Oklahoma Star Ella Parker 'Feels Good' After Productive Fall Scrimmages

Healthy again, the Sooner slugger is hard at work improving her game ahead of her junior season in Norman.

Oklahoma slugger Ella Parker celebrates after reaching base in the WCWS. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — Ella Parker’s injury struggles are a thing of the past. 

The Oklahoma star battled a lower-body injury through most of SEC play last year, but she’s fully healthy and enjoyed getting back to her best during the Sooners’ fall slate.

“I feel good. … We're good,” Parker said with a smile on Thursday night. 

Remarkably, Parker’s sophomore campaign was still productive despite the injury. 

She improved her batting average from .415 as a freshman to .423 in 2025. She set career-highs in home runs (15), slugging percentage (.789), walks drawn (36) and on-base percentage (.521), and she was still able to steal 10 bases after swiping 17 bags as a true freshman. 

Entering her third season, she hopes to take her game to the next level. 

“I think fall is always a great way to just show your growth from the beginning to the end,” she said, “and I think just working at hitting, on the field, I think we've made some good strides.”

Patty Gasso was there to make sure Parker didn’t push herself too hard, however, as the legendary coach knows exactly how to manage experienced players throughout the offseason. 

“Rest is what she has needed,” Gasso said last month. “And I talk to her probably every couple of innings just to ask how she’s feeling. There are times when she’ll say, ‘Yeah, it’s OK.’ And then I’m like, 'You’re done; who’s next?' So I don’t want to put her in those positions where she’s limping. We really need her.”

Gasso used Parker in ways other than just as a hitter throughout the fall. 

Ella Parker celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run for Oklahoma to take down Tennessee at the WCWS. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I’m letting her play a little bit of the outfield,” Gasso said. “She’s really, with her leg, feeling better. She can run well. And she has worked on her overhand throw as well, so she’s a viable option in the outfield if needed. Not just a DP.”

Parker was happy to continue her development as an all-around softball player, not just as a hitter, during the offseason. 

---

Read More Oklahoma Softball

• How Freshman Kendall Wells Has Impressed Oklahoma's Patty Gasso During Fall Ball
• Why Patty Gasso Believes Pitcher Sydney Berzon Will Fulfill Her Potential at Oklahoma
• Three Takeaways From Oklahoma's Final Battle Series Scrimmage of the Fall

---

“I am willing to do whatever it takes for this team,” Parker said. “And whatever that is, I am ready for it.”

She’s been hard at work in the batting cages, too, building toward another great season with associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso. 

“He's a wizard. He's a master,” Parker said. “But it's always awesome to have him in your back pocket and just talk about hitting.”