What Will Oklahoma Softball's Outfield Look Like This Season?

NORMAN — It didn’t take Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso to put to rest any questions about who the Sooners’ third outfielder would be in 2026.

OU returns two key outfielders this season — Kasidi Pickering and Abby Dayton.

“Defense is going to be outstanding,” Gasso said Saturday at softball media day in her answer to the day’s first question. “The newcomer you’ll enjoy is Kai Minor in centerfield. She’s a Jayda Coleman-style; she can run things down, she makes big plays. So there’s speed in the outfield.”

Minor made a couple of flashy plays in the fall, but also made plenty of plays that would be difficult for plenty of outfielders look easy.

“Kai Minor is one of the fastest people I’ve ever met,” Pickering said.

Dayton and Hannah Coor split centerfield responsibilities last season, with Dayton starting 37 games there and Coor 24.

Coor transferred to Nebraska in the offseason and OU signed Minor out of the OC Batbusters club team that’s long been a pipeline for the Sooners.

Minor hit .465 with 48 stolen bases during her high school career at Orange Lutheran in Southern California. She was successful on 98% of her stolen-base attempts.

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Dayton has plenty of experience in the corner spots as well.

She started 19 games in left and four in right last season after transferring from Utah.

Dayton hit .325 with 51 runs, eight doubles, a triple and three home runs last season.

The last of those was a massive one — a two-run, game-tying home run off Texas Tech’s Nijaree Canady in the seventh inning of the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series.

The home run lifted the Sooners into a 2-2 tie, though the Red Raiders scratched across a run in the bottom of that inning to eliminate OU.

While Dayton started the season as Oklahoma’s primary leadoff hitter, Gasso shuffled things up late in the season with Dayton moving down in the order.

For much of the postseason, Dayton was the Sooners’ No. 9 hitter.

Pickering spent even more time in the corners than Dayton did last season, with 37 starts in left and 25 in right.

She was even more productive at the plate than she was during her excelling freshman season in 2024.

Pickering hit .392 with 18 home runs, 14 doubles, 58 runs scored, drove in 57 runs and drew 51 walks.

Only Gabbie Garcia had more homers or drove in more runs than Pickering on the team last season and only Ella Parker had a better batting average.

Two other Sooners’ returners made starts in the outfield last year — Sydney Barker and Parker.

Parker figures to once again be primarily a designated player, but could see some spot time in the corners this year as well.

Barker came on strong late last season as a freshman, becoming a valuable piece both in right field, where she started 15 games, and first base, where she started seven games.

She was the Sooners’ right fielder during the WCWS.

Regardless of where she is on the field — Barker also started four games at shortstop last season and can play second and third as well — Gasso said she’ll be a consistent piece in the lineup.