Oklahoma Softball Was Better Than Ever in 2023

The Sooners went into the 2023 season with great expectations, and they finished it with a third straight title.

Oklahoma Sooners softball came into 2023 carrying a legacy that could have felt like a burden: The Sooners had won back-to-back championships. They had also just graduated the best player in program history—NCAA home run queen Jocelyn Alo—and had been tasked with integrating a few high-profile transfers. 

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Led by shortstop Grace Turk (formerly Lyons), the national defensive player of the year, they rose to the challenge. The ’23 Sooners became the first team ever to lead the NCAA in batting average (.366), fielding percentage (.987) and ERA (0.96). (Yes, that’s right, they hit above .350 while allowing less than one run per game.) They won a third straight title. And built the longest win streak in D-I softball history at 53 games—and counting. 

The Sooners were full of Grace in 2023, with super-seniors Grace Turk (above) and Grace Green leading the way in the quest for a threepeat.  :: Sarah Phipps/The Oklahoman/USA TODAY Network

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Emma Baccellieri
EMMA BACCELLIERI

Emma Baccellieri is a staff writer who focuses on baseball and women's sports for Sports Illustrated. She previously wrote for Baseball Prospectus and Deadspin, and has appeared on BBC News, PBS NewsHour and MLB Network. Baccellieri has been honored with multiple awards from the Society of American Baseball Research, including the SABR Analytics Conference Research Award in historical analysis (2022), McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award (2020) and SABR Analytics Conference Research Award in contemporary commentary (2018). A graduate from Duke University, she’s also a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America.