Oklahoma Softball 2022 Season Preview: The Infield
SI Sooners’ five-part series counting down the days until OU softball returns to action continues today with the infield as the Sooners look to repeat as National Champions.
Backing up Oklahoma’s pitching rotation will be one of the best defenses in the country.
Anchored by perhaps the best shortstop in the country in Grace Lyons, the OU defense ranked inside the top five in both fielding percentage and errors in 2021, and every single starter from last year returns.
“She’s one of the best shortstops I’ve ever seen,” OU head coach Patty Gasso said during a preseason Zoom press conference of Lyons. “… But what’s been a real big transformation for Grace has been her offense.”
Last year, Lyons launched 14 home runs, driving in 52 runs all while finishing with a .392 batting average.
“(Lyons) didn’t have that same kind of offense at the end of last season,” Gasso said, “but she had a nagging back problem.
“But with our being able to have some depth, we’re able to help her as we go through the season to keep her healthy and strong.”
Opposite Lyons in the middle infield is reigning NFCA Freshman of the Year, Tiare Jennings.
Tiare Jennings
Ty Russell / OU Athletics
Jennings took the college softball world by storm in 2021, the talented second baseman set a new NCAA freshman record with 92 RBIs with most of the damage done behind her 27 home runs.
On top of her eye-popping numbers at the plate, Jennings also racked up 74 putouts and 56 assists last year, only being credited with three errors during her first season as a Sooner.
Oklahoma Softball Season Preview:
While the middle of the infield is set, Gasso will have plenty of options on the corners this year.
Last year, Taylon Snow started 35 games at first base, and she returns looking to lock down the position. A steady fielder, Snow also finished 2021 with a .328 batting average, hitting three home runs, nine doubles and a pair of triples.
Taylon Snow
John E. Hoover / SI Sooners
Catcher Kinzie Hansen also got work at first base last year as her bat was a weapon all year long.
Named an All-American, Hansen hit 24 home runs, and when she played at first it allowed Gasso to fit both Hansen and Lynnsie Elam’s bat into the starting lineup.
Grace Green also saw work at first last year, as she floated between first, the designated player spot and plenty of use as a pinch hitter.
The 2019 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Green has a career batting average of .356, totaling 21 home runs and 94 RBIs across her Sooner career.
Last year’s USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year could also see some time at first base this year. In her preseason Zoom press conference, Gasso said Jocelyn Alo had been working at first as she hopes to build toward Olympic dreams in seven years.
Alo is chasing the all-time NCAA home run record held by Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain, and when she’s not at first base she’ll either feature in left field or as the designated player.
On the other side of the diamond, third baseman Jana Johns returns for her final year in Norman.
Jana Johns
Ty Russell / OU Athletics
Johns played in 57 games last year, starting in 54 of those contests, and she was another heavy hitter for Gasso last year. The Calhoun, GA, native hit 12 home runs last year, adding five doubles as she totaled 40 RBIs.
Gasso said both Johns and Snow will be doing everything they can to soak in their final year, as both players wish they could have played more years at Marita Hynes Field.
“Jana Johns has only been here for one year, she wants more,” Gasso said. “Taylon Snow, same thing. She wants more. They started somewhere else and they wish they could have been here longer, so I know they’re not going to take this (season) for granted.
“I know it means something to them.”
Gasso added depth in the infield as well in Oregon transfer Alyssa Brito.
“Alyssa Brito is an extreme competitor,” Gasso said. “And what we’ve had to do is kind of slow her down a little bit. She’s just very active and very excitable.”
An All-Pac 12 honoree as a freshman last year, Brito’s energy helped her hit 10 home runs and totaled 31 RBIs, finishing last year with a .299 batting average. Brito was deployed mostly as a shortstop last year, starting in 53 of the Ducks’ 57 games last year, so she’ll have to adapt and get some work in at a new position if she hopes to do more than just back up Lyons.
“She is falling into place well, brings a depth to us because she can do so many things,” Gasso said of Brito. “… She’s very excited to be here.”
A pari of freshman in Turiya Coleman and Quincee Lilio could also see some work as the pair of utility players try and find their footing throughout their first campaign with the Sooners.
Regardless of what the lineup looks like on any given day, Gasso has plenty of options to deploy both elite fielders and a dangerous batting lineup with her infield.
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