Tag: Cydney Sanders

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.

10 Oklahoma Sooners named to Softball America’s Preseason All-American teams

Led by five first-team selections, 10 Oklahoma Sooners were named to Softball America’s preseason All-American teams.

The Oklahoma Sooners begin their quest for a third-straight national championship at the Mark Campbell Invitational on Thursday, February 9, against Duke.

The unanimous preseason No. 1 team in the country, and back-to-back national champions, the Sooners, are expected to make another run despite the loss of Jocelyn Alo and Hope Trautwein. Patty Gasso has assembled another talented group to take on all comers in the 2023 season.

It won’t be easy, it never is, but the Oklahoma Sooners will be the team to beat for the 2023 national title. With the season under two weeks away, Softball America released their preseason All-American teams. 10 Sooners were selected, including five to the first team. UCLA was the only other team with multiple first-team selections with three and they had just five total selections to the three All-American squads.

Here’s a look at the Sooners’ selections.

8 Sooners named to USA Softball Player of the Year watchlist

Eight Sooners named to USA Softball Player of the Year preseason watchlist

Jocelyn Alo has won the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award the last two seasons, and deservedly so. On Wednesday, USA Softball released their preseason watch list, a list featuring 50 players across the country.

Needless to say, head coach Patty Gasso’s bunch was very popular on the list. A total of eight Sooners made the cut, nearly one fifth of the 50 names mentioned. No other school has more than three names on the list.

While Alo’s departure is sure to be felt by Oklahoma at some point, it will be interesting to see just who ends up pulling away from the rest of the pack for this prestigous award. The Sooners have a talented lineup and a deep group of pitchers. They’re talented enough to win their third-consecutive national championship, which will put someone in line for yet another national player of the year honor.

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?

7 Oklahoma Sooners selected to preseason All-Big 12 team

Led by unanimous selections for Jordy Bahl and Tiare Jennings, seven Sooners were named to the preseason All-Big 12 team.

As the prohibitive favorites in the Big 12 and national title race, the Oklahoma Sooners are loaded with talent. That’s reflected in the preseason All-Big 12 team voted on by the coaches.

Seven of the 12 spots went to Sooners, with two unanimous selections going to [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag].

[autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] were also selected to the squad. Two newcomers, [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag], were also selected to the preseason All-Big 12 team.

Oklahoma State was the only other school with multiple selections to the preseason All-Big 12 team with two.

Tiare Jennings has led the Sooners in RBIs each of the last two seasons. Jennings, She was named D1 Softball’s top player heading into the 2023 season.

Jordy Bahl had a phenomenal freshman season in 2022. Leading the Sooners for much of the regular season before a shoulder injury held her out for much of the postseason. She’ll take the lead in the circle for the Sooners. Bahl was Co-Big 12 pitcher of the year in 2022.

It’s a bit of a surprise that the reigning Big 12 defensive player of the year, Grace Lyons, wasn’t a unanimous selection. She had her best year at the plate in 2022 to go with her stellar work in the field.

It’s no surprise that Jayda Coleman was a preseason All-Big 12 selection. The Sooners’ lead-off hitter could be considered the best defensive player in the Big 12 if not for Lyons.

Alyssa Brito was a revelation for the Sooners in 2022. She provided strong defensive work and some pop for the latter half of the order. She’s poised to have another strong season in 2023.

Rounding out the Sooners All-Big 12 selections are transfer additions Cydney Sanders and Haley Lee. Lee figures to take the majority of the work at catcher and provides another big bat in the lineup for Patty Gasso. Cydney Sanders hit 21 home runs and was the NFCA national freshman of the year in 2022.

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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.

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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.

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