All Sooners

OU Softball: Oklahoma OF Kasidi Pickering is Not the 'Same Person' in 2025, But She's Still Thriving

The sophomore outfielder has taken on a much larger role both on and off the field as the Sooners prepare to open SEC play this weekend at Love's Field.

Ryan Chapman

Oklahoma outfielder Kasidi Pickering
Oklahoma outfielder Kasidi Pickering / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

NORMAN — Last weekend, any Oklahoma fan could have chalked Kasidi Pickering’s performance up to getting more of the same out of the star sophomore outfielder. 

In two games on Saturday, she crushed a trio of home runs — two against Kansas and one against Marshall — a continuation of her excellent start to the season. 

And while she’s been a leader in the field and productive at the plate, fans of the No. 2-ranked Sooners are actually seeing a much different version of Pickering. 

“(I’ve been) trying to pick up where I left off at the World Series but knowing that I’m not the same person or the same body that I was back then,” Pickering said during OU’s weekly press conference on Tuesday. “Just knowing that, find things that worked. Find things that are new that I have to change to make work, figure out how to make it work and then just pick and choose what I want to do. Not try to be the same player.”

Part of those changes have come with trying to eliminate weaknesses by working closely with associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso. 

But Pickering has taken on a much larger role off the field, something that’s been made necessary by the influx of new faces into the program. 

“I felt my freshman year I had to be more of a sponge,” Pickering said. “The people who played above me were gifted. All those seniors, you're not going to have a class like that again. So last year it took a lot of listening and asking questions and all of that. 

“This year I'm more, 'What questions do you all have? Can I be the one to answer those questions?' So it's just giving the information now where last year I was receiving it.”

If Pickering is carrying any extra burden for the team in the clubhouse, it’s not slowing down her play at the plate. 

Through 19 games, she’s hammered seven home runs, totaled 27 RBIs, drawn 18 walks and contributed 11 extra-base hits. 

Last year as OU prepared to enter conference play, she had just three home runs, 16 RBIs, seven walks and six extra-base hits despite playing one additional game. 

“She’s such a really pure hitter and every at-bat seems to mean something to her,” OU coach Patty Gasso said after Pickering’s three homer performance on Saturday. “It’s not just go up and take my — she’s very calculated and her swing is so pure. She’s seeing the ball so well. It looks really easy for her right now.”

This weekend, the competition is going to take a major step up. 

The Sooners (19-0) will host the program’s first SEC series starting Friday as No. 11 South Carolina (19-0) will make their way to Love’s Field fresh off sweeping No 14 Duke over the weekend. 

Gasso knows the Gamecocks will represent a bigger challenge than what her team faced throughout most of the non-conference slate, something that was intentional when OU pieced together its 2025 schedule. 

Pickering, along with other returners in Ella Parker and Cydney Sanders will be leaned heavily upon while Oklahoma’s newcomers adjust to the intensity of conference play, but Pickering is more than comfortable in her new role as leader and key player. 

“For me, it was learning how to tell the younger kids in what response and how they want to learn,” she said. “So it was more just being a better teacher.”

OU will open the series against South Carolina at Love’s Field on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is managing editor at Sooners On SI 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. 

Home/Softball