Are the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners the best softball team ever?

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports activities MLB Author

With all due respect to the opposite groups that got down to win a nationwide championship in Division I softball in 2022, I’m undecided anybody else ever stood an actual probability.

Certain, the mighty Oklahoma Sooners misplaced three video games this season en path to their sixth championship in program historical past and fifth up to now 9 years. They had been even trailing by three innings in Recreation 2 of the Ladies’s Faculty World Sequence championship collection on Thursday in opposition to Texas — the crew that handed them their first lack of the 12 months on April 16, after the Sooners began the season a Division I-record 38-0 — earlier than they confidently stormed again to a 10-5 victory. 

No, Oklahoma wasn’t fully invincible. However anybody who watched this unimaginable crew this spring knew they had been witnessing something special, one thing historic, one thing unstoppable.

The Sooners went 59-3 in 2022, good for a .952 successful proportion, third-highest in Div. I softball historical past behind solely 1992 UCLA (54-2, .964 W%) and 1994 Arizona (64-3, .955 W%). Forty of OU’s 59 victories got here through the run rule (i.e. main by eight runs after 5 innings). The Sooners’ offense overwhelmed the opposition all season, together with on the largest stage in Oklahoma Metropolis, the place they shattered a number of WCWS information:

They had been led by Jocelyn Alo, probably the most highly effective hitter the game has ever seen, whose legendary profession concluded in becoming vogue: as a champion.

Together with her junior season in 2020 reduce brief due to the pandemic, Alo was in a position to return to the Sooners for a fifth 12 months as a “super-senior” in 2022. She entered the season needing simply eight residence runs to go former Sooner slugger Lauren Chamberlain’s mark of 95 for probably the most residence runs in Div. I softball historical past. 

In fairytale vogue, Alo, a local of Hauula, Hawaii, launched residence run No. 96 on March 11 in entrance of her hometown crowd.

Then it was only a matter of how excessive she might set the brand new bar. Alo completed the season with an eye-popping 1.858 OPS and 34 residence runs, together with 5 within the WCWS, bringing her profession whole to a staggering 122 — a mark that may not be touched in our lifetimes. 

If this all feels considerably acquainted, it is as a result of that is the second consecutive 12 months that Oklahoma has gained a nationwide championship on the again of a juggernaut lineup headlined by Alo. The truth is, you possibly can argue that final 12 months’s lineup was even higher than this 12 months’s offensive unit.

2021 Sooners’ offense in 60 video games: .405/.490/.778 (1.268 OPS), 638 runs scored (10.63 runs per sport), 110 doubles, 161 residence runs, 238 walks, 161 strikeouts, 65 stolen bases

2022 Sooners’ offense in 62 video games: .371/.474/.734 (1.208 OPS), 579 runs scored (9.33 runs per sport), 82 doubles, 155 residence runs, 268 walks, 161 strikeouts, 60 stolen bases

So what made this 2022 crew higher than final 12 months’s squad, which went 56-4 and gained all of it? (And the way might that even be attainable?) The pitching acquired even higher.

2021 Sooners’ pitching in 60 video games: 357.1 innings pitched, 2.49 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, .184 BAA, 233 hits, 115 walks, 426 strikeouts, 44 residence runs, 23 shutouts

2022 Sooners’ pitching in 62 video games: 361.0 innings pitched, 1.05 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, .144 BAA, 178 hits, 121 walks, 463 strikeouts, 15 residence runs, 33 shutouts

Whereas seven of the 9 starters from the 2021 crew returned, solely one in all its major pitchers — right-hander Nicole Could — got here again this season following the graduations of Giselle Juarez and Shannon Saile. That meant head coach Patty Gasso had numerous innings to exchange within the circle. And even when Gasso knew that whoever was pitching would get super run assist, the usual in Norman is sky-high, so it was no shock to see her usher in two unimaginable pitchers to assist gas one other championship run.

The primary was freshman Jordy Bahl. Having grown up simply exterior Omaha, Nebraska, Bahl initially dedicated to taking part in for the Cornhuskers when she was in eighth grade, however she switched her dedication to the Sooners after she burst on the scene as probably the greatest pitchers within the nation as a junior in highschool. She was the Gatorade Nationwide Participant of the 12 months as a senior at Papillion-LaVista Excessive College, and he or she carried that momentum into her first season in Norman, the place it didn’t take lengthy for her to introduce herself to the nationwide softball viewers as a pressure to be reckoned with. 

In 2022, she posted a 1.09 ERA with 205 strikeouts in 141.1 innings.

Though she handled a forearm harm that stored her out for a lot of the ultimate month of this season, Bahl was in a position to begin Recreation 2 of the championship collection and stored Oklahoma within the sport till the offense got here alive.

Her presence within the circle is as intimidating because the stuff itself, and that is clearly only the start of what is going to certainly be a storied profession with the Sooners. 

In contrast to Bahl, Hope Trautwein wasn’t a hotshot prospect throughout her prep profession at Hendrickson Excessive College in Pflugerville, Texas. She ended up going to the College of North Texas, the place she turned probably the greatest pitchers in Convention-USA.

Final 12 months, Trautwein acquired nationwide consideration when she struck out all 21 batters in an ideal sport in opposition to Arkansas-Pine Bluff. However Trautwein first acquired on Gasso’s radar a 12 months prior, when she closed out a victory for North Texas in Norman on February 28, 2020, which additionally occurs to be the final time Oklahoma misplaced a house sport. The Sooners have since gained 46 in a row at residence, going undefeated in each 2021 and 2022. 

Like Alo, Trautwein had one other 12 months of eligibility following her senior season in 2021, and he or she selected to switch to Oklahoma. Her profession numbers at North Texas had been excellent: a 2.05 ERA with 693 strikeouts in 598.2 innings pitched and a 61-24 document. However it was price questioning if that dominance would translate in opposition to harder competitors within the Large 12. 

Nicely, it actually did: Trautwein posted a 0.77 ERA in 126.2 innings for the Sooners and carried out on the sport’s largest stage when her crew wanted her most. She even acquired her personal hashtag, which the Oklahoma softball Twitter account by no means hesitated to make use of: #HopeIsDope. Sturdy agree.

The dynamic duo of Trautwein and Bahl — together with the continued excellence of Could, who posted a 1.30 ERA in 91.2 innings of labor — does nicely to reveal why Oklahoma has been so dominant over the previous decade. Whether or not by recruiting the very best highschool gamers within the nation or bringing in potential superstars through the switch portal, Gasso has ensured that the roster maintains an exceptionally excessive stage of expertise it doesn’t matter what. 

Now you may be questioning: Can the Sooners do it once more subsequent 12 months? A 3-peat has occurred solely as soon as in Division I softball historical past (UCLA, 1988-90).

Let’s begin with the apparent: There isn’t a changing Alo. There are some wonderful gamers nonetheless on this roster, however Alo is a once-in-a-lifetime presence atop the lineup, and we would not see one other participant like her for a really very long time — if ever.

Plus, Alo is not the one vital contributor the Sooners might want to exchange. Trautwein, third baseman Jana Johns, first baseman Taylon Snow and catcher Lynnsie Elam will all be graduating as nicely. These should not simply essential at-bats to exchange but additionally vital spots within the infield that can want backfilling. 

Then once more, there’s nonetheless a lot expertise on this roster that nobody could be that shocked if the Sooners enter 2023 ranked No. 1 and make a run at one other nationwide championship.

Bahl will stay the headliner within the circle as she continues to determine herself as probably the greatest pitchers within the nation. Could will probably be again for her junior 12 months. On offense, Tiare Jennings — off to a historic begin to her profession, with an astonishing 46 residence runs by her first two seasons — will certainly lead the cost, together with electrical heart fielder Jayda Coleman within the leadoff spot.

Senior shortstop Grace Lyons has one other 12 months of eligibility, which we are able to assume she is going to use, however we don’t know for certain. Her return, contemplating her spectacular protection at brief and newfound energy on the plate, could be large for OU. 

Catcher Kinzie Hansen, whose accidents restricted her to extra of a platoon position in 2022 after she was an All-American in 2021, ought to be again as nicely. There are additionally a number of gifted freshmen in addition to Bahl who didn’t get a lot taking part in time this 12 months however will certainly see extra motion on the sphere as spots open up. 

You additionally should not be shocked to study that the Sooners are bringing in four highly touted recruits, together with the highest pitcher within the Class of 2022, a lefty from North Carolina named Kierston Deal. And it appears awfully seemingly that the Sooners will usher in one other gifted participant or two through the switch portal.

The years of the Alo-led dynasty may be over, but when historical past has taught us something, it is that the following wave of Sooner stars will certainly preserve Oklahoma at or close to the highest of the softball world for years to come back.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball author for FOX Sports activities. He lives in D.C. however is a big Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which implies he would not get numerous sleep. You may observe him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.