Kendall Wells is on the verge of shattering the all-time NCAA individual record for home runs in a single season, and she is just a freshman. But she isn't the only Oklahoma freshman this season powdering the softball beyond the fences.
Wells, who already owns the SEC individual record for home runs in a season and has tied the Oklahoma single-season record with 34 in 49 games, is four away from setting a new NCAA all-time record and bypass Lauren Espinosa, who clubbed 37 long bombs for Arizona in 1995.
Wells' 34 home runs represents 38% of the Sooners' record-tying 161 home runs this season, which matches Oklahoma's NCAA record number set in 2021. The next home run hit by the Sooners will set a new NCAA team record. Seven Oklahoma players have hit 10 or more home runs this season and three of those are freshmen.
Freshmen leading the Sooners' historic season at the plate
The combination of Wells, Lexi McDaniel and Allyssa Parker, who doubles both as a pitcher and utility player in the field, has hit a total of 55 home runs in Oklahoma's 49 games this season. That is more than 250 Divison-I college softball teams have total.
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Another OU freshman, leadoff hitter and center fielder Kai Minor, leads all freshmen with a batting average of .451. She also has six home runs, along with 33 runs batted in.
When you combine Minor's 33 RBI with Wells' 76, McDaniel's 30 and Parker's 26, the total comes to 165 by this OU foursome alone, which happens to be more than 43 teams in Division I have in total runs scored.
Underclassmen have accounted for 93, or 58%, of Oklahoma's NCAA record-tying 161 home runs this season.
Those are scary numbers, especially if you're a team on the Sooners' schedule for the next couple of seasons. The Sooners lose only five seniors from the 2026 roster to graduation, and two of those are pitchers. OU also gets back Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, who has been out since early March with a torn ACL. She had 15 home runs and 48 RBI as a redshirt freshman last season.
And, oh, by the way, Oklahoma has the nation's No. 1 recruiting class coming in for the 2027 season, so you can expect the Sooner depth and supporting cast to become even stronger.
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