Upcoming Event: Softball versus Battle Series - 1 on October 3, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Softball
vs Battle Series - 1
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Friday, February 24
Cathedral City, Calif.
2:30 PM CT
University of Oklahoma
vs
Cal State Fullerton
Sooners Head to Mary Nutter Classic
February 23, 2023 | Softball
2 Oklahoma
Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
Feb. 24-26 / Cathedral City, Calif. / Big League Dreams
WEEKEND BASICS
• Two-time defending national champion makes its annual trek to Cathedral City, Calif., this weekend for the 2023 edition of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
• The Sooners play five games across three days at the tournament, beginning with Friday matchups vs. Cal State-Fullerton (2:30 p.m. CT) and Texas A&M (5 p.m.) prior to Saturday contests vs. Utah (11:30 a.m.) and Loyola Marymount (2 p.m.). Sunday's highly-anticipated finale features No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 OU at 11:30 a.m.
• All the MNCC action can be seen via FloSoftball (subscription required). All games can be heard on 107.7 The Franchise or The Franchise 2 (103.3 FM, 1560 AM) in Oklahoma and nationwide on the TuneIn app.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Sooners went 3-1 last weekend at the Getterman Classic in Waco, Texas, hosted by Baylor. OU beat its first three opponents, Longwood, SFA and Army, by a combined score of 41-0 and allowed just three hits across the three games with all three being run-rule victories. The weekend was highlighted by a 22-0, five-inning domination of Stephen F. Austin where three Sooners went yard and freshman Jocelyn Erickson batting in eight runs. Additonally, junior Nicole May and sophomore Jordy Bahl combined on OU's first no-hitter of the season vs. Army.
• OU dropped its first game of the 2023 campaign on Sunday vs. RV/RV Baylor, 4-3. The Sooners rallied from a 4-1 deficit to cut the final margin to one run in the sixth inning. It was the program's just eighth loss in the past three years (123-8 in that span). It was Baylor's first win over OU since 2017 and the Sooners earliest loss of the season since 2020.
EARLY SEASON STORYLINES
• The Sooners have already collected three ranked wins on the season and have an opportunity for a fourth this weekend against No. 1 UCLA. OU meets 11 teams ranked in the preseason coaches top 25, including three of the preseason top five in UCLA, Oklahoma State and Florida State.
• OU is outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 73-9 on the season, surrendering an average of just one run per game. The pitching staff has been exceptional, tossing shutouts in six of OU's nine games. Junior Nicole May and sophomore Jordy Bahl combined on the staff's first no-hitter of the season and 67th in program history after OU had six a season ago.
• May and freshman Kierston Deal each hold 0.00 ERAs with a 1.17 team ERA. May and Jordy Bahl pace the staff with 28 strikeouts a piece.
• As a team, OU is batting .361 with 10 home runs. Freshman Jocelyn Erickson has impressed in her initial season in the Crimson and Cream, leading the team with four home runs and 14 RBIs after a 12-RBI weekend last week at the Getterman Classic.
LAST TIME THEY MET
• CSU-Fullerton: The Sooners trail in the all-time series vs. the Titans by a count of 7-11. OU is on a three-game win streak vs. Fullerton, most recently meeting the Titans at last year's Mary Nutter Classic. Then-frosh Jordy Bahl twirled a perfect game, striking out 11 in a 10-0, six-inning OU win.
• Texas A&M: A familiar foe, OU holds an all-time lead over the Aggies 52-30. The Sooners swept A&M in the NCAA Norman Regional last season, winning the regional final in a dominating 20-0 five-inning performance. The teams have met just once at Mary Nutter, a 2-1 OU win in 2020.
• Utah: OU holds a 20-5 all-time advantage over Utah. The teams last met at last year's Mary Nutter with OU taking a slim 2-1 Sunday win. Plenty of familiar faces occupy the Utes dugout in 2018 OU alum Paige Parker as Utah's pitching coach and Patty Gasso's youngest son, DJ, as Associate Head Coach.
• LMU: OU is undefeated all-time vs. Loyola Marymount with a 7-0 mark. The Sooners last met the Lions in Irvine last season at the inaugural Mark Campbell Invitational, a 5-0 OU win. The teams have met twice at Mary Nutter, most recently in 2015, a 9-0 OU win in five innings.
• UCLA: Powerhouses collide Sunday in matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2. The familiar postseason foes last met in the WCWS semifinals last season, with UCLA winning the first game to force an if-necessary matchup that OU handily won 15-0 in five innings. The Bruins hold 13-7 all-time advantage over the Sooners. The teams last met at Mary Nutter in 2019, a 7-1 UCLA victory.
HAPPY HOUR IN PALM SPRINGS
• Sooner fans making the trip to Palm Springs are invited to take part in a Happy Hour on Saturday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. PT at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa. The event is coordinated by Sooner Club and The Trophy Club, OU Softball's premier booster initiative.
• RSVP to the exclusive event here. Any schedule changes will be communicated to those that RSVP via email.
SOONERS IN THE POLLS
• The Sooners streak of being the top-ranked team for 31 consecutive coaches polls dating back to March 2, 2021 came to an end this week with undefeated UCLA taking the top spot from the Sooners. OU was the No. 1 team in both major polls for 721 days, nearly two calendar years.
• Oklahoma was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 in both the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25.
• Oklahoma's No. 1 spot in the NFCA poll marks the fourth time the Sooners enter a season in the top spot (2017, '18, '22, '23) and the third time OU has been the unanimous choice in the coaches poll, joining the 2017 and 2022 squads.
• OU received 800 total points and all 32 first-place votes to lead No. 2 UCLA (747) and No. 3 Oklahoma State (723) in the preseason poll. Florida and Florida State rounded out the top five.
• Additionally, it's the 12th straight year the Sooners have started in the NFCA's top 10, good for the nation's longest active streak. OU has been ranked in the top five 10 of the past 11 years, the most over that stretch.
• Overall, the Sooners are tied with Arizona for second with 23 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll, trailing only UCLA's 24.
• Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington are the only programs to be ranked in every NFCA preseason poll, which dates back to 1995. OU also extended its streak of being the only program ranked every week in the 28-year existence of the NFCA's poll, 407 straight polls.
ALL-AMERICANS ALL OVER THE FIELD
• The Sooners return five NFCA All-Americans on a loaded roster that added a trio of All-American transfers. Super senior Grace Lyons, senior Kinzie Hansen, juniors Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings and sophomore Jordy Bahl join forces with transfer additions redshirt seniors Haley Lee and Alex Storako, and sophomore Cydney Sanders.
• A Top 10 Finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year a season ago, Lyons returns for her super senior year in 2023 as the two-time defending Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and two-time NFCA All-American. Lyons had a career year at the plate in 2022, hitting 23 homers and batting in 70 runs.
• 2021 WCWS All-Tournament Team selection, Hansen looks to replicate the success she's seen since her freshman season as a true senior in 2023 with two years of eligibility remaining. The 2021 All-American catcher has 36 career homers and has been a force behind the plate for OU with a .993 career fielding percentage.
• A two-time NFCA First Team All-American, Coleman led the team with 13 stolen bases a season ago and ranked second with a .424 batting average and .584 on-base clip to go with eight home runs, nine doubles and 40 RBIs.
• Jennings, a twice unanimous NFCA First Team All-American, looks to continue her dominance at the plate, hitting 56 home runs in her two seasons in Norman and pacing the country in RBIs back-to-back seasons.
• The reigning Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year and NFCA National Freshman of the Year, Bahl had a dominant first-year campaign for the Sooners. Also a 2022 Top 10 Finalist for player of the year, Bahl finished with a 22-1 record in 2022 to go with 205 strikeouts. She surrendered just 22 earned runs in 141.1 innings pitched en route to NFCA First Team All-America honors.
• Lee, one of OU's four transfer additions this offseason, comes to Norman with 47 career home runs throughout her time at Texas A&M. A versatile player that was an NFCA Third Team All-American in 2021, Lee looks to be a weapon across the field for the Sooners in 2023.
• Storako brings with her to Norman over 900 career strikeouts and a 1.71 ERA from her four years at Michigan. An NFCA Second Team All-American and the unanimous Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2021, Storako joins a loaded OU pitching staff that looks to lead the nation for the second straight season in ERA.
• Another addition via the portal, Sanders transfers to the Sooners after an exceptional freshman season where she was one of three finalists for NFCA National Freshman of the Year and named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and an NFCA First Team All-American. The San Marcos, Calif., native started all 54 games at first base for Arizona State in 2022 and hit a program single-season record 21 home runs.
FRESH FACES
• Another key transfer addition along with Lee, Sanders and Storako will be senior Alynah Torres from Arizona State. The true senior, with two seasons of eligibility remaining, holds a .327 career batting average with 37 home runs and 24 doubles. An All-Region and All-Pac 12 First Team honoree a season ago, Torres has started 131 of her 132 career games played.
• Joining the four transfers as newcomers in 2023 will be four highly-touted freshmen: Kierston Deal (LHP), Jocelyn Erickson (C/UTL), SJ Geurin (LHP) and Avery Hodge (INF).
• The consensus No. 1 player and pitcher in the class of 2022, Deal comes to Norman from East Forsyth H.S. in Winston Salem, N.C., where she was an ExtraInning Softball First Team High School All-American. The crafty lefty looks to contribute as one of just two left-handed pitchers on the staff.
• The other freshman lefty hurler, Geurin, will be a redshirt candidate on a loaded, veteran pitching staff. The No. 20 recruit in the class of 2022, Geurin was a longtime commit to head coach Patty Gasso and staff before signing on to the Sooners. An All-State pitcher in the state of Texas, Geurin played travel ball for the well-known Texas Bombers Gold.
• Hodge brings an impressive defensive mentality as a freshman in 2023. The No. 6 prospect in the class of 2022 by Extra Inning Softball, Hodge throws right and bats left as a crafty hitter that can bunt, slap or hit for power. The Richmond, Texas, product played travel ball for Texas Bombers Gold along with fellow frosh SJ Geurin, helping the team to a national-runner up finish at the 2021 Alliance Fastpitch Championship. Also a U.S. Junior National Team member, Hodge helped the U.S. to a Pan-American Championship title.
• A highly-touted catcher recruit from Phoenix who attended the same HS as senior captain Grace Lyons, Erickson was the No. 10 recruit in the class of 2022 and played for OU's well-known travel ball club the OC Batbusters-Stith squad. Erickson was named the 2021-22 Gatorade Arizona Softball Player of the Year. A rare lefty catcher who also bats left, Erickson impressed with her power in the fall and will look to contribute behind the plate or at first base in 2023.
OU-TEXAS FRIDAY NIGHT GAME MOVED TO OKC
• The Oklahoma softball program and USA Softball announced last week the Friday night game of the Oklahoma vs. Texas series on March 31 at 6 p.m. CT will be moved from Marita Hynes Field in Norman to USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City. The second and third games of the series will still be played in Norman on Saturday (11 a.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.).
• OU, the designated home team, will assume hosting duties including ticket sales for the game in OKC, the first meeting of a rematch of the 2022 WCWS Championship Series. Current season ticket holders will receive complimentary tickets to the series in Oklahoma City, receiving the same number of tickets as they have season tickets at Marita Hynes Field. Those complimentary tickets can be accessed via the Oklahoma Sooners app and will be sent with your 2023 season tickets.
• Tickets are on sale via SoonerSports.com/tickets and through the OU Athletics Ticket Office. Ticket prices will range from $25-$50. Friday's game is set for a 6 p.m. CT start at USA Softball HOF Complex.
EIGHT NAMED TO PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
• Eight members of the Oklahoma softball team have been named to the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List, the organization announced the 50-player watch list Wednesday.
• Redshirt seniors Haley Lee, Grace Lyons and Alex Storako, senior Kinzie Hansen, juniors Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings and sophomores Jordy Bahl and Cydney Sanders are among the 50 student-athletes on the preseason watch list.
• OU's eight selections lead the nation, followed by three representatives from Arkansas, Florida and UCLA.
• Recognized as the most distinguished individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, the trophy has stayed in Norman each of the past two seasons with 2022 graduate Jocelyn Alo claiming the award in 2021 and 2022. All-time, OU has four USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors with Alo's two and 2013 alumna Keilani Ricketts' back-to-back crowns in 2012-13.
• The top 25 finalists for the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 19. While an athlete does not have to be on the Watch List to be considered for the top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the top 25 finalists.
• The top 10 finalists will be announced May 3 and the top three announced May 17. The 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed prior to the Women's College World Series. Freshmen can be considered for the Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level.
SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
• The Sooners will match up against 20 schools that reached the 2022 NCAA Tournament, including seven Super Regional participants and four Women's College World Series teams.
• The slate features 14 home games at Marita Hynes Field, including one tournament and three Big 12 series in Norman. The non-conference schedule is highlighted by a competitive opening weekend at the Mark Campbell Invitational, a matchup of juggernauts vs. UCLA at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, a home midweek against Florida State and a trip to Baton Rouge, La., to take on SEC foe LSU.
• The season begins in Irvine, Calif., with the second annual Mark Campbell Invitational at Bill Barber Park, Feb. 9-12. OU meets four 2022 NCAA tournament teams at the invite, opening the season with Duke before meeting Liberty, Stanford and Washington. The weekend will close with a matchup vs. San Jose State on Feb. 12.
• Oklahoma makes its 17th consecutive trip to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Feb. 24-26, playing in the event every season it's been held since 2006. The Sooners will meet Cal State Fullerton, Texas A&M, Utah and Loyola Marymount before a big early-season matchup with preseason No. 2 UCLA to cap the three-day tournament.
• The team will open its home slate at Marita Hynes Field with a home tourney, March 3-5, welcoming preseason No. 20 Kentucky and UIC to Norman. Oklahoma went undefeated at Marita Hynes in 2022, finishing 18-0 in Norman and winning regionals and super regionals in front of the home crowd.
• The Sooners will head south to play in the Bulldog Invitational March 10-12, hosted by 2022 Super Regional participant Mississippi State. OU will meet Southeastern Louisiana, Omaha and MSU, coached by former Sooner All-American Samantha Ricketts.
• OU will return home March 14 to welcome perennial contender Florida State to Norman for the first time in program history. The midweek matchup at Marita Hynes will be the first meeting between the schools since the 2021 Women's College World Series Championship Series where OU took down the Seminoles in three games to win the title.
• The Sooners will host the third annual Omni Hall of Fame Classic at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, March 17-19. The Sooners are 9-0 all-time in the tournament. The 2023 installment will feature OU playing three tourney teams from a season ago in Weber State, Northwestern and Auburn. OU matched up with Northwestern in the opening game of the 2022 WCWS.
• March 31-April 2 will feature the Red River Rivalry in Norman in a rematch of the 2022 WCWS Championship Series vs. Texas.
• Oklahoma will head to SEC country for a midweek matchup vs. LSU on April 11 in Baton Rouge, La. It marks the first meeting with the Tigers since a WCWS matchup in 2016.
• The Bedlam Series presented by Phillips 66 will close the regular season with a bang in Stillwater, May 4-6.
BIG 12 FAVORITES
• The ten-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma softball team has been voted by the league's head coaches as the 2023 preseason favorite.
• The Sooners received 36 points in this year's poll and were followed by Oklahoma State with 29 and Texas with 28. OU received six of the seven first-place votes with OSU garnering the other. This marks the 11th straight year and 14th in the last 15 seasons that OU has topped the conference's preseason poll.
• Baylor was selected fourth (20 points) and Iowa State fifth (16 points). Rounding out the poll was Texas Tech (12 points) and Kansas (6 points).
• The Sooners finished the Big 12 regular season 17-1 in 2022 en route to their tenth consecutive conference regular season crown.
• Oklahoma holds a combined Big 12 record of 161-15 the past 10 seasons and has not lost a conference series since 2011.
• Overall, the program has won 21 Big 12 titles (14 regular season titles and seven Big 12 tournament championships) all under head coach Patty Gasso.
CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET SERIES STREAMING NOW
• The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department and its multimedia rightsholder, LEARFIELD, launched in January "Championship Mindset" – a brand-new original content series exclusively featuring Oklahoma softball.
• As the 2023 OU softball team prepares its competitive journey to a third straight national championship, the five-part series delivers authentic, behind-the-scenes access for fans.
• "Championship Mindset" will feature never-before-seen interviews with the team's coaches and student-athletes, giving fans a special and unique look into the legacy that is Oklahoma softball.
• All five episodes can be viewed on ESPN+, YouTube and on a dedicated page within SoonerSports.com, including snippets on Oklahoma softball's official social platforms.
• Three episodes have been released, with two more episodes to be released later this season.
• LEARFIELD's dedicated content team, LEARFIELD Studios, produced and directed the series in complete collaboration with Oklahoma's athletics administration.
CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
• OU finished the Big 12 regular season 17-1 en route to winning its 14th regular season crown and 10th consecutive in 2022.
• The Sooners have won 76 of their last 78 Big 12 regular season games. Their streak of 57 consecutive that ended in Stillwater with a narrow loss to the Cowgirls in 2021 was the longest in conference and program history.
• OU is unbeaten in their last 66 conference series (62-0-4 in that span) and have not lost a conference series since 2011.
• OU has finished first in the Big 12 over the past 10 seasons with a combined record of 161-15. Prior to OU's current run of 10 straight regular season titles, no team had ever won more than two consecutive.
• Overall, the Sooners have 21 Big 12 titles with 14 regular season crowns and seven Big 12 tournament championships, all under head coach Patty Gasso.
MORE NOTES & NUMBERS
• Oklahoma has won 123 of its last 131 games dating back to the start of the 2021 season.
• Of those 131 games, 80 have been run-rule victories (61%).
• The Sooners went on consecutive run-rule stretches of nine games (Feb. 13-26) and 13 games (Feb. 27-March 26) in 2022.
• The top-ranked Sooners had eight top-10 and 13 top-25 wins on the season and ranked first in the final NCAA DI RPI.
• Of their eight top-10 wins, four were by run-rule. Six of their 13 top-25 W's were also mercy-rule wins.
• In their eight top-10 wins, the Sooners outscored opponents 69-17. The margin was 112-31 in OU's favor in their 13 top-25 victories.
• The Sooners held opponents to one run or fewer in 49 of 62 games.
• The pitching staff sacrificed just 65 runs (54 ER) on the season to opponents. Individually, four Sooners had 65 or more runs scored.
• Oklahoma outhit its opponents in 56 of 62 games, and was undefeated when outhitting the opponent, and in the six games they have not registered more hits, the Sooners are 3-3.
• OU outscored opponents 116-8 in the first inning in 2022 and held a 118-6 advantage in the fourth inning.
HOME RUN U
• Oklahoma is officially Home Run University. With Jocelyn Alo's record-breaking career homer No. 96 (122 career total), two Sooners sit atop the NCAA record books for career home runs in Alo and 2015 alum Lauren Chamberlain.
• In addition to Alo and Chamberlain, 2015 alum Shelby Pendley sits at 10th all-time with 84 career blasts.
• More evidence of the Sooners staking claim to HRU is the past two seasons when OU has lit up the record books:
• 2021 saw the Sooners set NCAA records for home runs (161), runs scored (638), runs per game (10.63) and homers per game (2.68), among other records.
• Jocelyn Alo hit 34 blasts in 2021 and 2022 for second all-time in single-season NCAA history, just three shy of Laura Espinoza's (Arizona) 37 in 1995. Alo's 2018 along with Chamberlain's 2012 and '13 where each hit 30 homers a piece all rank in the all-time top-10.
• Current junior Tiare Jennings nearly matched Alo and Chamberlain's record (30) for freshman homers in 2021, hitting 27 to come within three of the NCAA frosh record. She followed suit in 2022 with 29 round-trippers.
• Jennings looks to continue the legacy at Oklahoma with two more seasons in the Crimson & Cream and already holding the No. 5 spot in the OU record book with 56 career homers. The two-time unanimous All-American is just nine blasts shy of third place in program history.
• Senior captain Grace Lyons has come into her own offensively, hitting a career single-season best 23 blasts last year to bring her career total to 50, good for eighth in the OU record book.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR OMNI HOTELS HALL OF FAME CLASSIC
• Tickets for the third annual Omni Hall of Fame Classic played at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, March 17-19, went on sale in January and are still available for purchase.
• Fans can purchase both all-session passes and single-session tickets for the three-day event via SoonerSports.com/tickets or by contacting the OU Ticket Office at 405.325.2424. Chairback seats are available for $100 for all-session and $40 for single sessions, while bleacher seats are $75 for all-session and $30 for single sessions. Tickets for youth under 18 or seniors over the age of 55 are available in the bleacher seats for $50 (all-session) and $20 (single-session). Group tickets are available for $15 (single-session only).
• Hall of Fame Classic tickets are not included as part of a softball season ticket and all season ticket holders must purchase tickets to this event.
• A presale for season ticket holders, Trophy Club members and program donors will be held Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. before the public sale on Wednesday. This presale can be accessed by logging on to your OU Athletics account or by contacting the OU Ticket Office at 405.325.2424.
• The Sooners meet Auburn, Northwestern and Weber State at the 2023 edition of the Hall of Fame tournament in Oklahoma City. The host Sooners have gone undefeated in the tournament since its inception in 2021, compiling a 9-0 record. For the full schedule and game times, see the Sooners full schedule here.
THE TROPHY CLUB
• The Oklahoma softball program has announced the launch of its restructured booster club under a new name, The Trophy Club.
• The Trophy Club replaces the former Diamond Club as the program's premier booster initiative to continue to enhance the student-athlete experience at Oklahoma, both on and off the field.
• Softball fans can join now and take part in exclusive events, including the annual golf tournament, coaches luncheon and more.
For membership details and how donations will be utilized, visit The Trophy Club landing page on SoonerSports.com.
• Gifts to the Trophy Club and Oklahoma softball will be utilized for: resources for the development of our student-athletes, facility upgrades to enhance recruiting and student-athlete experiences and improved quality of travel to increase academic participation by our student-athletes.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
UTL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTL
/ SoftballGasso, Landry, Parker, Barker, Dayton, Sanders Postgame vs Texas Tech
Monday, June 02
SB WCWS Highlights: OU 4, Oregon 1
Sunday, June 01
Gasso, Sanders, Emerling, Landry Postgame vs Oregon
Sunday, June 01
Championship Mindset: Season 3, Episode 5 - Together
Sunday, June 01
