Softball Opens 2024 Season in Puerto Vallarta

NORMAN – Three-time defending national champion No. 1/1 Oklahoma Softball begins its 2024 campaign with a trip to the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Sooners open the season on Thursday, Feb. 8 against Utah Valley at 10:30 a.m. CT before meeting No. 11/9 Duke at 1 p.m.

OU faces No. 10/7 Washington on Friday, Feb. 9 at 8:30 p.m. then closes its trip to Mexico with a 1 p.m. start vs. Long Beach State on Saturday, Feb. 10.

All four games will be played at Nancy Almaraz Stadium in Puerto Vallarta. Live streaming will be available via FloSoftball ($) in addition to radio coverage by The Franchise. Thursday's pair of opening-day games will be broadcast on 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 with Friday's and Saturday's contests airing on both The Franchise 2 and 107.7 FM The Franchise.

Three of Oklahoma's four opening-weekend opponents reached the NCAA Tournament last season. Washington advanced to the Women's College World Series, Duke was eliminated by Stanford in the Super Regionals and Long Beach State earned a berth in the Stanford Regional.

RETURNING TO PUERTO VALLARTA

The 2024 Puerto Vallarta College Challenge marks Oklahoma's third appearance south of the border. OU last participated in the 2020 event, going 4-0 and outscoring its opponents 27-9. The Sooners competed in the 2017 tournament and went 2-2.

Widely regarded as one of the premier tournaments designed to launch the softball season, the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge began in 2015. It was the first Division I softball event held outside of the United States.

2023 IN REVIEW

The Sooners capped a national championship season in 2023 with a 61-1 record, the best win percentage in NCAA Division I softball history (.984) and Big 12 regular season and tournament titles while pacing the country in a plethora of categories, including ERA (0.96), batting average (.367) and fielding percentage (.988).

The dominant run included an NCAA-record 53-game win streak, a nation-best and program-record 35 shutouts, 29 wins by run rule and a 28-0 record vs. ranked opponents.

Additionally, OU ranked No. 1 over the final 11 weeks of the 2023 season in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and has held the top spot in 42 of the last 43 polls dating back to 2021.

A nation-high five Sooners were named NFCA First Team All-Americans, eight Sooners earned All-Big 12 accolades and five were tabbed WCWS All-Tournament Team selections.

CLIMBING THE LADDER

Head coach Patty Gasso is just one win from reaching former longtime Fresno State head coach Margie Wright (1,457) for third all-time in career NCAA victories. Gasso has 1,456 career wins at the NCAA level, all earned during her tenure at OU. Carol Hutchins is the all-time leader in career wins with 1,707 while Mike Candrea is second with 1,674.

CO-CAPTAINS

Graduate catcher Kinzie Hansen and senior infielder Tiare Jennings will both wear the "C" on their jerseys in 2024 as the Sooners' co-captains.

Hansen, the 2023 Johnny Bench Award winner, blasted 13 home runs and drove in 57 runs last season while slashing .409/.438/.759 for a 1.197 OPS as the Sooners' backstop. The graduate student ranks sixth in program history with a .734 career slugging percentage and 10th with 49 home runs. Hansen's work behind the plate defensively is equally impressive as she owns a .993 career fielding percentage and has thrown out 36% of would-be base stealers.

One of the most accomplished hitters in program history, Jennings enters her senior campaign ranked among OU's career leaders in multiple offensive categories. A career .427 hitter with 73 home runs, 49 doubles and 245 RBIs to her credit, Jennings is second in program history in batting average, third in home runs, slugging percentage, runs batted in and extra-base hits, fourth in total bases, fifth in doubles and eighth in runs scored and on-base percentage. Jennings slashed .415/.477/.781 last season for a 1.258 OPS while belting 17 home runs and 16 doubles and registering 66 RBIs.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

Multiple Sooners have garnered preseason honors from the Big 12, Softball America and D1 Softball entering 2024.

Senior pitchers Nicole May and Kelly Maxwell, senior outfielders Rylie Boone and Jayda Coleman, senior infielders Alyssa Brito and Tiare Jennings and senior catcher Kinzie Hansen were among the 19 players chosen to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team by the league's head coaches. Jennings was one of three unanimous selections to the team.

Oklahoma was one of just two programs to have multiple selections as Texas ranked second with five representatives. Baylor, BYU, Houston, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech each had one honoree. Student-athletes were chosen regardless of position and coaches could not vote for their own players.

Maxwell, Coleman, Jennings, Brito and Hansen each added first-team preseason All-America honors from both Softball America and D1 Softball while May received a second-team nod from Softball America. Oklahoma led all programs with its five first-team honorees.

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