Sooners No. 1 in Big 12 preseason poll

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is gearing up to defend their national championship and work toward a three-peat. The 2021 and 2022 national champs look to be the favorite yet again with the 2023 season just a few weeks away.

For the 11th straight season and the 14th time in the last 15 seasons, the Sooners landed atop the preseason Big 12 poll. Oklahoma received six of the seven first-place votes given out by the coaches, with Oklahoma State garnering the remaining first-place vote. The Cowgirls, who won the Big 12 tournament title in 2022, are second in the preseason poll. They’re followed by Texas, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and finally the Kansas Jayhawks.

While there’s no replacement for home run queen Jocelyn Alo, Patty Gasso and her staff have done a tremendous job in the transfer portal to mitigate the loss. This offseason, Oklahoma welcomed Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres from Arizona State and Hayley Lee from Texas A&M. To mitigate the loss of Hope Trautwien, Oklahoma added Alex Storako from Michigan.

Even without those additions, the Sooners would have been the prohibitive favorites in the Big 12 and in the national title conversation with Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman, Grace Lyons, Kinzie Hansen, Alyssa Brito, and Jordy Bahl. But those portal reinforcements put Oklahoma in a position to replicate their offensive production over the last two seasons and match their pitching prowess from the circle.

The Sooners will open the season February 9 in Irvine, Calif. for the Mark Campbell Invitational. They’ll face four teams that made the NCAA tournament in 2022, starting with Duke. They’ll open the season at home on March 3 vs. Incarnate Word and Kentucky.

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