Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells' dream season has been awoken by reality.
Wells was on pace to shatter the NCAA record for most home runs in a season with 36 homers so far, which was one shy of tying the mark with four games still left in the regular season, plus the postseason. However, with the regular season now over and the SEC Softball Tournament this week, Wells is still sitting at 36 home runs after failing to hit a ball over the fence in the No. 1 Sooners' last four games, which is the longest such streak of the season for her.
Oklahoma's opponents are avoiding Wells while after NCAA record
This trend, though, is more about opponents wising up as games grow more important than it is Wells being in a slump. Texas A&M this past weekend, with a small chance to steal the SEC regular-season title from OU, simply just refused to give the most powerful hitter in college softball even a chance.
Wells went to the plate 13 times in the three-game series against Texas A&M and was walked nearly half the time with six as the Aggies pitched around her potent bat. In Game 2, Wells was walked three times in four at-bats. She singled to left in her first AB of the day as the leadoff in the second inning. She also drew two walks in Game 1 and one in Game 3. It was the first SEC series this year that Wells didn't go yard at least once.
Georgia also walked Wells twice in Game 3 of its series the weekend before after Wells got within just a swing from history with long balls in both of the first two games of that series.
Read more: Oklahoma leaves no doubt as Sooners continue ruling the SEC
All of a sudden, Wells now has more walks (37) than home runs as opponents have chosen the lesser of the two evils. And more than likely, with the Sooners starting postseason play on Thursday, Wells' walks will continue to balloon while her home run opportunities grow rare and her chance at history dwindles, especially with UCLA's Megan Grant within one of Wells with 35 homers herself.
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