Oklahoma
OU Softball: Projecting Oklahoma’s 2026 Starting Lineup
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.
But there’s far from a consensus.
Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.
Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.
Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.
Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.
Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.
OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.
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Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.
The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).
Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.
The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.
OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.
The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.
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Putnam City West High School will shift to virtual learning on Tuesday after an incident involving two students prompted an investigation by the district and Oklahoma City police, according to Putnam City Schools.
District officials said administrators were alerted near the end of the school day Monday to an altercation involving two students in the school’s arena area.
Officials said the students left campus, and the case was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for investigation.
District officials said no students or staff were harmed and there is no ongoing safety threat related to the incident.
What we know
Putnam City West sent the following email to all families and staff at the school:
All PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st.
Today, an isolated serious incident involving two students occurred on school grounds. Near the end of the school day, administrators were alerted to an altercation between two students in the arena area. The individuals involved quickly left campus, prompting an initial fact-finding response by school administrators before the matter was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for further investigation. Because this is an active investigation involving students, no further information will be released at this time.
We understand this information may be concerning to students, staff, and families. Please know we are committed to maintaining a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for all students. At Putnam City Schools, student and staff safety remains our highest priority. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and to allow for a thorough investigation, all PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st. Students will need to check Google Classroom for updates from teachers.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support of PC West.
Putnam City Schools
All students and staff at Putnam City West will transition to virtual learning on Tuesday, April 21, while investigators continue their work, according to the district.
Students were told to check Google Classroom for instructions from teachers.
The district said it is withholding additional details because the case involves students and remains under investigation.
School officials have not said what triggered the incident or whether any arrests have been made.
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as more information becomes available.
TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.
For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.
“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.
Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.
“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.
The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.
CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.
“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.
The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.
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