Why Oklahoma Coach Patty Gasso is 'Enjoying' Her Team's 2026 Preparations

With the Sooners ready to start the Battle Series this week, OU coach Patty Gasso is pleased with where her team is at.

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso speaks with second baseman Ailana Agbayani. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — Things will look different for Patty Gasso this fall. 

Last year, she was assembling a virtually new team after graduating out a host of Oklahoma legends.

As the Sooners prepare for the 2026 season, Gasso has plenty of experienced pieces to lean on. 

“Last year was just quite different. It was fun, though, because you do a lot of teaching,” Gasso said in an interview with 107.7 The Franchise. “Now these guys know what they’re doing. They take their own infield and I’m watching it like, ‘What do you need me for?’ I’m just enjoying watching this.”

Key pieces return like sluggers Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering.

OU also returns Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, Gabbie Garcia and Ailana Agbayani in the infield, and Sydney Barker can slot in for Cydney Sanders at first base.

Outfielder Abby Dayton returns, as does catcher Isabela Emerling and pitchers Kierston Deal and Audrey Lowry.

The experience is valuable for players like Parker, who are primed to step into an even larger leadership role off the field after healing up from a lower leg injury that plagued a large portion of her 2025 season.

“She’s running. She’s working in the outfield,” Gasso said. “I think the junior year is when everything is kind of settled within some athletes and as long as they don’t try too hard then we’ve got something going on. But she wants to make her mark and I think she has stepped up more as a leader as well. She’s taken some initiative.”

Parker’s leadership will be crucial to help get Gasso’s five new freshmen and two transfers acclimated to life in Norman.

Oklahoma added former LSU pitcher Sydney Berzon and Ole Miss pitcher Miali Guachino from the portal, and the Sooners signed the top-rated recruiting class in the country.

---

Read More Oklahoma Softball

• Oklahoma Lands Commitment from Elite Local Player Goose Hutchens
• Oklahoma Lands No. 1 Outfielder in 2027 Class
• Oklahoma Lands Highly Touted Softball Prospect from Class of 2027
• Oklahoma Adds Fourth Verbal Commitment to 2027 Recruiting Class

---

Bringing those new faces together is a process that Gasso and her Sooners have seemingly perfected over the last decade.

“I think you walk into our program and you know — either you know what you’re walking into or you don’t,” Gasso said. “If you know what you’re walking into, then you know you’ve got to live up to an expectation. And if you know that, you’re working on your own. You’re coming in, you’re hitting extra, you’re doing those things. If you don’t know our expectations and where we live, you’re really gonna struggle. 

“Right now, I don’t see anyone that is not going to make it through. I mean, they’ve got it going on. There are battles all over the field.”

Oklahoma will take a big step in getting ready for its 2026 campaign when it kicks off the Battle Series on Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Love’s Field.