Tag: Paytn Monticelli

Former Campbell pitcher Isabella Smith commits to Oklahoma Sooners

Transfer pitcher Isabella Smith commits to the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners have picked up their fourth transfer addition of the offseason, earning a commitment from Isabella Smith from Campbell.

Smith was 26-7 with a 2.01 ERA in 2024. She pitched 206 innings, struck out 238 batters and allowed an opponent’s batting average of .181. She started 30 games and appeared in 42 of Campbell’s 59 games this season.

She had six games with double-digit strikeouts, including 15- and 14-strikeout performances in a span of three days in April.

In her career, Smith is 70-28, logged 593.1 innings, allowed an opponent’s batting average of .193 and a WHIP of 0.97.

 

Smith joins an Oklahoma pitching staff that includes [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag], [autotag]Paytn Monticelli[/autotag], and incoming freshman [autotag]Audrey Lowry[/autotag].

The Sooners are still hoping to make a splash in their pursuit of Stanford star and National Player of the Year [autotag]NiJaree Canady[/autotag], but Smith gives them a talented and experienced arm that can throw a bunch of innings for the Sooners.

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Oklahoma Sooners’ pitching the lone bright spot over the weekend

While there isn’t a lot of positives to take away from the weekend, you can take away just how great the pitching was from the Sooners.

When you lose your first conference series in over a decade, there aren’t a lot of positives for fans to take away. Especially with how you lost the series.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ offense managed to score just seven runs in the three games, but there is one bright spot from the weekend. The pitching and defense were really good against one of the best offenses in the country.

[autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag], [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag], [autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag], [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] and [autotag]Paytn Monticelli[/autotag] held one of the best offenses in the country to just six runs in three games. Maxwell was dominant in Game 1 and got the start again in Game 3 and threw really well.

Patty Gasso spoke about her thought process giving Maxwell two starts in the series. “Another level,” Gasso said. “This is the best I’ve seen her. (She is) confident, cool, calm, execution, getting ahead. I liked it so much the first night, I wanted to see it again. She handled herself really well. I’m telling you, their offense and our offense, it’s almost side by side, identical. So, for us to shut them down to two runs, that’s a big deal.”

Holding them to two runs per game for the series would normally end in a series sweep for the Sooners. But Texas shutting Oklahoma’s lineup down to one run in the final two games of the series was the difference.

“I knew that today (Sunday) was going to be tough,” Kelly Maxwell said. “Credit Texas’ offense for picking up on my mistakes. I think there is just more opportunity to learn and grow from this weekend.”

The Sooners will have a day to regroup before traveling to face Wichita State on Tuesday.

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‘We’ve got six very viable pitchers’: Sooners have a loaded pitching staff once again

The Sooners pitching staff might be as deep as it’s been in recent memory.

Softball season is finally here, and the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to make history once again. The back-to-back-to-back national champions are looking to win their fourth championship in a row. A feat that has never been accomplished in the sport of softball.

The Sooners return a number of players from last year’s national championship team, including [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag], and [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] who have been a part of all three.

The Sooners’ pitching staff may have the biggest question marks. Simply because they lost [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] from last year’s team. But they added an All-American in [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag], [autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag], and [autotag]Paytn Monticelli[/autotag] to go along with May and sophomores Kierston Deal and S.J. Guerin.

Patty Gasso spoke about how deep she feels her pitching staff is this season. “We’ve got six very viable pitchers,” Gasso said. “All of them could help us in some way shape or form. It may be very likely you see Nicole May get things started because she’s like the matriarch of this pitching staff. She’s earned it and deserved it. But you are going to see a lot of looks this weekend as well. We’ve got to get this figured out as to who is going to be a game-changer for us in the first three weeks.”

The Sooners start their season with two top-10 teams in their first three games. If they can get past both of those, they’ll have plenty of time to play with their pitching rotation to be prepared for conference play.

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