Oklahoma 2025 Softball Preview: The Outfield

NORMAN — Jayda Coleman and Rylie Boone won’t be patrolling the outfield at Love’s Field this spring.

That’ll take some getting used to.

And while things will look different, Patty Gasso has no shortage of talent to back up her pitching staff in 2025.

One of last years’ breakout stars, Kasidi Pickering, is back for her sophomore year to lead Gasso’s new-look Sooners.

She hit .389 last year and finished with 12 home runs, 51 RBIs, nine doubles, a triple, 42 walks to 21 strikeouts and a slugging percentage of .705.

Most importantly, Gasso pointed out her right fielder as a future leader in her first fall with the program — qualities that the team will need this season after graduating out titans of the game.

Pickering will be joined by fellow returners Hannah Coor and Maya Bland to round out the returning experience in the outfield.

Coor has Gasso’s full trust, but she’s battled back issues throughout her Oklahoma career.

She was one of the MVP’s of the 2023 Battle Series, but Gasso used her mostly as a late game defensive substitution on last year’s title-winning team.

In 38 plate appearances, Coor hit .211 last year with a pair of doubles, one home run and eight RBIs. She walked once, but will have to cut down her seven strikeouts to make a spot in the batting order her own.

But Coor’s glove is valuable in the outfield, and Gasso is confident Oklahoma will finally see the best out of the redshirt junior now that she’s healthy.

“I’m excited to see her,” Gasso said on Saturday. “She's had really good practice days. She's still a little bit behind in some areas, she would tell you. But she looks wonderful."

💣 @coor_hannah crushes a long ball off the scoreboard!

📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/mlAv2bp4tJ
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) October 17, 2024

Bland made 52 appearances last year as a freshman, but only had 15 at-bats as she was mostly used as a pinch runner or a late defensive substitute.

She tallied four RBIs in her limited action, however, and Gasso said she’s finding her stride as the season is on the verge of getting underway.

“Someone that's really elevated every game is Maya Bland,” Gasso said. “… So there's (a position) battle still going on to the very end.”

Gasso added go her outfield, too.

The Sooners landed Abigale Dayton from Utah fresh off a 2024 season that saw her named an NFCA Third Team All-American.

She hit .431 in her final season as a Ute, tallying 10 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 28 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

Dayton is expected to be a terror on the base paths and excellent in the field, but she’s also brought a needed edge to the team along with her fellow transfers.

“All of our incoming transfer athletes came here for a reason,” Gasso said. “And I know what that reason is and I don’t even need to ask them. They want to get trained hard and they want to win a championship. And having them here, you can feel their energy.

“(Dayton) is full of energy every day, every second, every moment… So there’s just I think a burst of energy that we got from the transfer athletes.”

Gasso will also have some freshmen that are going to compete for playing time in outfield.

Local product Chaney Helton was signed to bolster the ranks beyond the infield, and Tia Milloy seemed to play everywhere when healthy during the Battle Series last fall.

Gasso could continue to work different freshman faces in as she tinkers in left field early in the season, too.

The Sooners will get their 2025 season rolling on the West Coast starting Thursday with two contests — one against CSUN and one against San Diego State.