SEC regular-season champion and top-ranked Oklahoma did not make it past the quarterfinal round in the SEC Softball Tournament, but the Sooners led all comers in conference postseason honors.
Seven different Oklahoma players were named to the 2026 All-SEC first and second teams. Four Sooners -- shortstop Gabbie Garcia, catcher Kendall Wells, and outfielders Kai Minor and Ella Parker -- were First-Team All-SEC selections. outfielder Abby Dayton, utility Isabela Emerling and pitcher Audrey Lowry represented OU on the second team.
Regular-season champions Sooners top SEC postseason softball honors
The newcomer Wells was the most decorated Oklahoma player in the postseason conference honors, being named Freshman of the Year, in addition to her All-SEC First-Team selection.
Garcia and Parker were also named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, giving Oklahoma 10 total honorees, the most of any SEC school. The seven Sooners selected to the All-SEC first and second teams tied defending national champion Texas, winner of this year's SEC Softball Tournament championship with a 7-1 win over Alabama on Saturday.
Until just this past week, Wells led all of NCAA Division I softball in home runs and has set new marks nationally, in the SEC and at OU for home runs in a single season by a freshman. Her 36 home runs leads all Sooners and ranks second nationally behind UCLA's Megan Grant with 38.
Minor, another freshman and the Sooners' starting center fielder, leads the conference with a .446 batting average. This was the first All-SEC First-Team selection for both Garcia and Parker, who between them have combined for 43 of Oklahoma's 174 home runs this season and have each driven in more than 60 runs.
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OU's second-team honorees are also having outstanding seasons. Dayton (.398) and Emerling (.395) are both hitting close to .400, and Emerling's 18 home runs are six more than last season. The sophomore Lowry has taken on the role as ace of the Sooner pitching staff with 21 wins, third-best in the SEC, a 2.70 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 114.0 innings.
Oklahoma had four players named to the All-SEC first and second teams a year ago in the Sooners' first season as members of the conference, along with Coach of the Year Patty Gasso and Newcomer of the Year, pitcher Sam Landry.
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