Oklahoma softball has won four consecutive Women’s College World Series championships. But expectations are tempered for OU’s 2025 roster — at least, according to SEC coaches.
The Sooners, ahead of their first season competing out of the Southeastern Conference, were deemed the No. 3 team in the preseason SEC poll, as voted on by league’s coaches. They were behind Texas and Florida, respectively, as Oklahoma had two first-place votes compared to Texas’ seven and Florida’s six.
The Sooners were also ranked No. 3 in the preseason ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 poll, with Texas at No. 1 and Florida at No. 2
Oklahoma and coach Patty Gasso will have to replace the Sooners’ star-studded senior class from last season after Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen, Nicole May and Rylie Boone all exhausted their eligibility. Oklahoma State transfer Kelly Maxwell, the 2024 WCWS Most Outstanding Player, is also gone.
While the Sooners beat Texas and Florida last season in the WCWS, both programs return most of their core that made them two of the top contenders in the sport last season.
Oklahoma is still plenty capable of winning its fifth straight national championship, as it returns Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering, who should both hit in the middle of the lineup after fantastic freshmen seasons. The Sooners also added Utah transfer Abigale Dayton and BYU transfer Ailana Agbayani, who last year won the Pac-12 and Big 12 batting titles, respectively, batting .431 and .424 last season.
Oklahoma also added transfer catcher Isabela Emerling from North Carolina while also bolstering its pitching staff with Louisiana’s Sam Landry — a first-team All-Sun Belt selection last season — and Isabella Smith, the 2024 CAA Pitcher of the Year at Campbell.
Parker, Pickering and Dayton were all listed on the preseason all-conference roster.
The preseason coaches poll was rounded out by Tennessee, Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss and South Carolina, respectively.
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