Freshman Kendall Wells Powers Oklahoma to Win in Season Opener

Kendall Wells wasted no time announcing herself to the college softball world.

The freshman catcher powered Oklahoma to an opening day victory over Arizona State on Thursday night.

Wells hammered the first home run of her career in the sixth inning to put the Sooners in front, erasing a fantastic outing by Sun Devils pitcher Kenzie Brown.

knew it when she hit it 🚀@KendallWells__ | 🔗» https://t.co/Th2U6csZ7g pic.twitter.com/P8areJPiCb
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) February 6, 2026

The senior right-hander struck out 13 OU batters, but the Wells home run gave the Sooners the only advantage they’d need.

Oklahoma starter Audrey Lowry combined with reliever Miali Guachinio to close out the 2-1 win in Tempe.

The No. 3 Sooners started out their four-game swing in Arizona to open the season with a victory to move to 1-0 on the year, while the Sun Devils fell to 1-1.

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Both pitchers cruised through the first two innings, and OU threatened first in the third.

Outfielder Abby Dayton led the inning off with a double, but Arizona State ace Kenzie Brown battled back with back-to-back strikeouts against Tia Milloy and Ella Parker.

Dayton swiped third, but Kasidi Pickering was unable to break the deadlock.

The Sun Devils then took the lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Transfer outfielder Kaylee Pond hammered a two-out delivery from Audrey Lowry to put the hosts up 1-0.

Oklahoma gave itself a chance to tie the game in the fifth.

Third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas gave the Sooners a leadoff baserunner by drawing a leadoff walk.

Brown responded by striking out OU freshman Kai Minor, but McEnroe-Marinas took second base on a wild pitch and advanced again to third when Abby Dayton grounded out.

Pinch-hitter Sydney Barker was unable to bring McEnroe-Marinas home, however, after Brown recorded her 10th strikeout of the night to keep her shutout alive.

Brown added two more strikeouts to her total in the top of the sixth, but the homer from Wells forced the Sun Devils to chase the game for the first time all evening.

Lowry recorded her first strikeout in the first at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, but Minor had to track a Pond fly ball back to the warning track to record the second out of the inning.

Patty Gasso opted to swap Lowry for Guachino, the Ole Miss transfer, and she closed out the sixth inning with a strikeout.

Lowry allowed the lone hit across 5 2/3 innings of work. She gave up no walks, though she did hit one of the 19 batters she faced.

OU put two aboard with one out in the seventh, but the Sooners were unable to hand Guachino any additional insurance runs.

Guachino issued a two-out walk to Ryan Brown, but the sophomore quickly got back on track to close out the victory.

The top five batters in the Oklahoma order — Ella Parker, Pickering, Wells, Gabbie Garcia and Ailana Agbayani — combined to go 1-for-15 at the plate but the Sooners still found a way to win.

Brown struck Parker out in all three at-bats, a career-high for Parker, but Wells was able to save the day.

The Sooners will be back in action tomorrow in the first contest of a three-game series against No. 17 Arizona.

First pitch for Friday’s contest is scheduled for 5 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN+.