OU Softball: Loaded With Experience, Oklahoma's Pitching Staff is Formidable Again
NORMAN — Oklahoma’s bullpen blends the old and the new in 2024.
Two of Oklahoma’s top four pitchers from last year, veteran anchor Nicole May and young left-hander Kierston Deal, return from OU’s national title winning rotation to fire the No. 1-ranked Sooners to their fourth-straight crown.
SJ Geurin was also in Norman last year, though she redshirted in 2023.
Oklahoma associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha paired her returning trio with three impact transfers in the offseason.
Kelly Maxwell, the former Oklahoma State ace, traded her orange and black for crimson and cream in one of softball’s high-profile pitching transfers after Jordy Bahl departed to Nebraska.
The Sooners then added Liberty veteran Karlie Keeney who, like Maxwell, has one final year of eligibility, as well as Wisconsin’s Paytn Monticelli, who is a sophomore.
Patty Gasso has built a formidable pitching staff the past three years, but none as deep as her 2024 group.
May has pitched 285 career innings at Oklahoma, amassing an incredible 48-3 record behind a 1.47 ERA, also adding four saves.
Maxwell pitched 494 2/3 innings across four seasons in Stillwater, posting a 58-20 record with 12 saves. She has a career ERA of 1.58 and 746 strikeouts to her name facing plenty of top level competition.
Keeney pitched 580 innings in three years at Liberty, posting an ERA of 2.26 and 323 strikeouts. Monticelli threw 80 innings last year for the Badgers, ending her freshman campaign with a 3.49 ERA, and Gasso tossed Deal for 24 2/3 innings across 17 appearances, where she ended the year with a 1.09 ERA.
May, Bahl and Alex Storako did a lot of the heavy lifting throughout the season in 2023, but Gasso didn’t build a staff with this much experience to not utilize the entire unit.
“All of them could help us in some way shape or form,” Gasso said in her preseason press conference on Monday. “It may be very likely that you see Nicole May to get started because she’s like the matriarch of this pitching staff and she’s earned it and deserved it.
“But you’re gonna see a lot of looks this weekend as well. We’ve got to get this figured out as we get to who is going to be a game changer for us in the first three weeks.”
The Puerto Vallarta College Challenge will serve as a nice early proving ground for Oklahoma’s rotation.
The Sooners will kick things off against Utah Valley at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday before turning around to meet No. 11 Duke at 1 p.m.
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Friday night OU will then take on No. 7 Washington, who closed the 2023 season at the Women’s College World Series, before ending the weekend against Long Beach State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
All three of May, Maxwell and Keeney are used to getting the ball from the start, but the ever-evolving landscape of softball has changed how Gasso operates in the circle as well.
Stronger lineups top-to-bottom paired with more resources to pour into scouting have hitters as prepared as they’ve ever been to take on opposing aces. In response, coaches have carved out more roles for pitchers, much like a baseball bullpen.
Florida State’s 2023 rotation personified the modern approach.
The Seminoles threw seven different arms throughout their season, which ended in the WCWS Championship Series against Oklahoma, and five of those pitchers threw at least 40 innings.
“Hitters are getting better and a pitcher can't sustain for seven innings much these days,” said Gasso, “so we need — we're looking at who's our starter, who's our middle reliever, who's our closer. Three of these pitchers have a role in a game and they know it.”
Platooning the staff throughout the regular season has another effect, too.
“I think what happens for us at least is when we get in the postseason, our pitchers are fresh,” Gasso said. “They're not worn out. That's a big plus for us.”
Former Oklahoma State ace first donned the crimson and cream during OU's fall Battle Series.
NATHAN J. FISH / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK
Working with Rocha every day, Oklahoma’s pitchers are only going to get better.
May posted a career-best in opponent batting average, holding opposing hitters to .161 last year, while she continued to limit walks and fire strikeouts.
And between Storako and Hope Trautwein in 2022, Rocha has a track record of improving veteran pitchers.
The strides made by Maxwell and Keeney have been apparent to OU’s hitters all offseason, who faced both pitchers throughout the Sooners’ title run a year ago.
“It’s funny because preparing against Karlie, she dominated us last year,” OU associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso said during a weekly appearance on 107.7 The Franchise on Tuesday. “She was legit. And I think what’s gonna be fun is to see how she’s built. She’s always had that in her.”
Keeney pitched seven innings against the Sooners last February, allowing no earned runs and limiting the Sooners to just five hits.
Fans didn’t get to see Keeney pitch during the fall due to a finger injury she sustained on the first day of practice, but JT Gasso said he’s seen plenty of improvement in the veteran since she returned to action in January.
“I know her working with Coach Rocha has been — she’s a really smart, fierce competitor,” he said. “And even in practices, I know she didn’t pitch in the fall. She’s come back in the spring and she’s ready to go. High 60’s, ball’s moving like crazy.”
Maxwell’s growth this offseason has been apparent, too.
The Sooners have faced Maxwell in 24 1/3 innings over the past three years, but the left-hander had a few new tricks for her new teammates.
“Kelly,” JT Gasso said, “it’s funny because kind of middle towards the end of the fall our hitters are like, ‘I don’t remember her throwing like that.’ It’s completely different looks that they’re getting.
“And it’s cool to see people at this point of their careers where they could be like, ‘hey, you know what, let’s just stay where we’re at. I’m comfortable.’ These guys are really evolving and working. Coach Roach is doing, like always, a really good job of developing these guys and just maximizing their potential.”
Like the rest of the lineup, there will be plenty of tinkering with the pitching staff early in the season.
But Patty Gasso and Rocha have as much experience as ever to try and shut down opposing offenses once again in 2024.
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