Oklahoma softball: Jordy Bahl stuns Sooner Nation with transfer announcement

Just a few days after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Women’s College World Series and leading Oklahoma softball to a third straight national championship, sophomore pitcher Jordy Bahl announced she is entering the transfer portal.

Bahl, who was credited with 44 wins and just two losses in two seasons at Oklahoma, made the stunning public announcement on Monday via Twitter.

"“Nothing will compare to what this year and this team have been,” she wrote.“That is why this is such a bittersweet thing to do. I have decided to return home and play the game I love closer to the things that made me who I am and have always been more important to me than this game.”"

Bahl is from Papillion, Nebraska, near Omaha. The two-time All-American has not announced a transfer destination, but there is high speculation that she could land up at the University of Nebraska. She will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Bahl appeared in all five of Oklahoma’s WCWS games and was the winning pitcher in four of them. She pitched 24 2/3 scoreless innings in the WCWS, allowing 12 hits, striking out 33 and issuing just four walks. That was the third longest scoreless streak in WCWS history.

Her .90 earned run average in 2023 ranked her second in the country only to Stanford freshman sensation NiJaree Canady.

With Bahl transferring and Alex Storako, a former Michigan transfer, ending her collegiate eligibility, only soon-to-be senior Nicole May and freshman Kierston Deal, a former No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022, remain from OU’s 2023 starting pitcher rotation. As a result of this development, the Sooners will probably take a more serious offseason look to the transfer portal for additional pitching help.

A finalist this season for National Player of the Year, Bahl’s two short seasons at OU will forever be etched in history and she will go down as one of the best all-around players and greatest pitchers in Sooner softball history, and Oklahoma has been blessed with some great ones.

Head coach Patty Gasso said after the Monday announcement that Bahl had informed her and the staff on Friday that she had been feeling a strong need to be closer to home for quite some time and that she planned to enter the transfer portal.

"“We are grateful for her two years with our program and for everything she accomplished,” Gasso said in a statement.“She obviously was a huge part of our on-field success, but what I’ll always appreciate most about Jordy is her approach and dedication to the game. She is the ultimate competitor.”"

In other roster news, sophomore utility player Sophia Nugent also has announced that she is entering the transfer portal. The Southern California native played two seasons at OU. She saw action in 50 games this season with a .274 batting average, seven home runs and 23 runs batted in.