Oklahoma's Sydney Barker Continues to Find Home at Third Base

NORMAN — Sydney Barker didn't hesitate.

When Oklahoma third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas went down with an injury in late February, Barker jumped right in for her injured teammate.

She hadn't played the position before, starting games at first base, second base, shortstop and center field during the first three weekends of the season.

"All right, this is where I'm going to be at," Barker remembers thinking when McEnroe-Marinas went down with the injury. "This is where I'm going to play. This is where I'm going to give it my all."

In the nearly three months since, Barker has made a home for herself at third, starting all but six games there since McEnroe-Marinas' initial injury and 34 of 38 games there since McEnroe-Marinas suffered a season-ending injury March 1.

Barker has developed a strong bond with shortstop Gabbie Garcia, and spent plenty of time leaning heavily on McEnroe-Marinas to learn the position.

It didn’t take long for Barker to find a comfort level at third.

“Honestly just stepping into that role and knowing you’re needed in this spot, you kind of have to stay comfortable with that,” Barker said, “because as soon as you get tense and as soon as you start worrying, things go downhill.”

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Barker was a strong offensive player last season, coming on strong late in the season to become a regular by the time the postseason rolled around.

She hit .368 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs as a freshman.

This season, offense has been more difficult to come by for the Rocklin, Calif., product.

She enters this weekend's Super Regional matchup against Mississippi State at Love's Field hitting .268 with five home runs and 16 RBIs.

Barker went 0 for 4 in last weekend's regional, but drew two walks and scored two runs.

She also played her signature excellent defense, flawlessly handling her chances.

Barker has just two errors in 113 chances this season.

"She'll go and do and play hard wherever I put her," Sooners coach Patty Gasso said of Barker earlier this season. "She's got a third baseman's mentality. It's kind of that bow up, 'try-to-hit-it-by-me' kind of attetide, which I love."

That level of defense has Gasso not hesitating a bit to keep writing Barker's name in the lineup even through the ebbs and flows offensively.

"I told her this too: 'Offensively, I don't care. You are so important to us on defense and filling that role at third. If you hit .100, I don't care,'" Gasso said.

With the Sooners facing one of the best pitching teams in the country in Mississippi State, who also has one of the nation's top defenses, runs figure to be at a premium. So defense figures to continue to be important if Oklahoma is to extend its run of Women's College World Series appearances to 10.

After her successes offensively last season, including going 3 for 3 off Texas Tech star Nijaree Canady in the WCWS semifinals, Barker isn't writing off her chances of another offensive surge this season.

“It’s never too late in the season, you know, to peak or to show your talent or skill,” Barker said. “So definitely just keep working no matter what and just get back in the cages.”

The Sooners and Bulldogs open the best-of-three series at noon Friday at Love's Field.

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