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Oklahoma softball: Sooners’ championship pedigree of dynastic proportion

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso during a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kentucky Wildcats at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.Ou Softball Vs Kentucky
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso during a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Kentucky Wildcats at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.Ou Softball Vs Kentucky /
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Over the last decade, few college teams have been as dominant in their sport as Patty Gasso’s Oklahoma softball team. And the Sooners were having tremendous success even before that.

Since 2014, Oklahoma has been crowned Big 12 regular-season champion nine straight times (the 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic), the Sooners have been to the Women’s College World Series every season, and they’ve won it all four times with a good chance to add number five this season.

The one common denominator through all of that has been head coach Patty Gasso. Now in her 29th season leading the OU softball program, Gasso’s Sooner teams have notched 21 conference championships (14 regular season and 7 conference tournament), made 27 NCAA Tournament appearances, advanced to 21 Women’s College World Series and won six national championships.

If that doesn’t spell dynasty, I’m not sure what does.

Oklahoma began playing varsity softball in 1975. There were three head coaches before Gasso arrived on the scene in 1995. In the 21 years before Gasso, OU compiled an overall record of 559-449, a winning percentage of .555, with no conference championships. In 29 seasons under Gasso, the Sooners have a winning percentage of .806 and a record of 1,446-345-2.

The Sooners, 51-1 this season and riding the momentum of a program-record 43 consecutive wins, begin their 2023 NCAA postseason run this weekend as host of the Norman Regional and the No. 1 overall seed this year’s NCAA Championship. This OU team is just five wins away from breaking the NCAA record for consecutive wins. The Sooners also had a 40-game win streak last season.

OU will take on Hofstra on Friday afternoon (4 p.m. CT on ESPNU) in the opening round of the Norman Regional at Marita Hynes Field. The Pride (29-25) earned their tournament berth by winning the Colonial Athletic Association championship. Oklahoma and Hofstra have faced each other two other times, 23 years apart. Hofstra won 1-0 in 1996 in Columbus, Georgia, and the Sooners won 17-3 in five innings in 2019 in a game played in Clearwater, Florida.

The winner of the OU-Hofstra game will face the winner of Missouri (34-24) and California 33-19-1) in the double-elimination regional tournament.

This is the fourth consecutive year, and the fifth time overall, Oklahoma has been the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Softball Championship.

The Sooners’ No. 1 overall seed is well justified. In addition to sporting the best overall record NCAA Division I softball in the 2023 season, Oklahoma also ranks No, 1 in the country in hitting, pitching and fielding for the second season in a row.

The winner of the Norman Regional will play the winner of the Clemson Regional — which includes No. 16 Clemson (46-9), UNC Greensboro (37-20), Auburn (40-17) and Cal State Fullerton (33-19) —  in the Super Regional, which also will be hosted by Oklahoma in Norman.

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