Oklahoma softball: What does immediate future look like for Sooner dynasty?

What’s left to accomplish for this Goliath-like Oklahoma softball team after claiming three straight national championships and five in the last seven years? Say it with me…How about an unprecedented four-peat.

The makeup of the Sooners’ team will, of course, be different as it is coming into every season. Oklahoma has been fortunate the past few seasons after all the roster comings and goings to always seem to come out a little ahead in the year-over-year roster adjustments.

This past season was a prime example. Oklahoma said goodbye to college softball’s career home-run leader in Jocelyn Alo after the 2022 season. The Sooners also lost a couple of starting position players in Jana Johns and Taylon Snow and a stellar starting pitcher in Hope Trautwein. All but Alo were former transfers. All had exhausted their eligibility after five seasons.

In addition to another top-rated 2022 recruiting class, head coach Patty Gasso adjusted the roster for the 2023 season by bringing in transfers Haley Lee from Texas A&M, Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres from Arizona State and 2022 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Alex Storako from Michigan. All of these players made major contributions to OU’s national championship run in 2023. A clear case of reloading as opposed to rebuilding.

Although we are just a little over a week into the offseason, Gasso no doubt will be looking to the transfer market in filling in the roster needs for next season. The Sooners knew that they would be losing the services of Lee and Storako as well as team captain and starting shortstop Grace Lyons. Lyons, a fifth-year senior, has been part of the last three OU national championship teams.

On Monday, Sooner softball fans learned of the surprise departure a two-time All-American pitcher Jordy Bahl to the transfer portal, and it was also announced that Sophia Nugent, a sophomore utility player was also entering the portal.

As far as what the starting lineup might look like for 2024, most of the Sooners prolific offensive production returns for another go-around next season, keyed by the most dynamic one- and two-hole hitters in college softball in Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings, both three-time All-Americans. The pair combined for 34 home runs and 114 RBI this past season and both had batting averages north of .400.

The Sooners also will return catcher Kinzie Hansen (.409, 13 HR and 57 RBI) for one more season, first baseman Sanders (9 HR, 31 RBI and some big hits in the WCWS), third baseman Alyssa Brito (17 HR, 60 RBI) and outfielders Rylie Boone, Torres and Jocelyn Erickson.

The pitching depth won’t be the same with the loss of Bahl, but OU still will have Nicole May, who was 18-0 with an ERA of .91, third best in the nation. May will move into the lead role, and left-hander Kiersten Deal, the No. 1 pitching recruit in the 2022 national class, is expected to see more action in the 2024 season. The Sooners also have another two-way player, like Bahl, coming in as part of the 2023 class. Ella Parker is a highly rated prospect who can play first base, the outfield and pitch. She is reported to have a strong bat and a strong left-hand pitching arm.

Joining Parker in OU’s 2023 class is Nellian McEnroe-Marinas, a middle infielder who is likely to be the replacement for Lyons, Kasidi Pickering, an outfielder, and Maya Bland, a utility player. McEnroe-Marinas is from Hawaii and Pickering and Parker are from California and Bland hails from Texas. All four of the 2023 recruits are rated as consensus top-15 prospects.

And this is probably not all of the roster adjustments as we can expect Gasso to pick off one or two more gems from the transfer market before fall practice commences.