The Athletic, in its NCAA Softball Championship preview, didn’t see the Oklahoma Sooners having any issues getting back to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, but once there, it could be the weakness that has worried fans all season that will leave Sooner Nation miserably watching Texas win another national title.
Molly Keshin and Stewart Mandel broke down every NCAA regional for The Athletic before concluding with their predictions for which team will win it all. Despite DraftKings deeming the Sooners favorites to win their ninth national title under head coach Patty Gasso as the third overall seed, neither writer picked OU as their champion, with Keshin picking Texas and Mandel going with Texas Tech.
Oklahoma's powerful lineup might not be enough at Women's College World Series
“No matter how badly Patty Gasso and the Sooners want to be back on top, I don’t know if their pitching can get them there — the same goes for UCLA,” Keshin wrote. “While I’d personally love to see seniors like NiJaree Canady, Karlyn Pickens or Jordy Frahm go out on top as well, I think Texas showed enough in the SEC tournament for me to believe it has the personnel and grit it takes to go back-to-back here. Longhorns it is!”
The Longhorns beat Texas Tech in the championship series a year ago after both teams beat the Sooners during the Women’s College World Series to end their streak of four straight national titles. Texas avenged a regular-season sweep to OU before claiming the national championship despite the Sooners proving to be a better team before.
The Sooners again this season beat Texas in a series while winning two of three in Austin. That propelled OU to an SEC regular-season championship for the second year in a row before Texas eventually won the conference tournament last week after OU slipped in the quarterfinals to Georgia. That final statement was enough for Texas to be seeded over the Sooners and also apparently earn some respect to repeat as national champion. However, Alabama, with no hardware, somehow got the top seed over both Red River rivals.
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What really makes analysts like Keshin hesitant, though, isn’t a repeat of last year, but the Sooners’ overall lackluster pitching staff that has worried OU fans since the start of the season.
OU as a team has a 3.15 ERA, which ranks 38th in college softball. That shouldn’t be considered bad, but it’s certainly not elite. Only UCLA, which Keshin also mentioned, has a worse ERA than OU among the top-8 seeds in the NCAA Softball Championship.
On the flip side, though, Oklahoma and UCLA have historically powerful lineups as both teams have already broken the previous record for most home runs in a season. Bats go cold, though, and the likes of NiJaree Canady of Texas Tech, who the Sooners could face in the first round of the WCWS, could put OU in a pitcher's dual it can’t swing its way out of. The Sooners’ bracket of the WCWS will likely also include Tennessee, which has the best team ERA in the country.
OU fans can sometimes be overly critical after being accustomed to such high standards from Gasso’s program, but pitching is a real problem that others have also noticed that could hinder the Sooners in Oklahoma City. These Sooners are certainly capable, but this is a reality check that they’re not perfect.
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