Oklahoma softball critics just watched Miali Guachino answer

Oklahoma softball’s 2026 season has so far been unpredictable in the first 15 games, and the pitching-by-committee approach employed by Patty Gasso is producing interesting results in the Sooners' favor (for the most part). The Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic games against San Diego State on Thursday and Washington on Sunday allowed sophomore right-handed pitcher Miali Guachino to prove her critics wrong with victories as the solo pitcher that the opposing batters faced in two of the Sooners' six games over the weekend.

As Guachino ,who transferred from Ole Miss this offseason, gave up just eight hits and four runs while striking out 15 batters in the combined 10 innings on the mound, she showed a strong performance at the prestigious college softball event over the weekend that nobody would’ve expected from her after starting the season with three dropped runs in the Arizona series opening weekend. Her Women’s College World Series experience with Ole Miss last year was more accurately represented in her starter debut as a Sooner when she fanned out a no-hitter facing Montana, while since then remaining at an undefeated 4-0 in the circle.

Guachino earns two complete-game wins in Mary Nutter Classic after rough start to season

The former Ole Miss right-hander started the four-day tournament with two strikeouts in the first inning against San Diego State, whose two-RBI home run from catcher Jade Ignacio was the only swing to get past Guachino’s elastic wind-ups that led the Sooners to a 10-2 mercy-rule win after five innings.

Guachino repeated that same result in the finale versus Washington when the Huskies were shut down after two consecutive homers launched by center fielder Jadyn Glab and first baseman Alexis Deboer in the first inning, with the 15-2 final score shortened after five frames giving Guachino and OU a second run-rule win.

Guachino holds a 2.82 ERA, which is the second-lowest on the team behind sophomore lefty Audrey Lowry, who has emerged as the de facto Sooners ace with a 1.72 ERA. However, Lowry has a higher opponent batting average of .223 compared to the .169 of Guachino.