Oklahoma is officially on the quest for its ninth championship.
The Sooners open their 2025 season on Thursday in California, beginning with a pair of games against Cal State Northridge (5:30 p.m.) and San Diego State (8 p.m.). The Sooners will play a total of six games through Sunday morning, all in California.
But this year, they enter in an unfamilar place. The Sooners, who've won four straight national championships, aren't the consensus title favorites heading into the season. The Sooners were ranked third by every major outlet and finished third in the SEC preseason poll, landing behind fellow SEC foes Texas and Florida.
By all accounts, it's a rebuilding year for Patty Gasso's squad. The Sooners lost 10 seniors from last year's championship team, a group that included program icons like Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hansen, Rylie Boone and Nicole May, as well as reigning Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player Kelly Maxwell. There are 13 newcomers on this year's team, and eight of them are true freshman.
However, the expectations are still there for the Sooners to compete for a fifth straight title. Here's a few things to watch from opening weekend:
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
Cal State Northridge, 5:30 p.m. (SoonerSports)
San Diego State, 8 p.m. (Mountain West Network)
FRIDAY
California Baptist, 3 p.m. (SoonerSports)
Cal State Fullerton, 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
SATURDAY
Loyola Marymount, 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
SUNDAY
Long Beach State, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
THINGS TO WATCH
1. The pitching staff
Whether the Sooners can make it back to Oklahoma City could largely depend on the pitching staff, and they're mostly rebuilding from scratch. The Sooners return just 24% of their pitching production from a year ago.
There's a lot to learn, and Gasso said the Sooners will leave no stone unturned as they sort through the roster and prepare for SEC play.
The notable returner is junior Kierston Deal, who logged an ERA of 1.97 in 78.1 innings and finished on the All-Big 12 Second Team. Paytn Monticelli also returns after pitching 19.1 innings a season ago.
The Sooners added Sam Landry (Louisiana) and Isabella Smith (Campbell) from the transfer portal, a duo that has combined for over 1,000 innings pitched. Gasso has indicated that Landry enters the season as the leader of the group.
But there's a couple of interesting wrinkles to this group. True freshman Audrey Lowry impressed during the fall, and she should see real opportunities to cement her place in the rotation. Ailana Agbayani is primarily an infielder but she was also utilized as a gadget pitcher at BYU, throwing 54.2 innings with an ERA of 3.85 over two seasons. Sophomore Ella Parker, who played a pivotal role last season as the primary designated player, has also interestingly been working with OU pitching coach Jennifer Rocha.
Gasso said the Sooners will likely deploy a strategy that consists of throwing pitchers early and often. But what does that look like this weekend? How many pitchers get the opportunity to start, and just how many pitchers are utilized out of the bull pen?
2. The infield
Outside of the pitching staff, the infield is where the most rebuilding is needed for the Sooners. Cydney Sanders is back to reclaim her spot at first base. Everything else is a work in progress, particularly at second base and short stop.
Agbayani is certainly a prime candidate for one of the infield spots, and the Sooners have tried at her both second base and short stop. Nelly McEnroe-Marinas likely enters the season as the starting third baseman, and former North Carolina catcher Isabela Emerling brings a ton of experience behind the plate.
But Gasso made it clear that there will be plenty of tinkering in the infield. Gasso said there will be opportunities to bring in second-team lineups and to alter starting lineups as the Sooners figure out which combinations work.
That's also because the Sooners infield is very young. Of the nine players listed as infielders on the roster, six of them are freshmen. Sydney Barker, in particular, was heavily utilized during the fall, but the Sooners have plenty of other freshmen who could see an opportunity.
"There's lots of opportunity," Gasso told OUInsider last week. "I just really want to give everybody a feel for what this feels like. We're going to take in every game. We're going to really break it down, understand it. So I guess earlier the question led me to (saying that) the early preseason is going to be probably the most important part of our season. Because if we aren't ready going into the SEC, it's too late to try to get ready."
3. The offense
The Sooners have led the nation in just about every statistical category on offense for several years now. Every spot up and down the lineup was filled with elite offensive options that brought different things to the table.
This year, it'll be a lot of new faces.
Kasidi Pickering and Parker return for their true sophomore seasons after playing significant roles offensively last season, combining for 105 hits, 128 runs and 25 home runs, and it'll be that duo that anchors the offense. Former Utah transfer Abby Dayton should also be a welcomed addition to the lineup after finishing last season as the Pac 12 batting champion. Agabayni logged 70 hits and 58 runs while batting .428 last season. Sanders shook off a tough regular season and played a big offensive role in last year's playoffs.
But who else can bring reliable offense for the Sooners?
Gasso hasn't had to choose between offense and defense last season as the Sooners deployed players who were great at both. But there will likely need to be even more thought put into the batting lineup as hitting coach JT Gasso figures out where everybody fits.
The Sooners could also look to rely even more on small-ball units that rely more on speed as opposed to power hitting. Parker led the team last season in stolen bases with 17; Agbayani had 24 in her two years at BYU; and Gasso has indicated that several of the freshmen could play roles as base runners.
"(We're) trying to learn how to manage when to use it, how to use it, because it's been awhile since we've had such a very efficient, quick, aggressive team," Gasso said. "So when we're running bases, you've gotta think as an outfielder two bases ahead, because that's where they're heading. Abby Dayton's one that's gonna create chaos, not just at the plate but on the base paths. We've got probably five or six really legitimate stolen-base options that will likely be in the lineup.
"I don't want to mess this up."
The Sooners' strategies on offense could be the biggest difference from previous years, and aggressive base running could prove to be the identity for this team.
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