All Sooners

OU Softball: Kelly Maxwell Getting 'Comfortable' in Oklahoma's 'Competitive' Fall Atmosphere

The former Oklahoma State pitcher made her Battle Series debut on Wednesday as Oklahoma opened its fall slate at Marita Hynes Field.

Ryan Chapman

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NORMAN — Kelly Maxwell looked at home on Wednesday’s pleasant October night.

She took the pitching circle at Marita Hynes Field for the third time in her career, waiting for three outs to be made in the top half of the inning just as she had the previous two times.

Only this time, Maxwell was participating in a fall scrimmage, not a Bedlam battle.

And oh, she was wearing crimson.

Maxwell pitched three innings in the first game of OU’s Battle Series, allowing a single, a home run and a walk against the Sooners’ explosive offense.

It was Maxwell’s first appearance in front of Oklahoma fans, who welcomed her with an extra cheer when she was announced in the pregame lineups.

SB - Kelly Maxwell
Kelly Maxwell debuted in front of Sooners fans during Wednesday's Battle Series opener.  :: NATHAN J. FISH / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

“It was weird at first,” Maxwell said about adjusting to life at OU on Wednesday. “But I’m feeling more comfortable and getting to know (my teammates) a lot better now.”

Patty Gasso’s Sooners were active participants in the transfer portal this offseason — and the portal worked both ways.

OU was dealt a blow as one of the first major transfer moves this offseason.

Women’s College World Series superstar Jordy Bahl decided to leave Norman and return home to play at Nebraska.

Oklahoma also lost utility players Sophia Nugent and Jocelyn Erickson to the ranks of transfers.

Gasso worked both to replace those losses and fight against the natural attrition from graduation, adding pitchers Karlie Keeney and Paytn Monticelli from Liberty and Wisconsin respectively, as well as catcher Riley Ludlam.

But there was another high-profile entry into into the transfer portal as the window to make a move was about to expire.

Maxwell made the difficult decision to leave Oklahoma State, and she would eventually land on the campus of her former rival.

Welcoming of their new teammate, the Sooners worked to ensure Maxwell felt comfortable in her new locker room.

“It’s been good so far,” Maxwell said. “I was grateful enough that these girls opened their arms to me and made me feel welcome from the start.”

For Tiare Jennings, Oklahoma’s second baseman and three-time national champion, the addition of Maxwell was only seen as a major positive.

“I love playing behind her more than I do hitting off her,” Jennings said through a laugh on Wednesday.

The decision to join OU wasn’t a no-brainer by any means on paper, as the talent already combining to form Gasso’s pitching staff was formidable.

Veteran right-hander Nicole May and rising-sophomore Kierston Deal were already had roles in Norman, and SJ Geurin stood ready to contribute after a redshirt season.

Still, the pitch to join a large pitching rotation wasn’t too difficult for Gasso.

“I don’t know that there’s anything of the such to (have) too many (pitchers),” Gasso said. “I think softball’s starting to turn more into a baseball style where you have middle relievers and maybe somebody is designated in a game as a closer. You have injury with anybody, then that can really set you back.

“… I think what’s more important to some of them is just, ‘I wanna be on a team that I can have a chance to win a national championship.’ So if it means I come in and throw two innings. I think of Alex Storako as a great example of a pitcher last year that, you know, she didn’t pitch the entire world series but her innings were pivotal to us winning a championship. And I think that’s enough for them.”

Plus, Gasso had another ace up her sleeve.

“They want to be coached by the elite Jen Rocha,” Gasso said. “I think that means a lot to them. I think from afar some of these guys, they see our culture, and it’s very intriguing to them.”

Maxwell nodded as Gasso evoked the name of OU’s pitching coach, Rocha.

She herself entered the transfer portal weeks after Oklahoma State’s veteran pitching coach, John Bargfeldt, retired.

SB - Taylor Tucker, John Bargfeldt, Kelly Maxwell
Oklahoma State pitching coach John Bargfeldt retired on June 12, and Kelly Maxwell entered the transfer portal on July 7 :: BRYAN TERRY / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

In recent years, Rocha has done an excellent job enhancing the game of graduate transfers with just one final year of eligibility remaining.

Both Hope Trautwein and Storako were key cogs in the Oklahoma machine the past two years.

Not only does working under Rocha get the best out of players, but facing the Sooners’ lethal lineup every day in practice would be a major challenge for any pitching staff.

“It’s very competitive here,” Maxwell said when asked about how adjusting to Oklahoma this fall differed from past offseasons. “I would use that word as the difference kind of in my last fall. So it’s been good. Good transition so far.”

Maxwell said the stiff competition she faces every day in practice has “absolutely” helped her settle into life in Norman.

Gasso sets the tone for the work her team gets done in practice.

She’s worked hard to instill and protect the right culture in her program, one that’s won Oklahoma seven national titles, including the last three.

“Confidence. Hard work. Humility. Things that I don’t know if you find in programs anymore,” Gasso said. “Really blue collar. The push sometimes is real for them.

“They’re searching for excellence. It’s why I coach. It’s why they love to play here. Why we get great recruits to come out here as well. They can see it when they come in here on visits or come watch us play.”

Maxwell, like the rest of college softball, are familiar with Oklahoma’s “championship mindset”, and the culture was something that appealed to her in the recruiting process.

“I wouldn’t say anything kind of surprised me,” Maxwell said. “I always knew of the program just being down the road but I always respected how hard they worked and their blue-collar mentality and the love for the game that they played on the field and it shows every day and so that’s kind of what attracted me here.”

She’ll have six more chances to display her continued growth before fans this fall.

The Sooners will play North Central Texas (Oct. 16) and Seminole State (Oct. 23) in exhibition contests, as well as staging four more Battle Series scrimmages.

She’ll cherish the tall task of pitching live against the OU offense again in preparation to attack her final season of college softball.

“I wanted to get better,” said Maxwell, “and I think I’m going to be able to do that here.”

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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