So far, so good. Despite a major roster makeover -- some closer to the program would prefer to call it a reload -- Patty Gasso's Oklahoma Sooners softball squad is 19-0 and back in its familiar spot at the top of the national rankings. But the real test is just beginning.
The Sooners begin their inaugural conference season in the SEC, a league loaded with nationally recognized softball programs -- sounds like every other sport that comes out of the SEC these days -- with a three-game series against No. 10 South Carolina (20-0) starting Friday at beautiful new Love's Field.
The four-time defending national champions are undefeated entering conference play as one of two college softball teams that have yet to lose in the 2025 season, with South Carolina being the only other.
Although everything appears normal for Oklahoma softball at this point in the season, we are about to find out the true identity of the 2025 Sooner team. Over the next four weekends, OU will play weekend series against three teams currently ranked in the top 10, and the Sooners close out the regular season against Texas and Florida, currently ranked No. 2 and 3, respectively.
There is still a lot of doubt surrounding this OU softball team due to the fact that its nonconference schedule was not as challenging as in year's past. The Sooners have played only one ranked team so far, then-No. 23 Baylor, which they defeated 9-1 and 8-0 in the Getterman Classic last month. The Bears dropped out of the rankings after the losses, though.
Oklahoma will open the weekend series against South Carolina with a night game on Friday and afternoon games on Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be on SEC Network+.
What fans need to know
- OU is 4-5 all-time against South Carolina and 4-2 against the Gamecocks under Patty Gasso. The two teams have not played since 2018. Oklahoma won that game 5-1 in Norman. The Sooners have played 150 games against SEC opponents and own a record on 113-37.
- South Carolina's best win(s) this season is a three-game sweep of then-No. 8 Duke. Oklahoma's best win(s) so far was against then-No. 23 Baylor in a festival hosted at Baylor.
- Oklahoma and South Carolina are the only two undefeated teams remaining in college softball. Five other SEC teams have just one loss. While OU is ranked No. 1 in all of the major polls, the Sooners are No. 26 in the current RPI rankings (which takes the quality of your opponents into account). South Carolina, meanwhile, is No. 5 in RPI.
- OU and USC are comparable in a number of statistical categories. The Sooners rank first in walks allowed (18), second in the league in home runs (39), runs allowed (25), earned run average (1.26) and third in slugging percentage. (.684). South Carolina is first in the SEC in doubles (56) and walks taken (113), and second in on-base percentage (.491) and fourth in batting average (.374).
- South Carolina junior Quincee Lilio, who played two seasons at Oklahoma, leads the SEC with a .583 batting average and a .691 on-base percentage. She is second in hits (35).
- Oklahoma's Ella Parker is second in the conference behind USC's Lilio in batting average and leads the SEC with 12 doubles. OU pitchers Isabella Smith and Kiersten Deal rank first and fourth in the SEC with earned run averages of 0.27 and 0.76, respectively. Smith's 0.27 ERA also leads Division-I softball.
- Eleven of South Carolina's 20 wins this season were by run rule. That leads the nation.
- The Gamecocks have outscored their opponents 167-40 this season. That includes a 37-5 advantage in the fourth inning and 37-4 in the sixth.