Nelly McEnroe-Marinas Gives Oklahoma a Steady Presence at the Plate and in the Field

The Sooners' redshirt sophomore third baseman quietly put together a very productive opening weekend

Oklahoma's Nelly McEnroe-Marinas (2) throws to first for an out in the fifth inning of a college Bedlam softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowgirls (OSU) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Patty Gasso did a bit of a double take when she was reminded about Nelly McEnroe-Marinas’ opening-weekend performance.

“You say 7 for 8, and I read that, like, she was?,” Gasso said Tuesday. “Because we get out into that thin air (in Arizona), and we’re like Gabbie (Garcia) hit how many home runs?

“She (McEnroe-Marinas) was just consistent. She was really good on defense.”

The Sooners hit 15 home runs over their first four games, with four from Garcia and “just” one from McEnroe-Marinas.

Not only did OU’s redshirt sophomore third baseman go 7 for 8 at the plate, she reached base in 13 of her 14 plate appearances, drawing four walks and twice being hit by pitch.

“Nelly just had an overall great weekend,” Gasso said.

Among the biggest plays McEnroe-Marinas played was on the defensive side.

In the bottom of the seventh in the rubber game of the three-game series against Arizona on Sunday, the Sooners were clinging to a one-run lead.

The Wildcats had a runner on second — the speedy Sereniti Trice — when Grace Jenkins hit a hard grounder in the hole between shortstop and third base.

Garcia, OU’s shortstop, made a nice play to come up with the ball, then quickly threw to third.

While the throw had plenty of juice, it was in a difficult place for McEnroe-Marinas to make the play and get the tag on Trice.

Trice was initially called safe, but on review, it was apparent that McEnroe-Marinas’ quick tag got Trice before she reached the base.

The call was overturned, and moments later Audrey Lowry got a groundout to end the game.

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Read More Oklahoma Softball

• Oklahoma's Deep Roster Will Continue to Give Patty Gasso Lineup Options
• How Oklahoma's Gabbie Garcia's Team USA Experience Elevated her Game
• What Fueled Audrey Lowry's hot Start to the Season? 

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“Changed the whole dynamic of that game,” Gasso said of the importance of McEnroe-Marinas’ play.

It was also a further illustration of the improvement McEnroe-Marinas and Garcia have made at being connected defensively.

“I think a big part of our team is connection,” Garcia said. “And I feel like especially in the infield, we are very connected to one another. We stay after, and we work together, and we do everything to just bond and really get used to each other’s presence.

“So really understanding what she is capable of and what I am capable of on the left side of the infield has really helped us grow a lot. So going from last year to where we couldn’t tell who was going to catch the pop fly in foul territory to now I know what Nelly is going to run down and I know what I’m going to run down has really allowed us to just work really well together.”

McEnroe-Marinas and the fourth-ranked Sooners open their second weekend of action with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Friday against Montana in Las Cruces, New Mexico in the opener of the Troy Cox Classic.

Oklahoma will take on New Mexico State at 2 p.m. in the second game of the day.