OU Softball: Healthy Again, Oklahoma OF Hannah Coor is 'Going Off' at the Plate

NORMAN — Hannah Coor’s fingerprints were all over Oklahoma’s sweep of Mississippi State.

The redshirt junior hit a pair of home runs, but also had a pair of fantastic catches to save runs in center field in the series finale on Sunday.

Coor has battled injuries throughout her Oklahoma career, a back injury cost her the 2023 season, but when available she’s always been a reliable defensive option in the outfield for Patty Gasso.

consider this as our nomination for the Sunday night @SportsCenter Top Ten 🕸️💎@coor_hannah | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/7YBthI5vtZ
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 20, 2025

But as of late, her offense has come along.

“I think to start the year you started to see Hannah as more of a matchup piece,” OU associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso said during an interview on 107.7 FM The Franchise on Tuesday. “I think Hannah, when she showed (against Tennesse), it was a drop ball that she hit… that’s when I really started to see things click for her and she’s just been going off.”

Since the Tennessee series, Coor has gone 7-for-14 at the plate with five RBIs. She’s added a jolt to the bottom of the lineup for the Sooners, allowing Gasso to turn the lineup over to the top of the order with a speedy baserunner aboard.

For Coor, she’s enjoyed seeing her hard work behind the scenes start to shine on the field each weekend.

“I feel like I've always understood hitting, just from JT and just being around some of the best offenses in softball history,” she said on Tuesday. “But I've never been the greatest hitter. I've never had a whole lot of power behind my swing. I'm pretty fast, so I like to use that as my advantage.”

In last weekend’s crucial series against Mississippi State, Coor took a different approach to the plate.

“I just started playing in a whole different way this past series,” she said. “Just not playing to prove people wrong, but trying to prove myself right. Just with everything I've been through. Not holding that (as much) as I used to. Just not caring. I didn't think I was gonna hit those home runs. I really wasn't trying, because I don't really do that. It just comes with having fun. I was having a whole lot of fun."

With Jayda Coleman and Rylie Boone graduating last year and Coor finally healthy, she had a chance to lock down an everyday spot in the outfield alongside Abigale Dayton and Kasidi Pickering.

But she sprained her ankle on the opening night of the season, forcing her to work back from yet another injury.

Going through numerous rehabilitation cycles has given Coor a new perspective on softball.

“Softball, for the longest time, was just a chore,” Coor said. “... It was something I missed when I wasn't able to play it. I'm finding that balance between having it be a chore and missing it so bad. I feel like I'm finally figuring out in a seesaw way of just balancing (that it) is hard, I wouldn't want it any other way."

As the Sooners roll into the last two weekends of the regular season, Coor’s experience and ability to fight through adversity will be crucial.

Coor, along with Cydney Sanders, Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering, Maya Bland, Kierston Deal and Paytn Monticelli, is one of the players in the locker room who has actually experienced playing in the Red River Rivalry.

She’s also the only member of Oklahoma’s roster remaining who played alongside Jocelyn Alo.

Coor is a bridge to OU’s recent dominance, and she’s rarely seen playing without a big smile in center field.

“Hannah brings a lot of good energy to the team by her reactions and her celebrations and so we need her,” Patty Gasso said. “And down in that nine spot is a great place to hide her because she does have some pop and she’s showing that.”

Now Coor and the coaching staff hope Coor can carry the momentum seized against Mississippi State into the series with the Longhorns this weekend.

“That homer she hit on Friday was big time for her,” JT Gasso said. “And then coming out a doing what she did — she’s been really seeing the ball well and working really hard. The defense part, she’s really kind of taken that, and she’s always been defensive minded. But this offense part, it’s really taken off. I’m really happy for her.”