Takeaways from OU softball's opening weekend

It was a successful weekend in Puerta Vallarta for the reigning national champions to start the season.

The Sooners ended the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, outscoring their opponents 31-6 in the process. In addition, Kelly Maxwell, Alyssa Brito and Kasidi Pickering were named to the all-tournament team, with Brito being selected as the most valuable player.

While the Sooners are just four games into the season, and it's still very early, there were plenty of noteworthy things to observe from their opening weekend. Here's a look at some of the primary takeaways:

OU coach Patty Gasso relishes when her team is legitimately challenged, and that happened plenty of times in Puerta Vallarta.

Well, other than the 13-0 run-rule victory over Utah Valley.

In the second game against Duke, the Sooners took a 3-0 lead against Duke in the third inning but never scored again. In the top of the seventh, the Blue Devils had a chance to tie the game after loading three players on base with only one out. But relief pitcher Karlie Keeney forced a strikeout and a ground out to escape with a 3-0 win.

It didn't just take an extra inning for the Sooners to knock off Washington, 4-3. The Sooners trailed 3-2 after the second inning and didn't regain the lead until the sixth when Riley Ludlam hit an RBI single. Rylie Boone scored Kasidi Pickering in the top of the eighth to seal the win.

While the Sooners eventually cruised to an 11-3 win over Long Beach State, it didn't start that way. LBS scored three runs to tie the game in the bottom of the second, and the Sooners led just 4-3 entering the sixth inning before they added six runs in the top of the frame to put the game out of reach.

Gasso did tinker with her lineups quite a bit, and she's indicated that will happen a lot early in the year. 12 different players logged at least one start, and only six players started every game — Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman, Rylie Boone, Cydney Sanders, Kinzie Hansen and Brito. It's clear that battles remain ongoing at second base and in the outfield.

It's important to note that Duke and Washington are both currently ranked inside the top 10 nationally by D1 softball. There were also challenges in last year's opening weekend, which included a 1-0 win over Liberty in extra innings and a 5-4 win over Washington. But it's unlikely that anyone predicted the Sooners would be legitimately tested by Long Beach State on Saturday.

It'll be interesting to see if more challenges await in the coming weeks as Gasso continues to find out more about her team.

The true freshman's inclusion on the all-tournament team was well-earned. Pickering started three of the four games, finishing with five hits in 11 at-bats to go with seven RBIs. She currently leads the team in batting average (.455) and RBIs.

Nothing was more memorable than her first career at-bat, when she blasted a grand slam to score the Sooners' first points of the season.

The tournament couldn't have gone much better for Pickering, who Gasso described as a "power hitter" heading into the season. All three of her starts came with her playing in the outfield, and she's going to be hard to keep her out of the lineup if she continues to make a big impact.

Pickering wasn't the only freshman to see significant playing time. Ella Parker — Gasso said she "has to be in this lineup" during last week's media day — started three games as the team's designated hitter, recording three hits, four runs and three RBIs in 11 bats. The Sooners also utilized Maya Bland as a pinch runner in three of the games, and she scored three total runs.

The Sooners' freshmen class will be something to monitor.

Gasso indicated last week that all six of her pitchers could make an impact this season and that there will be a lot of rotating this year.

In Puerta Vallarta, that held true. Five of the pitchers appeared and all of them pitched at least 2.2 innings,

But it appears that Nicole May, Keeney and Maxwell are the early favorites to be the top three.

May was the only pitcher to start more than one game, allowing just hits and zero earned runs while recording six strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Maxwell pitched 7.2 innings and started against Duke, allowing just one hit and two batters walked with four strikeouts during the tournament. Keeney didn't start but played a key role as a reliever, allowing no runs and three hits in 6.2 innings.

Sophomore Kierston Deal got the start against Long Beach State but struggled, allowing four hits and three earned runs before she was relieved by Keeney in the second inning. Her other appearance came against Utah Valley, allowing three hits but no runs in one inning. Paytn Monticelli allowed just one hit and no runs in three total innings.

It's still early, and there's a lot of ways the pitching staff could shake out. The rotation will be a key thing to watch moving forward.

— The tournament was a rare tough one for Coleman. The senior led the team with 16 total at-bats, but she recorded a batting average of .188 and an on-base percentage of .235. Obviously, there's no reason for concern regarding the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, who's been one of the best hitters in softball over the last three years.

— Avery Hodge and Alynah Torres each started two games at second base. Hodge went one for four at the plate. while Torres went two for eight with two walks.

— The Sooners moved the outfield around quite a bit, with Rylie Boone seeing time at all three positions. It's clear Gasso is going to try a lot of different lineup combinations early in the season.

— Coor, who was a standout player in the fall, appeared in all four games primarily as a pinch hitter and made one start in left field.

— Riley Ludlam appeared in three games primarily as a pinch hitter and a backup catcher. She logged one hit and three RBIs in her one at-bat.

— Up next: the Sooners head to Lake Charles, Lousiana for the Cowgirl Challenge this weekend. They kick off the tournament Friday with a double header against Central Arkansas (3:30 p.m.) and McNeese State (6 p.m.). All games will be shown on ESPN+.