Oklahoma
Oklahoma State Players Praise New Staff’s Knowledge, Intensity
STILLWATER — Cowboy fans will need a roster handy when the team takes the field next fall to learn all their new players, but there are also going to be a ton of new guys dressed in polos with headsets on along the OSU sideline.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy just about cleaned house when it came to his coaching staff after last season’s 3-9 finish. He hired two new coordinators (OC Doug Meacham and DC Todd Grantham) and allowed those guys to fill out their position coaches.
Among the 15 guys listed on OSU’s coaching staff page, only three are in the same role this season as they were the last: Gundy himself, specialists coach Sean Snyder, and strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass. Safeties coach Greg Brown was on OSU’s staff last season as a defensive analyst, but outside of that, every one is new.
In talking with players during the first two weeks of spring ball, the word “intensity” has been said in reference to just about everyone. Gundy mentioned Tuesday how there is more colorful language being said around the practice fields this spring, particularly from the defensive coaches.
Returning defensive tackle Iman Oates said new defensive line coach Ryan Osborn, formerly the defensive coordinator at Charlotte, brings that intensity, and it helps bring the intensity out of his guys. But Oates also heaped praise on Osborn’s teaching ability.
“He’s all over the place, man,” Oates said. “He’s relatable, but he also can teach like no coach I’ve had before. The knowledge of the game, the way he gives the information, it makes it hard to not be able to learn it.”
Jules Montinar takes over coaching the Cowboys’ cornerbacks. He was at East Carolina the past two seasons as the Pirates defensive pass game coordinator and corners coach. He’s also been on staffs at Florida, Georgia and Alabama throughout his career.
Corner Cam Smith is entering his fifth year with the program. He’s started in all 26 of the Cowboys’ games the past two seasons. Smith spoke highly of Montinar’s ability to teach and noted that coaches from all over the staff are holding guys accountable.
“Coach Jules is big on technique, knowing what to do and how to do it and knowing why it’s important,” Cam Smith said. “So I feel like that’s definitely big from a corner standpoint. All the coaching staff holds everybody accountable. The D-line coach can yell at the corners if he see they not really doing what they supposed to be doing. So I just love that everybody’s held to the same standard.”
On the offensive side, there probably isn’t a position coach more under a microscope this offseason than quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns. With all the new players, every position coach will have to work through position battles this spring, but Johns’ four-quarterback battle among Garret Rangel, Zane Flores, Maealiuaki Smith and Hauss Hejny will have the most eyeballs on it.
“Coach Johns, he’s very big time with the mental side of the game — the IQ, the game slowing down,” Smith said. “I feel like I’m understanding the game a lot more with Coach Johns.
“Coach Meacham, he’s really fun because the offense is really quarterback friendly. We like to throw the ball down the field, and that’s what he likes to do, get the ball to his receivers.”
OSU brought in three new tight ends from the transfer portal to compete alongside returners Josh Ford and Quinton Stewart. That group’s new coach is DJ Tialavea, who had been at Utah State (his alma mater) since 2020. When speaking about Tialavea, Ford brought up that word again: intensity.
“Man, Coach DJ, I’d say just everything we do, the intensity is up,” Ford said. “I love that. Say it’s a Thursday morning run, we’re in here at 6 a.m. running 200s, that’s basically game day for us. He gets us all in the right mindset, like we’re gonna dominate this. He encourages us to be the first in everything. If there’s a line across the field and we end a drill over here on this corner, he’s expecting us to be the first there, be the first in line in every single line.”
The Oklahoma Sooners are one win away from advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. All that stands in the way are the Cal Golden Bears. Cal survived their first elimination game with a 4-0 shutout to beat Omaha for the second time to eliminate the Mavericks.
The Sooners are looking to make it to the Super Regional round for the 15th tournament in a row. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s been an incredible run for this young Sooners team, which has risen to the occasion during the postseason. Since the SEC tournament began, the Sooners are 4-0. In two NCAA Tournament games, Oklahoma has outscored their opponents 19-2.
Kasidi Pickering went 3-for-3 on Saturday with two home runs and six RBIs. She was the only Sooner to record multiple hits in the win. From the circle, Sam Landry picked up her 20th win of the season, scattering seven hits across four innings and allowing two runs. True freshman Audrey Lowry worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning to close out the win and extend her scoreless innings streak to 6 1/3 innings.
If the Sooners win their first matchup with Cal, Oklahoma will move on to face the winner of the Tuscaloosa regional final between Alabama and Virginia Tech. If Cal wins the first regional final, the Sooners will play the Bears in an elimination game right after.
Here’s how you can watch Oklahoma-Cal in the Norman Regional final.
What channel is Oklahoma-Boston on today?
TV Channel: ESPN+
Livestream: ESPN+
Watch Oklahoma vs. Cal live on ESPN+
Oklahoma-Cal time today
Date: Sunday, May 18, 2025
Start time: 1 p.m. CT, 3:30 p.m. CT for elimination game if OU loses game one.
Oklahoma Softball Schedule 2025
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 6 | Cal State Northridge | W, 7-2 |
| Feb. 6 | at San Diego State | W, 11-6 (9 inn.) |
| Feb. 7 | California Baptist | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 7 | Cal State Fullerton | W, 13-3 |
| Feb. 8 | Loyola Marymount | W, 9-0 |
| Feb. 9 | at Long Beach State | W, 2-0 (11 inn.) |
| Feb. 15 | Hofstra | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 15 | at No. 23/24 Baylor | W, 9-1 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 16 | Hofstra | W, 11-3 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 16 | at No. 23/24 Baylor | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 22 | Tulsa | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 23 | Wichita State | W, 8-1 |
| Feb. 24 | Bowling Green | W, 8-5 (8 inn.) |
| Feb. 24 | Abilene Christian | W, 9-1 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 28 | Marshall | W, 9-1 (5 inn.) |
| Feb. 28 | Kansas | W, 9-1 (6 inn.) |
| March 1 | Kansas | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| March 1 | Marshall | W, 11-0 (5 inn.) |
| March 2 | Kansas City | W, 17-1 (5 inn.) |
| March 7 | No. 10/11 South Carolina | W, 10-9 |
| March 9 | No. 10/11 South Carolina | W, 10-9 |
| March 9 | No. 10/11 South Carolina | W, 2-1 |
| March 12 | at Tulsa | W, 10-2 (6 inn.) |
| March 15 | at No. 15/12 Arkansas | W, 7-0 |
| March 15 | at No. 15/12 Arkansas | W, 6-4 |
| March 16 | at No. 15/12 Arkansas | W, 10-7 |
| March 19 | East Texas A&M | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| March 21 | at Missouri | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| March 22 | at Missouri | L, 3-1 |
| March 23 | at Missouri | W, 5-1 |
| March 26 | at Wichita State | W, 19-16 |
| March 28 | No. 10/9 Tennessee | L, 5-2 |
| March 29 | No. 10/9 Tennessee | W, 4-1 |
| March 30 | No. 10/9 Tennessee | L, 5-3 |
| April 1 | at UT-Arlington | W, 13-2 (5 inn.) |
| April 4 | St. Thomas | W, 12-4 (5 inn.) |
| April 4 | UCF | W, 6-0 |
| April 5 | UCF | Cancelled |
| April 9 | Oklahoma State (Devon Park, OKC) | W, 11-3 (5 inn.) |
| April 12 | at Alabama | W, 5-1 |
| April 13 | at Alabama | L, 6-1 |
| April 14 | at Alabama | L, 2-1 |
| April 18 | Mississippi State (Devon Park, OKC) | W, 4-0 |
| April 19 | Mississippi State (Devon Park, OKC) | W, 6-5 |
| April 20 | Mississippi State (Devon Park, OKC) | W, 9-6 |
| April 25 | Texas Longhorns | W, 7-6 |
| April 26 | Texas Longhorns | W, 7-2 |
| April 27 | Texas Longhorns | W, 9-8 |
| May 1 | at Florida | W, 6-5 |
| May 2 | at Florida | L, 9-4 |
| May 3 | at Florida | L, 6-4 |
| May 6-10 | SEC Tournament | Athens, Ga. |
| May 8 | vs. LSU | W, 4-1 |
| May 9 | vs. Arkansas | W, 8-6 |
| May 10 | vs. Texas A&M | Canceled |
| May 16-18 | NCAA Regionals | |
| May 16 | vs. Boston | W, 8-0 (5 inn.) |
| May 17 | vs. Cal | W, 11-2 (5 inn.) |
| May 18 | vs. Cal | 1 p.m. CT |
| May 18 | vs. Cal | 3:30 p.m. CT* |
| May 22-24 | NCAA Super Regionals | |
| May 29-June 6 | Women’s College World Series | Oklahoma City, Okla. |
*If Necessary
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NORMAN — Oklahoma is one win away from clinching a spot in next weekend’s Super Regionals.
OU downed the California Golden Bears behind a pair of home runs by Kasidi Pickering.
Her first came in Oklahoma’s first at-bat of the afternoon, then she returned to hammer a grand slam in the fourth to essentially end Saturday’s contest.
The 2-seeded Sooners finished off the 11-2 run rule victory in the top of the fifth at Love’s Field.
Oklahoma (47-7) gets to take the rest of the day off, while California (36-20) will have to battle out of the loser’s bracket on Saturday night.
Patty Gasso started Sam Landry in the circle for the second straight day, but the big offensive day made things easy on OU’s pitching staff.
Still, Cal put up a good fight against Landry.
The Golden Bears totaled seven hits off the Oklahoma ace, but the right-hander was able to strand runners in each of the first four innings to ensure Cal couldn’t battle back into the game.
Pickering needed just three pitches in the first to put the Sooners on top.
Cal immediately bounced back, however.
Left fielder Kaylee Pond bounced a home run off the foul pole in right field on the first pitch of the second inning to pull the Golden Bears back level with Oklahoma.
OU’s offense then plated four runs in the bottom of the second without an extra-base hit.
Cydney Sanders and Isabela Emerling put two aboard with walks and one out, then Cal starter Annabel Teperson hit Abby Dayton.
Oklahoma then got back-to-back-to-back singles from Pickering, Ella Parker and Sydney Barker, which each plated a run.
Barker’s single came off new Golden Bears pitcher Anna Reimers, then she plunked Gabbie Garcia to put OU up 5-1.
Reimers finally battled back with a pair of strikeouts to end the threat, and her offense got back to work in the top of the third.
The Golden Bears tallied three straight singles, the last of which by Acacia Anders plated a run to cut OU’s lead to 5-2.
Landry hit Pond to load the bases, but the Sooners rung up a double play to limit the damage to the lone run.
Cal loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Anders bounced out to third and OU was able to keep its 5-2 lead intact.
Barker’s second walk of the afternoon quickly turned into a run in the bottom half of the inning after Garcia hit her 17th home run of the year, which leads the team.
After Garcia’s bomb, a walk, a hit batter and a single loaded things up for Pickering’s grand slam.
Freshman left-hander Audrey Lowry entered for Landry in the fifth, and she closed the game out in the circle.
The Sooners will now wait for the loser’s bracket to work itself out to find out their opponents for tomorrow’s regional final, which starts at 1 p.m.
Omaha and Boston University will battle in the day’s first elimination game at approximately 3:30 p.m., and the winner of that will turn around and immediately take on Cal.
Whoever emerges to take on Oklahoma in Sunday’s regional final will have to beat the Sooners twice to advance to next weekend’s Super Regionals.
One win for OU will push it through to next weekend’s festivities.
NORMAN — Watch as Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso, outfielder Hannah Coor and third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas spoke to the media following OU’s 8-0 win over Boston University after five innings at Love’s Field on Friday night.
The Sooners moved into Saturday’s winner’s bracket contest against Cal after the Golden Bears beat Omaha 1-0 on Friday.
Saturday’s contest is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
Sam Landry started in the circle, and she quickly worked through three innings. She allowed two hits and a walk, while finishing with four strikeouts.
Kierston Deal took over for Landry in the fourth and she closed out the game for the Sooners.
OU’s offense plated runs in the second inning and a pair of runs in the third.
The Sooners walked the game off with a home run by freshman catcher Corri Hicks. It was her third long ball of the season.
McEnroe-Marinas and Coor both led OU with two RBIs each, and Tia Milloy and Isabela Emerling also added RBIs to help the offensive explosion in the second inning.
Boston University will take on Omaha in the Regional’s first elimination game on Saturday night at Love’s Field.
You can also watch the press conference on Youtube.
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