took over in the fifth and had a dominant outing with a 1-2-3 inning and got two outs in the sixth before [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] came in with runners on second and third. Maxwell induced a ground ball by Mia Scott, and a Texas run scored to make it 5-4. But Scott got caught off the bag, and [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] flipped the ball to Sanders to get the final out of the inning and leave a runner stranded on third.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Sooners ran away from the Longhorns. Boone earned a one-out single, Sanders walked, and Hodge was hit by a pitch to load the bases. [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] added to the Sooners lead with an RBI single through the right side of the infield. With two outs in the inning, [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] continued her incredible postseason with a two-RBI single to put Oklahoma up 8-4.

In the top of the seventh, Maxwell went up against the heart of the Texas lineup. Maxwell got Viviana Martinez to fly out and struck out Big 12 Player of the Year Reese Atwood before getting Katie Stewart to ground out to [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], who made a perfect throw over to Sanders to get the final out and send the Sooners into the record books.

Maxwell earned her second save of the NCAA Tournament and earned Most Outstanding Player, going 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to the national championship.

It’s the Sooners’ eighth national title and their seventh since 2013. With four straight national titles, Oklahoma is the only program to accomplish this feat. The Sooners move into a tie for second with the Arizona Wildcats for most national titles.

Seniors [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], and [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] will go down as the most decorated class in softball history, with four national championships in their career.

With eight national titles, [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] is now tied for the most in the history of the sport.

It was an incredible run for the Oklahoma Sooners, who lost just one game during the postseason, dating back to their Big 12 tournament title run. In the two games against Texas the Sooners outscored their Red River Rivals 16-7 to win the national title.

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Oklahoma Sooners beat Texas Longhorns 8-3 in game one of WCWS Final

Sooners hit three home runs and Kelly Maxwell pitched another great game to lead Oklahoma to an 8-3 win over Texas in game one of the Women’s College World Series championship.

The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a hot start and never looked back in their game one matchup with the Texas Longhorns, taking the opener of the [autotag]Women’s College World Series[/autotag] championship 8-3.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] picked up right where she left off on Monday when she threw 148 pitches over eight innings and threw another gem. Through five innings, the Texas Longhorns had only mustered one run, a solo shot in the first inning. Though Texas did some damage in the sixth, Maxwell allowed just one earned run in her complete game.

The Sooners got going offensively early in this one. Jayda Coleman was hit by a pitch, and [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] hit a two-run home run. It was the 98th home run of her career and 11th in the Women’s College World Series.

Texas cut the deficit in half on a Mia Scott home run to right field. Maxwell settled in to limit the damage and had a 1-2-3 second inning. And the Sooners rewarded her with some insurance in the top of the third.

[autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] led off the inning with a single, and with one out, Kinzie Hansen drove a 2-1 pitch to left-center field to give Oklahoma a 4-1 lead. True freshman [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] followed it up with a home run of her own to extend the lead to 5-1.

In the top of the fifth, the Sooners added to their lead when Hansen doubled, and Pickering forced an errant throw on a close play at first base, allowing Hansen to score to make it 6-1.

Pinch-hitting in the top of the sixth, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] was hit by a pitch, and [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] was brought in to pinch run. Hodge took second on a wild pitch and then third base when Reese Atwood lost track of how many outs were in the inning and lobbed the ball up in the air. That became a huge moment in the inning as Jennings singled to bring Hodge in for the 7-1 lead.

Texas made things interesting in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs and threatened for more before Maxwell locked it down to limit the damage.

The Sooners went ahead 8-3 in the top of the seventh when [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] doubled and then advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. Atwood got aggressive again and tried to pick Brito off at third base, but the ball hit the Sooners third basemen. Brito scored to extend the Sooners lead.

Maxwell locked in and earned a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the final two hitters, including a called strike three on Viviana Martinez to end the game. Maxwell earned the 23rd win of the season and put Oklahoma one win away from capturing their fourth-straight national title.

She allowed just one earned run on four hits and four walks and recorded eight strikeouts for the second straight day. It was another fantastic performance and the Sooners offense provided more run support against a really good Texas pitching staff.

Jennings led the way on her birthday with a 2-for-4 effort with three RBIs. Parker and Hansen each had two hits as well.

More: How to Watch Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns in the Women’s College World Series Championship

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Best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners 6-5 extra-inning win over Florida

Best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners 6-5 walk-off win over the Florida Gators in extra innings.

The Oklahoma Sooners needed all the magic they could muster in their 6-5 extra-inning win over the Florida Gators.

True freshman [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] had a huge day, going 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Her final RBI of the day tied the game at five after driving in [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag]. Hodge was 2-for-4 and had the double that set up Parker’s game-tying RBI. [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], who hit just her second home run since April 16, came through with a two-run bomb to pull the Sooners within one.

And then it was [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] providing the extra-inning heroics with her walk-off home run. It was Coleman’s 13th home run of the season and the first time Oklahoma had a walk-off home run in the Women’s College World Series since 2016, according to ESPN.

And it was all the more possible because [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] rebounded from a sluggish start. Maxwell allowed five runs, all via home run, in the first three innings. She showed incredible toughness to then hold the Florida Gators scoreless over the final five innings.

Now, the Sooners move on to the championship series, where the Texas Longhorns await. Oklahoma’s looking for its fourth-straight national title.

Here’s a look at the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over the Florida Gators in extra innings.

More: Social media reacts to Oklahoma Sooners walk-off win over the Florida Gators

Oklahoma Sooners beat Florida 6-5 on walk-off home run

The Oklahoma Sooners rallied to beat the Florida Gators 6-5 in extra innings on Jayda Coleman’s walk-off home run.

The Oklahoma Sooners and Florida Gators put on a power display in their semifinal elimination game, but it was the Oklahoma Sooners who came out on top 6-5 on a walk-off home run from [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] in the bottom of the eighth inning.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] got the start for the Sooners and gave up two run home runs in the first and second inning and a solo shot in the third. But then she held the Gators scoreless for the remainder of the game to keep the Sooners in the game.

After the two-run homer allowed in the first, [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] came through with a two-run bomb of her own to tie the game. Oklahoma didn’t score again until the fourth inning when [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] added her own two-run bomb to put the Sooners down one.

Despite opportunities in the fifth inning to tie the game, Oklahoma was held at bay and Maxwell continued to battle, keeping Florida from cashing in with runners on in the top of the sixth inning.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, [autotag]Avery Hodge[/autotag] reached on a one-out double. Parker came up clutch again with an RBI single to tie the game.

Oklahoma had a chance to end it in the seventh after [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag]’s double, but the Sooners left her stranded.

Maxwell threw a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth and then Jayda Coleman came through with the heroics to lead off the bottom of the inning with a home run to end the game. The home run was Coleman’s 13th of the season and arguably the most important of her career.

Prior to Coleman’s walk-off home run, it was a day for Ella Parker and unsung heroes Avery Hodge and Cydney Sanders. But now the most decorated group of seniors in softball history has a chance to add another title to their already illustrious career.

It was a resilient effort for Maxwell, who recorded eight strikeouts in her eight innings of work. She battled throughout, showing off her veteran mettle and keeping the Sooners in the game. It was her 22nd win of the season.

Now, the Oklahoma Sooners move on to face the Texas Longhorns in the championship series. It’s a rematch of the series two years ago. The two sides split four games in 2024, with the Sooners winning in the Big 12 tournament championship.

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