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OU Softball: Rebuilding Oklahoma Starts in Top 3 of Another Preseason Poll

The Sooners face a daunting SEC schedule, but Patty Gasso's squad is staring down an even more daunting overhaul of the roster in 2025.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Everybody knows Patty Gasso faces a daunting rebuild in Norman.

And still, another national softball poll ranks Oklahoma at No. 3.

After winning an unprecedented fourth straight national championship, the Sooners (59-7 last year) must replace a senior class that only knew trophies. 

But D1 Softball’s preseason poll shows a widespread belief that the Sooners aren’t far off the chase as the 2025 season dawns.

Just like last week’s Softball America preseason Top 25, new SEC rivals Florida and Texas are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 to start the season, while OU is No. 3.

UCLA comes in at No. 4 in the D1 Softball poll, while Oklahoma State is No. 5 and Tennessee is No. 6.

Sophomores Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering are back to lead the ’25 Sooners, along with senior first baseman Cydney Sanders.

Gasso added a truckload of talent through the transfer portal additions this offseason: Utah outfielder Abigale Dayton, Louisiana pitcher Sam Landry, Campbell pitcher Isabella Smith, North Carolina catcher Isabela Emerling and BYU infielder Ailana Agbayani. 

Gasso said during fall ball that she’s happy to be coaching again after a senior-driven squad carried so much of the burden these past four seasons.

Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen, Rylie Boone and Nicole May each played all four years at OU but now have moved on. Other vital seniors, like Alyssa Brito, Alynah Torres, Kelly Maxwell, Karlie Keeney and Riley Ludlam, also graduated.

Gasso previously said SEC softball is “a different animal” than the Big 12 Conference — the SEC leads all leagues with nine teams ranked in Tuesday’s poll — and although the Sooners will have to prove themselves every week, the regular season comes to a fine point in the final two weeks as OU hosts the Longhorns in their SEC regular season home finale April 25-27 and visits the Gators in the season finale May 1-3.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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