Softball Legends Weigh In on Kendall Wells’ Historic Home Run Chase

Mike Candrea, Michele Smith, and Jocelyn Alo are all watching the OU star's rookie season.

Oklahoma Sooners catcher Kendall Wells (1) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning of a Bedlam softball game between the Oklahoma State Cowgirls and the Oklahoma Sooners at Devon Park in Oklahoma CIty, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Oklahoma State won 6-4. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma freshman slugger Kendall Wells, who reached 30 home runs in just 40 games, faster than any player in history, is on pace to not only surpass the NCAA record of single-season homers (37), but also take the all-time career record (122). 

Wells has already broken the SEC single-season home run record (26) and is just three away from breaking Oklahoma’s program record of 34 set by Jocelyn Alo, the current NCAA all-time home run leader. 

While fans are in the midst of witnessing her historic career, experts in the game have been left with their jaws dropped at the things she has the potential to achieve by year four. 

Take it from Mike Candrea, the former all-time winningest coach in college softball history at Arizona, who coached Laura Espizona, the current single-season home run record holder. He says the softball community should be thankful when players like Espizona and Wells come around. 

“She is definitely a different breed, a generational talent, like an Aaron Judge,” Candrea told Molly Keshin at The Athletic. “They don’t come around very often. I think she could be in the same boat as a softball player. Laura was that type of player back in her day.”

Even Michele Smith, the ESPN broadcaster and Olympic gold medalist, has no advice for opposing aces. Wells’s strength and wicked talent are a nightmare for anyone in the circle. 

“As a pitcher, there’s really nowhere to hide,” Smith told Molly Keshin at The Athletic. “It’s leg strength, but it’s also timing. Because of all that strength, even when she mishits a ball, it goes 225 feet, which is still over the fence, instead of 270. On top of that, there are all the unique skills that take time and practice to understand the ball: depth perception, hand-eye coordination and being able to read the spin and the velocity of the pitch.”

“If she continues to stay on the track that she’s on, I think she’s going to be known as the greatest hitter that’s probably ever played the game,” Smith added.

RECORD-SETTING GO-AHEAD KW BOMB 💣@KendallWells__ | 📺ESPN pic.twitter.com/0eFXByZP4g

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 12, 2026

Former OU national champion Lauren Chamberlain was alone at the top of the NCAA all-time home run list for seven years until Alo came around. It’s looking like Alo may not be alone for as long as she thought, but she’s more than happy to pass the torch. 

“I definitely refer to myself as the ‘Home Run Queen,’ and I’m not even trying to sound conceited,” Alo told Molly Keshin at The Athletic. “It was a hard journey, and it was something I had set out to do for a long time — before I even knew I was going to Oklahoma — that I knew I wanted to be somebody in this sport. My piece of advice to (Kendall) would be to just keep your blinders on and keep moving forward.”

Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso called it early in the fall season that Wells came in already well-developed and didn’t need much tweaking from hitting coach JT Gasso. 

flying objects headed to Asp Avenue 👀

KW OUT OF LOVE'S! pic.twitter.com/DInzKdBS1q

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) March 8, 2026

With three weeks left of the regular season and the potential for the No.1 Sooners to head far into the postseason, how many more bombs will we see from Wells?