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The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is the softball team that represents University of Oklahoma in the sport of women's softball.

History

The Sooners participate in the Big 12 Conference, and play their home games at OU Softball Complex. Oklahoma has won their conference title 13 times, has been to the NCAA Tournament 27 times, has been to the NCAA Women's College World Series 14 times, and has won the NCAA championship five times. OU also appeared in the AIAW Women's College World Series four times. The team is coached by Patty Gasso.

The Sooners won their first national championship back in 2000. They swept Harvard, Cal-State Northridge, and Oregon State at their home regionals to advance to their first appearance in the Women's College World Series. They beat California and knocked off Southern Mississippi and Arizona to advance to the championship game against UCLA. They beat UCLA 3-1 to capture their first national title.

They hosted and won their 2013 regional. They beat Marist and Arkansas with a combined score of 41-6. They hosted again their super regionals against Texas A&M where they outscored the Aggies 18-2. In Oklahoma City, they went through 8 seeded Michigan, #10 ranked Texas, and #11 ranked Washington to reach Tennessee in the championship. Game 1 was where Lauren Chamberlain hit her iconic two-run walk-off home run after 12 innings of play. In game 2, Keilani Ricketts drove in all four runs, and Michelle Gascoigne pitched a shut out to obtain their second national title.

Once again, they hosted their regional in 2016 where they beat Wichita State and Ole Miss. They went on to host their super regional against Louisiana-Lafayette where they swept to advance to the Women's College World Series once again. In their first game in the tournament, they beat Alabama in extra innings. They faced #12 Michigan in game 2, and beat LSU in their third to face Auburn in the championship. They won 2-1 in their final game where Paige Parker threw a complete game.

In 2017, Sooners hosted another straight regional and won against North Dakota State, Arkansas, and Tulsa. From there, they went to #7 Auburn for the Super Regionals where they won in two games. They held off Baylor in Oklahoma City, overcame #6 Washington, and beat Oregon to face Florida in the finals. They won game 1 in the longest game ever played in the finals in 17 innings. They finished off the series with a swept to capture their fourth national championship.

In 2021, the Sooners hosted their regional as the No. 1 overall seed and beat Wichita State, Texas A&M, and Morgan State. They advanced to host their super regional against Washington, which they won in two games. At the Women's College World Series, they lost their first round game to James Madison University; subsequently, they won four straight elimination games to advance to the championship series, besting Georgia, UCLA, and James Madison twice. In the championship series, they lost their first game to Florida State, but returned to win games two and three to claim their fifth national championship.

Love's Field

On October 28, 2021, it was announced a new softball stadium, Love's Field, is planned to break ground in 2022 and open before the 2024 season. Love's provided the naming gift following a $9 million donation. The estimated cost for the project is $27 million. The overall square footage of the complex will be 44,000 square feet and will have a seating capacity of 3,000.

Coaching history

Championships

NCAA Women's College World Series National Championships

Conference Championships

Conference Tournament Championships

NCAA Tournament seeding history

National seeding began in 2005. The Oklahoma Sooners have been a national seed 15 of the 16 tournaments.

Records by opponent

Sources:

Big 12 Conference opponents

Former Big 12 Conference opponents

Major Non-Conference opponents

Coaching staff

Notable players

Sources:

National Awards

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

Softball America Player of the Year

NFCA National Freshman of the Year

Softball America Freshman of the Year

Honda Sports Award

Academic All-American of the Year

First Team All-Americans

Conference Awards

Big 12 Player of the Year

Big 12 Pitcher of the Year

Big 12 Freshman of the Year

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year

Big 12 Newcomer of the Year

Big 12 Coach of the Year