Sydney Barker's Defense Keeping her in Oklahoma's Lineup

NORMAN — The numbers jump out looking at the scoreboard at Love’s Field when Oklahoma’s batting order is displayed.

Kai Minor’s batting average has been hovering around .500, Ella Parker is hitting .458, Ailana Agbayani .455 and on and on.

Sydney Barker enters this weekend’s Sooners’ series against No. 4 Texas hitting .295, more than 100 points below any other Oklahoma regular in the lineup.

But OU coach Patty Gasso said Barker’s place in the lineup is secure, even if her offense has struggled this far this season.

“I told her this too, ‘Offensively, I don’t care. You are so important to us on defense and filling that role on third that if you hit .100, I don’t care,’” Gasso said before talking about the Sooners’ hitting numbers. “... Any of us would go, ‘Why am I not hitting .425?’ Who does that? Most teams would be thrilled to just hit .300 as a team so I need to continue to make sure that she can be free to swing and not feel pressed to try to hit home runs or do things that we don’t need her to do.

“I need her to play great defense and whatever she can add offensively, we love it. But I’m not worried about her offense. I’m not at all. I hope she hears this or I will tell her myself.”

Barker had success last season as a freshman, growing into a regular role by the end of the season.

She hit .349 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs.

So far, she has five home runs and has driven in 16, scored nine more runs than she did a season ago and has drawn as many ways in five fewer at bats.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Gasso said Barker’s experience last season working her way into the lineup helped her mindset this season.

“She’s made that way. I recruited her for that reason. She was always that voice on the field, she was a hustler, hard worker,” Gasso said. “In travel ball, there are teams that just don’t hustle, the walk everywhere, she was just always moving, always talking. … She’s driving in runs. Every once in awhile she’ll hit it out, she’ll drop one in over the infield’s head. It doesn’t matter to me. It really does not. I just want her to be so confident on defense and just relaxed on offense.”

Barker entered this season with a role that was a bit uncertain.

She played mostly outfield last season as a freshman but figured to be primarily used at first base this season when Parker won the job in right field.

The injury to third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas early in the season forced Gasso to juggle her lineup, and Barker quickly gravitated to that third base spot.

“I think that she is a dog,” Agbayani said. “We do the cheer like, ‘Who let the dogs out’ — she’s a dog. She’s a competitor, she will dive and she’s tough. I think she’s also a very calmin presence in the infield too.”

She has started 27 of Oklahoma’s 41 games this season, most of them at third since McEnroe-Marinas’ injury.

“Barker has been a star for us at third base,” Gasso said. “Losing Nelly was a big blow to us but Barker has been that traveling infielder, traveling outfielder. She’ll go and do and play hard wherever I play her. She’s got a third baseman’s mentality, it’s kind of that bow up, ‘try to hit it by me’ kind of attitude, which I love.”