The transfer portal came to a close on Monday, and Patty Gasso’s coaching staff appears to be done with their summer business.
Oklahoma graduated three players after its season came to an end in the WCWS semifinals — first baseman Cydney Sanders and pitchers Sam Landry and Isabella Smith — meaning there will be plenty of familiar faces in the Love’s Field dugout next year.
The Sooners did lose four players to the transfer portal in outfielders Hannah Coor and Maya Bland, infielder Kadey Lee McKay and catcher Corri Hicks, though only Coor consistently factored into Gasso’s starting lineup in 2025.
After signing the top-rated class in the country a year ago, Gasso repeated that trick, and five talented freshmen are set to join the program in the fall.
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Outfielder Kai Minor, who was rated as the best player in the entire recruiting class by Softball America, will join infielder Lexi McDaniel, catcher Kendall Wells and pitchers Allyssa Parker and Berkley Zache at Oklahoma next season.
Pitcher Sophia Bordi, who redshirted last season but did not finish the year with the program, appears set to return to Norman and Gasso added a transfer pitcher in former LSU star Sydney Berzon.
OU’s string of four-straight titles may have ended in 2025, but the Sooners are primed to again be in the hunt for a national title in 2026.
Two of the three spots in the OU outfield are straightforward to project.
Kasidi Pickering, who started 61 games in 2025 and finished second on the team with a .392 batting average and 18 home runs, will hold down a spot.
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She’ll be flanked by Abigale Dayton, who also started 61 games, and hit .325 with three home runs, eight doubles, a triple and 19 RBIs.
The last spot could be up for grabs well into the season.
By the time the SEC Tournament rolled around, freshman Sydney Barker was Gasso’s choice to get her bat into the lineup.
At a minimum, Barker will be available to feature heavily in right fight.
If Barker is able to replace Sanders at first base, however, that could open things up for Minor and potentially Tia Milloy to work themselves into the lineup in the outfield.
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Milloy appeared in 50 games as a freshman, though she only started 11, and she hit .259 with five home runs and a double in 54 at-bats.
Superstar Ella Parker is also back for her junior year, and while she primarily serves as OU’s designated player, she can also deputize in the outfield if needed.
Much like the outfield, there should be only one spot up for grabs in Gasso’s infield.
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas cemented herself as a reliable third baseman as a redshirt freshman, and the middle infield duo of Gabbie Garcia at shortstop and Ailana Agbayani at second was one of OU’s many strengths by the end of the year.
That leaves the major battle at first, where Barker played a handful of times in relief of Sanders a year ago.
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McDaniel, the true freshman, could be given an opportunity during the fall to try and battle at the position, as could any other bat that Gasso might try to work into the lineup.
In all likelihood, it feels like a spot for Barker to call home after a strong close to her freshman campaign in Norman.
Former LSU pitcher Sydney Berzon is transferring to Oklahoma for the 2026 season. / John Reed-Imagn Images
Associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha has slowly adopted a staff approach over the past decade, but 2026 could be her largest rotation to date.
Berzon’s arrival gives the Sooners an ace to replace Landry, and she’s already proven to be effective in the SEC.
She’s earned NFCA All-American honors twice before, and the change of scenery to work with Rocha has benefitted plenty of veteran transfers before.
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Kierston Deal, Paytn Monticelli and Audrey Lowery all return from the 2025 rotation as well, which gives the Sooners plenty of experience both as starting pitchers and out of the bullpen.
Before Bordi reclassified, she was rated as the top pitcher in the 2025 class per Softball America.
With her officially moving into the 2024 class, Parker took over the top spot and Zache signed as the No. 5-ranked pitcher.
Berzon will lead the way, but Rocha has more viable options than ever before to piece together game plans all year.
Behind the plate, Isabela Emerling returns a wealth of experience at catcher that she can pass on to Wells, who is the top-rated catcher in the country.
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Emerling played in 58 games, making 56 starts, and Wells should have more opportunities to work her way into the lineup early in 2026 unlike Hicks, who dealt with injuries during fall ball a year ago.
Oklahoma didn’t have to do much work in the transfer portal, unlike Texas Tech, due to the talent retained and Gasso signing another group of freshmen with sky-high expectations.
But the lack of noise in the portal won’t hamper the Sooners’ efforts to be in the hunt for another WCWS crown next June.
The absurd difficulty of Alex Facundo’s schedule this season provided a brief moment of levity on Wednesday during David Taylor’s weekly gathering with the Oklahoma State wrestling media.
The coach of the Cowboys shook his head and began to laugh when he figured out where the question was headed.
Did you know going into the year that basically every match Alex has is going to be against a top-10 dude?
“I remember looking and being like, ‘Man, he’s going to have a pretty fun year this year — a lot of challenges,’” Taylor said. “That’s just part of it sometimes. Sometimes you really can’t control that stuff.”
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It became apparent early in the season that Facundo wasn’t going to get many pushovers this season. He wrestled four bouts at the National Duals Invitational. His opponents: #2 Patrick Kennedy, #3 Simon Ruiz, #4 Christopher Minto and #5 Matthew Singleton.
That was the start of what’s become a recurring theme — Facundo getting challenged against a high-caliber opponent.
Seventh-ranked Facundo is 10-4 this season and 9-1 since facing the gauntlet in Tulsa.
“Alex is doing a good job,” Taylor said. “Again, you think about — he hasn’t competed frequently in the last three or four years, so this is his first real season in quite a long time. He’s almost approaching it like a freshman. I think that’s where his progression has been this year.
“His last couple of matches, just the way he’s starting to carry himself, he’s starting to hit a little bit of growth. You gotta run with those things. When you’re getting (a) growth (stretch) in wrestling … you gotta make the most of them. He’s going through that right now, and it’s fun to watch.”
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Since the National Duals Invitational, Facundo won a rematch with Minto, downed #8 Carter Schubert and knocked off returning All-American Cam Steed in his last outing. He’ll face two more tests this weekend when the Cowboys take on Northern Iowa and Iowa State and 13th-ranked Panther Jared Simma and #12 Cyclone M.J. Gaitan come to Stillwater.
Big Test’On Deck For Merrill
Cody Merrill’s stingy style lends itself to tight, low-scoring matches and he’s won his fair share of them this season. Although the freshman 197-pounder has the lowest bonus-point percentage among Oklahoma State starters at 18.2 percent, Merrill owns a 10-1 record.
The degree of difficulty increases for Merrill this weekend when he tangles with second-ranked Rocky Elam of Iowa State. Elam, a four-time All-American at Missouri, is 11-0 this season with the Cyclones.
“The Elam kid is pretty good, been around a long time,” Taylor said. “He’s got a good takedown, he’s tough on top, you know, similar matchup. I think it’s gonna be a good test, and I know he’s looking forward to the opportunity.”
Merrill has been difficult to take down and he’s been tough on top, too. Those qualities have helped him win five matches this yar by two points or fewer.
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“He has a patience about him,” Taylor said. “A lot of guys on top, they get a little anxious and they make a mistake and their hand comes over top. He just has really good patience and he’s willing to stick with it. He has a really good, strong, committed ride on top. I think that’s kind of an art that’s been lost in college wrestling, and it’s because it’s hard. Riding someone’s hard, a lot of people don’t want to put that work in. We put a lot of effort in there.”
Down A Dual
After Oklahoma State’s Friday trip to Missouri, the Cowboys were slated to take on Utah Valley in Stillwater on Sunday. However, Winter Storm Fern had other plans in store. Due to inclement weather, the dual was cancelled, and a statement from Oklahoma State Athletics said both programs would look to reschedule at a later date.
“A little disappointing that we lost our Sunday home match last week,” Taylor said. “We really value our home matches and the experience that it gives to the state.”
With less than a month remaining in the regular season, Taylor acknowledged that the dual might not get rescheduled.
“I would love to get it back on this schedule, but it doesn’t look promising,” he said.
NORMAN, Okla. — Freshman star Darius Acuff Jr. had 21 points and nine assists, and No. 15 Arkansas held off Oklahoma 83-79 on Tuesday night.
Meleek Thomas added 16 points for the Razorbacks (16-5, 6-2 Southeastern Conference), who have won four of their past five games.
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Arkansas shot 55.6% from the field despite making just 2 of 17 3-pointers.
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Nijel Pack scored 22 points for Oklahoma (11-10, 1-7 SEC), which lost its seventh straight. The Sooners were coming off a heartbreaking loss at Missouri on Saturday that included buzzer-beaters by the Tigers to tie late in regulation and win in overtime.
This game had a better atmosphere than most games at the Lloyd Noble Center. There was free admission because of the cold weather. A fair number of vocal Arkansas fans made the relatively short drive — the Arkansas campus is a 3 1/2-hour drive from Oklahoma’s.
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Pack scored 16 points in the first half to help Oklahoma take a 48-44 lead. The Sooners made 7 of 16 3-pointers before the break. Arkansas trailed despite shooting 61.3% from the field.
An alley-oop dunk by Trevon Brazile on a long pass from Acuff put the Razorbacks up 61-58, but the Sooners immediately responded with a 3-pointer by Jadon Jones to tie the score with just under 11 minutes remaining.
Arkansas led 71-70 with 4:31 remaining when Oklahoma’s Derrion Reid went up for a shot and was fouled hard by Karter Knox. The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1, and Reid made two free throws to give the Sooners the lead.
The game remained tight the rest of the way. Acuff made a driving layup and was fouled with 21 seconds left, and he made the free throw to put the Razorbacks up 81-79.
After Brazile blocked Oklahoma guard Xzayvier Brown’s layup, Thomas made two free throws to finish the scoring.
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Up next
Arkansas: Hosts Kentucky on Saturday.
Oklahoma: Hosts Texas on Saturday.
Where do SMU, Texas Tech, other Texas teams stand in latest NCAA Tournament projections?
This year’s NCAA Tournament field could have a lot of representation from the Lone Star State.
2026 transfer portal rankings: How high do classes of Texas, Texas Tech, A&M, others rank?
See where each transfer portal class ranks for local schools as transfer season rolls on.
Find more Oklahoma coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
