Goliath Oklahoma made short work of the SEC's softball version of the biblical David, sweeping three games over the Easter holiday weekend from last-place Kentucky and taking over the top spot in the SEC standings in the process.
The Sooners improved to 38-3 on the season and 11-1 in the conference, putting them two games clear of both Alabama and former No. 1-ranked Texas, and setting the scene for a giant Red River Rivalry with the Longhorns this weekend in Austin.
No. 3 Oklahoma completed the sweep with a 12-2 win on Saturday, scoring nine of the 12 runs in the final two innings of a five-inning, run-rule victory. It was the Sooners' third run-rule win of the series -- following 10-2 and 9-1victories in the first two games -- and their 29th of the season in 41 games, including seven times in SEC play.
Pitchers Audrey Lowry, Miali Guachino and Sydney Berzon were outstanding in the circle for the Sooners, allowing a combined three runs on eight hits and striking out six in 12.0 innings of work. That trio has combined for 33 of Oklahoma's 38 wins with just two losses.
The OU offense was efficient, using 30 hits to produce 31 runs and outscoring Kentucky 31-5 over the three games. Seven of the 30 Oklahoma hits left the yard, including three more by super freshman Kendall Wells. The Sooners now have a season total of 144 home runs, just 17 away from tying the NCAA record held by Oklahoma since 2021.
Kai Minor, who leads the team in hitting with a .496 batting average, had two multi-hit games in the series and was 5-for-9 with three RBI. Another Sooner freshman, Lexi McDaniel, had four hits in six at-bats and drove in five runs.
The Sooners' next action will be the showdown series at Texas this weekend. OU owns a 64-28 record in the all-time series against its archrival. Oklahoma took three games against the Longhorns in Norman last season, but lost to eventual national champion Texas in last year's Women's College World Series.
3 takeaways from the Sooners' 3rd series sweep in 4 SEC series
The defining part of the season for the Sooners begins this weekend and thereafter
Oklahoma's four SEC series so far have been against teams (Auburn, Ole Miss, LSU and Kentucky) with a combined record of 11-41 against conference opponents. Those four teams range from 12th to 16th in the current league standings. From here on, things are going to get a lot more interesting and considerably more competitive.
Over the next four weekends, the Sooners will face Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Texas A&M to finish out the regular season. All four are nationally ranked, with Texas, Arkansas and Georgia currently ranked among the top 11 teams in the country.
This is a young OU team performing like a veteran squad
It should be an ominous notion for opponents of Oklahoma softball over the next few years that this is a young team and a roster mostly made up of underclassmen. Four Sooner freshmen were in the starting lineup in the OU-Kentucky game on Saturday (Kendall Wells, Kai Minor, Lexi McDaniel and Allyssa Parker). That has been the case on any given day this season, and the freshmen from the Sooners' 2025 recruiting class are producing at a very high level. If that's not enough to get your attention, consider that OU also has the No. 1 recruiting class coming in for 2026.
Freshman Kendall Wells continues her record-shattering assault on the all-time HR record
Kendall Wells hit her 28th, 29th and 30th home runs of the season in the Kentucky series. Earlier last week, she broke the SEC record for home runs in a season with her 27th fence-clearing blast. Her 30th home run tied her with OU's Jocelyn Alo and Lauren Chamberlain, and Kelly Majam of Hawaii, for the NCAA single-season freshman home run record. Wells is just seven round-trippers away from tying the NCAA single-season home run record of 37 that has stood since 1995.
Also of note
The three wins over Kentucky extended Oklahoma's home winning streak at Love's Field to 30 consecutive games.
The Sooners came from behind, scoring 10 unanswered runs in Thursday's opening game with Kentucky and scored nine unanswered runs in Saturday's game after falling behind 1-0 in the first inning. Oklahoma has 13 comeback wins this season.
Kai Minor went 3-for-3 on Thursday and had a couple more hits in the series finale on Saturday. The talented freshmen has 20 multi-hit games this season.
Oklahoma has scored four or more runs in 52 innings this season.