Oklahoma Sooners softball

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Oklahoma Sooners softball
Oklahoma Sooners logo.svg
Founded1975
UniversityUniversity of Oklahoma
Head coachPatty Gasso (27th season)
ConferenceBig 12
LocationNorman, OK
Home stadiumOU Softball Complex (Capacity: 1,378)
NicknameSooners
ColorsCrimson and cream[1]
   
NCAA Tournament champions
2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021
NCAA WCWS runner-up
2012, 2019
NCAA WCWS appearances
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
AIAW WCWS appearances
1975, 1980, 1981, 1982
NCAA Super Regional appearances
2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
NCAA Tournament appearances
1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Conference Tournament championships
1996, 2001, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2021
Regular Season Conference championships
1996, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is the softball team that represents University of Oklahoma in the sport of women's softball.

History[]

The Sooners participate in the Big 12 Conference, and play their home games at OU Softball Complex. Oklahoma has won their conference title 13 times, has been to the NCAA Tournament 27 times, has been to the NCAA Women's College World Series 14 times, and has won the NCAA championship five times. OU also appeared in the AIAW Women's College World Series four times. The team is coached by Patty Gasso.

The Sooners won their first national championship back in 2000. They swept Harvard, Cal-State Northridge, and Oregon State at their home regionals to advance to their first appearance in the Women's College World Series. They beat California and knocked off Southern Mississippi and Arizona to advance to the championship game against UCLA. They beat UCLA 3-1 to capture their first national title.

They hosted and won their 2013 regional. They beat Marist and Arkansas with a combined score of 41-6. They hosted again their super regionals against Texas A&M where they outscored the Aggies 18-2. In Oklahoma City, they went through 8 seeded Michigan, #10 ranked Texas, and #11 ranked Washington to reach Tennessee in the championship. Game 1 was where Lauren Chamberlain hit her iconic two-run walk-off home run after 12 innings of play. In game 2, Keilani Ricketts drove in all four runs, and Michelle Gascoigne pitched a shut out to obtain their second national title.

Once again, they hosted their regional in 2016 where they beat Wichita State and Ole Miss. They went on to host their super regional against Louisiana-Lafayette where they swept to advance to the Women's College World Series once again. In their first game in the tournament, they beat Alabama in extra innings. They faced #12 Michigan in game 2, and beat LSU in their third to face Auburn in the championship. They won 2-1 in their final game where Paige Parker threw a complete game.

In 2017, Sooners hosted another straight regional and won against North Dakota State, Arkansas, and Tulsa. From there, they went to #7 Auburn for the Super Regionals where they won in two games. They held off Baylor in Oklahoma City, overcame #6 Washington, and beat Oregon to face Florida in the finals. They won game 1 in the longest game ever played in the finals in 17 innings. They finished off the series with a swept to capture their fourth national championship.

In 2021, the Sooners hosted their regional as the No. 1 overall seed and beat Wichita State, Texas A&M, and Morgan State. They advanced to host their super regional against Washington, which they won in two games. At the Women's College World Series, they lost their first round game to James Madison University; subsequently, they won four straight elimination games to advance to the championship series, besting Georgia, UCLA, and James Madison twice. In the championship series, they lost their first game to Florida State, but returned to win games two and three to claim their fifth national championship.

Love's Field[]

On October 28, 2021, it was announced a new softball stadium, Love's Field, is planned to break ground in 2022 and open before the 2024 season. Love's provided the naming gift following a $9 million donation. The estimated cost for the project is $27 million. The overall square footage of the complex will be 44,000 square feet and will have a seating capacity of 3,000.[2][3]

Coaching history[]

Main article: List of Oklahoma Sooners head softball coaches
Years Coach Record %
1975-1976 Amy Dahl 18-16 .529
1977-1984 Marita Hynes 257-188 .578
1985-1993 Michelle Thomas 226-230 .496
1994 Jim Beitia 58-15 .795
1995–Present Patty Gasso 1,336–341–2 .796

[4]

Championships[]

NCAA Women's College World Series National Championships[]

Season Coach Record WCWS final opponent
2000 Patty Gasso 66–8 Won Championship game over UCLA 3–1
2013 Patty Gasso 57–4 Won Championship series over Tennessee 2–0
2016 Patty Gasso 57–8 Won Championship series over Auburn 2–1
2017 Patty Gasso 61–9 Won Championship series over Florida 2–0
2021 Patty Gasso 56–4 Won Championship series over Florida State 2–1
National Championships[5] 5

Conference Championships[]

Season Conference Record Head Coach
1996 Big 8 Conference 17–5 Patty Gasso
1999 Big 12 Conference 11–3 Patty Gasso
2000 Big 12 Conference 17–1 Patty Gasso
2009 Big 12 Conference 14–4 Patty Gasso
2012 Big 12 Conference 19–5 Patty Gasso
2013 Big 12 Conference 15–2 Patty Gasso
2014 Big 12 Conference 16–2 Patty Gasso
2015 Big 12 Conference 14–2 Patty Gasso
2016 Big 12 Conference 17–1 Patty Gasso
2017 Big 12 Conference 17–1 Patty Gasso
2018 Big 12 Conference 18–0 Patty Gasso
2019 Big 12 Conference 18–0 Patty Gasso
2021 Big 12 Conference 16–1 Patty Gasso

[6]

Conference Tournament Championships[]

Year Conference Tournament Location Head Coach
1996 Big 8 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso
2001 Big 12 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso
2007 Big 12 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso
2010 Big 12 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso
2017 Big 12 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso
2018 Big 12 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso
2021 Big 12 Conference Oklahoma City, OK Patty Gasso

[7]

NCAA Tournament seeding history[]

National seeding began in 2005. The Oklahoma Sooners have been a national seed 15 of the 16 tournaments.

Years → '05 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '21
Seeds → 14 3 10 7 14 9 4 1 7 11 3 10 4 1 1

Records by opponent[]

Sources:[8]

Big 12 Conference opponents
Opponent GP W-L-T Win % First meeting Last meeting
Baylor 79 66-13 0.835 0-2 L
September 21, 1979		 10-2 W(5)
May 14, 2021
Iowa State 115 87-28 0.757 1-2 L
April 15, 1978		 22-2 W (5)
March 28, 2021
Kansas 116 72-44 0.621 5-2 W
April 15, 1978		 10-1 W (5)
April 3, 2021
Oklahoma State 168 97-71 0.577 11-1 W
April 9, 1975		 10-2 W (6)
May 15, 2021
Texas 72 48-24 0.667 1-4 L
April 19, 1997		 9-0 W (5)
April 18, 2021
Texas Tech 71 64-7 0.901 7-1 W
April 22, 1977		 8-2 W
May 14, 2021
Former Big 12 Conference opponents
Opponent GP W-L-T Win % First meeting Last meeting
Missouri 95 54-41 0.568 4-13 L
March 16, 1977		 11-0 W (5)
March 7, 2021
Nebraska 89 45-44 0.506 1-2 L
April 15, 1977		 10-2 W (5)
February 21, 2020
Texas A&M 80 50-30 0.625 0-7 L
April 22, 1977		 2-1 W
February 21, 2020
Major Non-Conference opponents
Opponent GP W-L-T Win % First meeting Last meeting
Alabama 18 8-10 0.444 12-0 W
February 16, 1997		 7-3 W
June 2, 2019
Arizona 50 21-29 0.420 3-4 L
March 14, 1979		 6-4 W (10)
February 15, 2020
Arizona State 29 15-14 0.517 0-3 L
March 15, 1979		 5-3 W
February 26, 2021
Florida 8 7-1 0.875 1-0 W
February 28, 1998		 2-0 W
June 2, 2018
Florida State 16 8-8 0.500 1-0 W
April 24, 1987		 5-1 W
June 10, 2021
Michigan 21 8-13 0.381 1-2 L
March 22, 1986		 7-5 W
June 4, 2016
Tulsa 55 45-10 0.818 11-10 W
February 19, 1994		 10-1 W (5)
March 27, 2019
UCLA 17 5-12 0.294 2-3 L
March 9, 1981		 10-3 W
June 5, 2021
Washington 29 14-15 0.483 2-3 L
March 3, 1995		 9-1 W (5)
May 29, 2021

Coaching staff[]

Name Position Seasons at Oklahoma
Patty Gasso Head coach 27th
Jennifer Rocha Associate Head Coach and Pitching Coach 3rd
JT Gasso Assistant Coach 6th
Kelsey Arnold Graduate Student Manager 2nd
Sydney Romero Graduate Student Manager 2nd
Erin Arevalo Volunteer Assistant Coach 1st
Reference:[9]

Notable players[]

Sources:[10]

National Awards[]

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Softball America Player of the Year
NFCA National Freshman of the Year
Softball America Freshman of the Year
Honda Sports Award
Academic All-American of the Year
  • Lana Moran (2000)

First Team All-Americans[]

Conference Awards[]

Big 12 Player of the Year
Big 12 Pitcher of the Year
Big 12 Freshman of the Year
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
  • Heather Scaglione (2004, 2005)
  • Savannah Long (2008)
  • Lindsey Vandever (2010)
  • Kelsey Arnold (2016, 2018)
  • Caleigh Clifton (2019)
  • Grace Lyons (2021)
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
  • Andrea Davis (2000)
Big 12 Coach of the Year
  • Patty Gasso (1996, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)

References[]

  1. ^ "Colors – OU Brand Guide". April 20, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Love's Travel Stops Contributes Lead Gift for New Softball Stadium". soonersports.com. October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  3. ^ Bailey, Eric (October 28, 2021). "OU to begin construction of Love's Field, a $27 million stadium for softball program". Tulsa World. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  4. ^ "OU Softball Coaches". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  5. ^ "WCWS History". Sooner Sports. University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Oklahoma Sooners Softball 2019 Media Guide" (PDF). SoonerSports.com. University of Oklahoma Athletics. p. 19. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Oklahoma Sooners Softball 2019 Media Guide" (PDF). SoonerSports.com. University of Oklahoma Athletics. pp. 106–107. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  8. ^ "2019 OU Softball Media Guide" (PDF). SoonerSports.com. University of Oklahoma Athletics. pp. 118–134. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Oklahoma Softball Coaches". SoonerSports.com. University of Oklahoma Athletics. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Big 12 Softball Records" (PDF). Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. pp. 86–89. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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