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Oklahoma softball: Sooners begin season No. 4 in preseason polls

By Chip Rouse

TOKYO, JAPAN - JUNE 25: Keilani Ricketts #10 of United States pitches against Japan during the game three between Japan and United States at the Tokyo Dome on June 25, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - JUNE 25: Keilani Ricketts #10 of United States pitches against Japan during the game three between Japan and United States at the Tokyo Dome on June 25, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images) /
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Don’t look now, but the 2021 Oklahoma softball season begins on Thursday.

The Sooners are one of three teams taking part in the Miner Invitational in El Paso, Texas, along with the University of Texas-El Paso and Abilene Christion. Oklahoma will face both teams twice over two days.

Oklahoma begins the season in a familiar spot under head coach Patty Gasso, ranked among country’s top-10 teams. The Sooners begin the 2021 season No. 4 in both the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top-25.

This is the 11th straight year Oklahoma has been ranked in the top 10 in the NFCA’s preseason poll, the nation’s longest active streak. Moreover, the Sooners have been ranked in the top five to start the season in eight of the last nine years.

Oklahoma’s softball season, like every other NCAA spring sport, was cut short because of the nationwide COVID-19 outbreak. Gasso’s team finished with a 20-4 record and ranked sixth in the national polls.

No. 1 UCLA, Washington and Arizona are the three teams ranked ahead of Oklahoma in both national preseason polls.

Gasso’s squad begins the season with eight games in Texas over the next two weeks, and then heads to Arizona for five games before returning to Norman for the home season opener on March 5 and a three-day, four-team tournament, the Marriott Courtyard Tournament, involving Missouri, Sam Houston State and the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

This is Gasso’s 27th season coaching the Sooner softball team, over that time OU has made 25 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and 13 trips to the Women’s College World Series, including four WCWS championships and twice as a runner-up. Gasso’s career record at Oklahoma is 1,292-340-2 (.791).

The Sooners have a strong core of talent returning for the 2021 season, including All-Americans pitcher Giselle Juarez and outfielder Jocelyn Alo, along with two-time WCWS All-Tournament selection Nicole Mendez and All-Big 12 pitcher Shannon Saile.

It’s batter up on what should be another championship run for Oklahoma softball, beginning Thursday in El Paso, Texas.

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