Oklahoma Softball Was Better Than Ever in 2023

The Sooners went into the 2023 season with great expectations, and they finished it with a third straight title.

Oklahoma Sooners softball came into 2023 carrying a legacy that could have felt like a burden: The Sooners had won back-to-back championships. They had also just graduated the best player in program history—NCAA home run queen Jocelyn Alo—and had been tasked with integrating a few high-profile transfers.

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Led by shortstop Grace Turk (formerly Lyons), the national defensive player of the year, they rose to the challenge. The ’23 Sooners became the first team ever to lead the NCAA in batting average (.366), fielding percentage (.987) and ERA (0.96). (Yes, that’s right, they hit above .350 while allowing less than one run per game.) They won a third straight title. And built the longest win streak in D-I softball history at 53 games—and counting.

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Published Dec 23, 2023 | Modified Dec 23, 2023

EMMA BACCELLIERI

Emma Baccellieri is a staff writer focused on women’s basketball for Sports Illustrated. She previously covered MLB. She has also written for Baseball Prospectus and has been honored with multiple awards from the Society of American Baseball Research. A graduate of Duke University, she lives in Washington, D.C.

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