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OU Softball: No. 3 Oklahoma Looking to Improve on Last Weekend's 'Building Blocks'

The No. 3-ranked Sooners return to Waco this weekend for a pair of games against both No. 24 Baylor and Hofstra in the Getterman Classic.

Ryan Chapman

Oklahoma's Gabbie Garcia
Oklahoma's Gabbie Garcia / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The run-up to SEC play in 2025 was always going to be about growth for Oklahoma, but there was plenty to like from OU’s opening weekend.

Patty Gasso’s No. 3-ranked Sooners were pushed by both San Diego State and Long Beach State, but after surviving a pair of extra-inning battles and taking care of business elsewhere, Oklahoma returned from California with six wins in the bag. 

Sophomore Ella Parker earned SEC Co-Player fo the Week honors after going 13-for-22 at the plate with five doubles, a home run, eight RBIs and five walks to power OU’s offense. 

The pitching staff was excellent, allowing 11 earned runs and 26 hits across 46 innings while striking out 50 batters. 

How to Watch This Week's Games at the Getterman Classic

Yet as the Sooners prepare to head south to take on Hofstra (0-0) and No. 24 Baylor (3-2) twice each this weekend, there’s still plenty to improve on. 

“It’s one of the things that you can talk about so much, about having grit and fighting in those late -inning scenarios, but you’ve got to experience it and go through it,” OU associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso said during his weekly appearance on the Franchise Morning Show on 107.7 FM The Franchise on Tuesday. “So glad we got that. Glad we got through that, and yeah it’s a good building block for this next week.”

Oklahoma’s three freshmen who featured heavily in the batting order last weekend — Gabbie Garcia, Tia Milloy and Sydney Barker — all logged their first collegiate home runs over the six-game stretch. And while it’s a good starting point, Gasso is excited for the growth they can display from week to week, especially with the first weekend jitters out of the way. 

“It’s funny because you just never know what that’s going to look like,” Gasso said. “… They’re freshmen, so it’s just small, little things. But they got settled in and they got to do their thing. So it is cool because they get to relax. They get to kind of move forward to this week of practice and things we can get better from, and I think there’s things too when you talk about nerves and you talk about some of that stuff, you’ve just got to get it out of the way so that you can just continue to play.”

Parker wasn’t the only returner who helped anchor the lineup. 

Fellow sophomore Kasidi Pickering was also excellent, totaling a team-high nine RBIs while going 7-for-20 at the plate with a pair of home runs and seven walks, and senior Cydney Sanders was reliable as well. 

Utah transfer Abigale Dayton also showed no signs of nerves, as she homered in her first OU at-bat and lived on the bases through the first six contests. 

“Her mentality, the way that she plays, it’s just something that you want to start the game off with,” Gasso said. “So it was awesome to see her do her thing and put a couple balls in the gap, get on base, get hit by pitches, just kind of set the table for the rest of the lineup. So I’m definitely looking forward to how she keeps evolving.”

The Sooners are walking into a familiar ballpark this weekend. 

Oklahoma played four games against Baylor in Waco two years ago, where the Bears handed the Sooners their only loss of the 2023 season at the Getterman Classic before OU swept Baylor in Big 12 play and finished the year 61-1 with a third straight national championship. 

Glenn Moore’s team is typically strong on the basepaths, testing both OU’s defense and pitchers alike. 

But trusting in the group in the field came easy for Campbell transfer pitcher Isabella Smith, who threw her first career perfect game in her first start at Oklahoma. 

“It’s relieving,” Smith said on Tuesday. “I know that I can just spin my pitches through the zone. … I tell myself before every pitch, ‘Trust your defense. Let your defense work.’ 

“It’s just freeing to know that I can put a pitch pretty much anywhere and if it’s hit, they’re going to make the play behind me.”

OU will first take the field on Saturday at noon against Hofstra, and then immediately takes on Baylor following the conclusion of that contest. 

Sunday's action starts at 10 a.m. against Hofstra, and Oklahoma will close the weekend at 3 p.m. in a second battle with the Bears. 

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is managing editor at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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