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Oklahoma Announces Softball Transfers

The Sooners welcome newcomers Riley Ludlam, Karlie Keeney, Paytn Monticelli and Kelly Maxwell from the transfer portal.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Announces Softball Transfers
Oklahoma Announces Softball Transfers /

By OU Media Relations

University of Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso announced the addition of four student-athletes via the transfer portal on Tuesday.

Joining the three-time defending national champion Sooners for the 2023-24 season will be Karlie Keeney, graduate right-handed pitcher from Liberty, Riley Ludlam, graduate utility player from Furman, Kelly Maxwell, graduate left-handed pitcher from Oklahoma State, and Paytn Monticelli, sophomore right-handed pitcher from Wisconsin.

Keeney comes to Norman after an exceptional junior campaign at Liberty that saw her appear in 48 games, twirling 261 innings and going 27-12 in the circle. She held a 2.03 ERA and struck out 153 while holding opponents to a .229 batting average. She threw five shutouts and 27 complete games in 2023, helping the Flames to their third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance where they eliminated No. 2 seed UCLA and played in the Los Angeles Regional final.

Ludlam, the Southern Conference Player of the Year and NFCA All-Region selection in 2023 for Furman, hit .372 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs a season ago, making 49 starts at catcher or designated player. The Fort Myers, Fla., product departed Furman with top-five spots in school history for home runs (25) and doubles (45) and owns a .309 career batting average with 117 RBIs.

A two-time All-American staying in Oklahoma to join the Sooners, Maxwell joins the Sooners after a storied career at Oklahoma State. The 2022 Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year, Maxwell helped the Cowgirls to the Women’s College World Series each of the last three seasons and holds a 58-20 career record with a 1.58 ERA and 746 strikeouts. She was a unanimous first-team All-America selection in 2022 when she went 21-5 with a 1.22 ERA, and earned second-team All-America honors in 2023 when she ranked second nationally with her 11.2 strikeouts per seven innings. Maxwell also earned Academic All-America honors each of the last two seasons.

Monticelli, OU’s only undergraduate transfer addition, joins OU by way of Wisconsin, where she pitched 80 innings in 21 appearances, making 13 starts and finishing with a 7-4 record her freshman season. The Cedarburg, Wis., native finished her first year campaign with a 2.71 ERA and a team-high 82 strikeouts.

In addition to the four transfer signees, Oklahoma returns 13 student-athletes from last year’s title team and welcomes four true freshmen for the 2023-24 season.

Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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