Despite winning four-straight national titles, the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves outside of the No. 1 spot in Softball America’s preseason top 25.
The four-time defending Oklahoma Sooners are going to have a new look when they take the field for the 2025 season. They’ve lost a lot of star power from a group that reset the record books over the last four seasons. The Sooners lost a trio of players in Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen, and Jayda Coleman, among the best to ever play their positions.
Also gone are Alyssa Brito, Kelly Maxwell, Alynah Torres, Nicole May, and Rylie Boone, players who were critical to Oklahoma’s success during their run.
Oklahoma retooled, but you can’t lose that much talent and be seen in the same light. So Patty Gasso’s bunch goes into the season with a lot to prove. To themselves and to the rest of the nation.
OU enters the 2025 season at No. 3 in Softball America’s preseason top 25. They come in behind No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Texas. Here’s what Softball America had to say about the Sooners.
Oklahoma is still in the mix at the top despite the amount of talent the Sooners lost. Patty Gasso brought in a strong transfer group paired with one of the best 2025 recruiting classes. Sophomores Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering are also First-Team Preseason All-Americans. – Softball America Staff
Florida was the only team to hand the Sooners a loss in last year’s Women’s College World Series. But OU avoided elimination with an eighth-inning walk-off home run off the bat of Jayda Coleman. The Sooners then went on to sweep Texas in the final to earn their fourth straight national title.
The Gators and Longhorns returned a lot of the lineups that made them title contenders in 2024. Oklahoma will have to overcome both teams in a deep SEC to earn their first conference championship.
The Sooners will be relying on Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering, taking their games to another level. As true freshmen, they were stellar for OU, coming through in big games during the Sooners’ title run. Parker and Pickering were selected to Softball America’s preseason All-America teams along with Utah transfer Abby Dayton.
But OU also returns Cydney Sanders and Kierston Deal. In an effort to retool the roster, Gasso and her staff brought in a number of players like Sam Landry Ailana Agbayani, who, along with Parker, Pickering, and Dayton, were included in Softball America’s top 100 players for 2025.
And as important as any of the players on the field, the Sooners field the best coaching staff in the sport with Gasso, Jennifer Rocha, and J.T. Gasso.
Regardless of where they’re ranked to start the season, everyone knows who the team to beat in college softball is. The Oklahoma Sooners will once again enter a season as the mountain to climb for college softball teams across the country.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
