Just as Oklahoma had acquired the moniker "Quarterback U" in football for all of the Heisman-quality quarterbacks that have come through the program over the past 20-plus years, the same can be said of the school's preeminence hitting home runs in the sport of softball.
Over the past 10 years in particular, no team has dominated the home run category in college softball like Patty Gasso's eight-time national champions Oklahoma Sooners. And the 2026 season is shaping up as the best one yet.
The catalyst behind Oklahoma's 2026 softball assault on several NCAA home run records is a true freshman, Kendall Wells, who is zeroing in on the all-time individual mark for home runs in a single season. The Georgia native leads the Sooners with 31 home runs, just six away from tying the all-time NCAA record of 37, set by Lauren Espinoza of Arizona for a mark that has held for 31 years since 1995.
Kendall Wells leading Sooners' historical home run season
With a game-winning, three-run home run in the Texas series this past weekend, Wells set a new NCAA single-season home run mark by a freshman. It was a record that was shared by two former Oklahoma long-ball legends, Jocelyn Alo and Lauren Chamberlain, as well as Kelly Najam of Hawaii.
The sensational OU freshman had previously broken the all-time SEC freshman record with her 27th home run in a nonconference contest against Wichita State on March 31. She did that in the 37th game of her collegiate career.
In addition to her home run superiority, Wells also leads the team in runs batted in (69), total bases (146) and slugging percentage (1.106). Perhaps not surprisingly, Oklahoma ranks No. 1 nationally in all three offensive categories this season.
The great news if you're a Sooner softball fan is that Wells is just one bat in a lineup loaded top to bottom with home run power. Six different OU players have hit 10 or more home runs this season and 13 more have hit at least four out of the park.
With Wells leading the way, Oklahoma as a team will easily crush its own NCAA record for home runs in a season. One month into the season, the Sooners had already reached 100 homers for the season, becoming the fastest team in NCAA history to do so. OU accomplished the feat in the first 25 games.
On March 21, in a 10-0 win over Ole Miss, Oklahoma passed its home run total for all of last season with an SEC season record of 122. The Sooners hit 121 home runs a year ago, which broke a 14-year-old record of 120 set by Florida in 2011.
The Sooners entered this week with 150 home runs, leaving them 12 away from breaking the all-time NCAA record of 161, held by the 2021 Oklahoma team. As prolific as this year's Oklahoma home run-hitting team is, this is not anything new for Sooner softball. Oklahoma owns four of the top 10 team records for home runs in a season. The current total already ranks fifth all-time.
No. 1 (161 in 2021)
No. 4 (155 in 2022)
No. 9 (122 in 2024)
No. 10 (121 in 2025)
With 10 games remaining in the regular season and at least 10 or more likely in the postseason, it's pretty comfortable to assume that there are a lot more fireworks to come this season from the freshman Wells, as well as the 2026 Oklahoma team, as the power-hitting Sooners stake their claim as the most prolific home run team of all-time.
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