Oklahoma's senior teams have won the WCWS every year, can Patty Gasso and the freshmen continue the dynasty?

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Fans in the outfield turned to left field as Oklahoma's Kelly Maxwell jogged out of the bullpen. Oklahoma was four outs away from a national championship, and Maxwell's entrance was greeted with enthusiasm and a collective deep sigh.

The Sooners already felt they controlled their destiny, but coach Patty Gasso brought in her ace for the championship series against No. 1 ranked Texas. Maxwell, later named the Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player, did just that, sealing an 8-4 victory for the Sooners to clinch the championship series and make Oklahoma the first team in college softball history to win four straight championships.

While this stage is familiar for Oklahoma, players and Gasso will point out the challenges that come with achieving this level of success time and time again, and the pressure has been especially heightened this season, senior outfielder Jada Coleman said.

“As the games went on, we lost a game, we lost two games, we lost to Texas, and everyone was saying things about us,” Coleman said. “It was just frustrating to see on Twitter and TikTok that everyone was expecting someone else to win but us.”

She shrugged, “Well… it didn't happen…”

Oklahoma has built a long-standing dynasty with eight national titles and 17 WCWS appearances since 2000. Over the past four national championship seasons, OU has compiled a record of 235-15.

Coach Patty Gasso and Kelly Maxwell led Oklahoma to its fourth consecutive national title. (USA Today)

As the wins piled up, so did the skepticism. Oklahoma has lost its most games this season (seven) since 2017, and Texas knocked the Sooners out of the top seed in this year's NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. Skeptics pointed to those as signs of weakness, while comments about the home crowd advantage Oklahoma enjoys by playing the WCWS 20 miles from campus stoked frustration and sparked discussion about tournament rotation.

“This was probably the toughest coaching season I've had in a while because of the amount of opposition,” Gasso said. “The phrase that really stuck with me was, 'A heavy head wears a crown.' I heard someone say that and it really felt true. It was exhausting.”

But as the noise around the team grew, Oklahoma maintained its identity on the field.

“Whether you love us or hate us, I think you have to have some respect for what we've done for softball, for girls' sports,” senior pitcher Nicole May said. “It's really great to see the sport grow and I hope it continues to grow.”

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Texas head coach Mike White pointed to Oklahoma's ability to “keep bringing back and bringing back the best players on the team” as one of the reasons the Sooners have consistently come out on top. Freshman outfielder Kayden Henry and sophomore infielder Bibiana Martinez pointed to the Sooners' veteran roster as the biggest difference. Oklahoma's 10 seniors have been a anchor for each of their championships.

That class includes Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Riley Boone, Alyssa Brito and Kinsey Hansen, all of whom rank in the top 10 in program history in career batting average. Maxwell, May and Carly Keeney, who transferred to OU from rival Oklahoma State this season, are the cornerstones of the pitching staff. Infielder Alina Torres and utility player Riley Ludlum round out the dynasty senior class. The five who have been with OU since the beginning of their careers – Coleman, Jennings, Boone, Hansen and May – have never missed the postseason without winning a national title.

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The timing was right for the Oklahoma softball superstar to hit his stride and cement his legacy.

“They're going to go down in history and I would say personally as one of the best classes in softball history, not just at OU but nationally, and I'm very proud of that,” Gasso said. “It's easy to say enough is enough. This is tough and enough is enough. But these are elite athletes. They're going to work hard whether they want to or not.”

But what Gasso built at Norman won't end with them going away, and that's where the freshmen come in. Ella Parker and Cassidy Pickering are two newcomers who have broken into the starting lineup this season, and neither has shied away from the attention of the postseason.

Parker was 3-for-4 at bat and hit the tying run to send the game into extra innings in the Sooners' consolation game against Florida. She finished the season with a team-best batting average of .415. Pickering hit a home run in each game of the championship series. Both freshmen were named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team.

“I owe it all to my seniors,” Pickering said. “Every time I was at bat, they would come up to me and talk to me and give me mental advice for the next at bat, so I owe it all to my seniors.”

When asked if he felt any pressure to carry on what his predecessors had left behind, Pickering was quick to reply, “No.”

Oklahoma is moving to the SEC, which just sent all 13 softball teams to the NCAA Tournament, and the realignment will bring a new level of competition. The Sooners also welcome a 2024 freshman recruiting cycle that features eight players who are among the best in the country in extra-inning softball. Of course, they also have an unprecedented fifth straight championship in mind.

“We need (the freshmen). They've been great offensively,” Gasso said. “We have a lot of young pitchers who are watching them and learning and waiting for their turn. Even without those 10 seniors, the future remains bright.”

Gasso said Hansen, Keeney and Jennings will all return as graduate assistants next year, but even with the departure of the players who built the dynasty, Gasso will remain the architect of each championship.

“I'm ready to start coaching again because I don't have to coach this,” Gasso said, pointing to the seniors next to him. “They know it. They get it. They coach each other. I'm really excited for what's to come.”

The parade of tearful Oklahoma players marching to the outfield Thursday night with the trophy in their hands was both nostalgic and exhilarating. The final cheer finally came, as if their ace was taking to the field at a crucial moment. This chapter in the University of Oklahoma history ended with a sense of accomplishment and relief that history had been made once again.

“This game was definitely a little emotional for me. We've grown up together,” Hansen said. “There wasn't one hero at the plate or on the mound. This was a team effort. We battled all season. Everybody was always saying something about us. Everybody counted us out. It was just a struggle. We put everything on the line, mentally and physically. We battled all year. This moment made it all so worth it.”

(Top photo: Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)