Looking Back at the NCAA Champions: 2016 Oklahoma Sooners

Photo courtesy Ty Russell/Oklahoma Softball

With the start of the 2024 season fast approaching, all eyes will soon be on the chase for the title.

Early focus will be centered on the University of Oklahoma as they begin the quest to become the first team in Division I history to win four consecutive national championships.

The Sooners tied UCLA (1988, 1989, 1990) as the only teams to ever win three consecutive titles when they defeated Florida State to claim the 2023 title.

Extra Inning Softball will be reviewing the 41 national champions that have previously hoisted the trophy.

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2016 Oklahoma Sooners

The Venue: USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City, Okla.

The Head Coach: Patty Gasso

The Players (Women’s College World Series Roster): Nicole Pendley, Sydney Romero, Kelsey Arnold, Brittany Finney, Macey Hatfield, Jayden Chestnut, Paige Parker, Tori Nirschl, Paris Townsend, Lea Wodach, Shay Knighten, Kelsey Stevens, Caleigh Clifton, Kady Self, Raegan Rogers, Kylie Lundberg, Falepolima Aviu, Erin Miller

The Regular Season: The 2016 edition of Oklahoma softball would signify the start of the most dominant run in the history of NCAA softball. After making four consecutive trips to the WCWS, which included a national championship in 2013, OU failed to advance to Oklahoma City in 2015, so it was a determined group of Sooners who entered 2016. After opening the season with back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Washington and suffering six losses in its first 24 games, OU would respond by winning 29 of its final 30 games of the regular season. Oklahoma finished the regular season with a 47-7 overall record and finished first in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 17-1 record. The Sooners featured a balanced offensive attack as all nine starters hit over .300 on the season and included a pair of precocious freshmen in Shay Knighten and Sydney Romero. Knighten paced the Sooners with a .397 batting average, 13 homers and 62 RBIs, while Romero finished the year hitting .346 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs. Kelsey Arnold batted .382 and stole 15 bases, while Erin Miller hit .378 with 22 doubles, nine homers and 52 runs driven in. Paige Parker was the backbone of the Sooners pitching staff as she finished the year with a 38-3 record and a 1.64 earned run average. Jayden Chesnut went 9-1 and Kelsey Stevens was 9-4. Parker (First Team), Knighten (Second Team) and Miller (Second Team) each were named All-American in 2016.

The Regional: Oklahoma began the postseason by hosting the NCAA Norman Regional which featured Wichita State, Tulsa, Ole Miss and the Sooners. The Sooners opened regional play against Wichita State and cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Shockers by jumping out to a big early lead and then riding the pitching of Paige Parker to the finish line. Following an error and a walk, Sydney Romero got OU on the board in the first inning with a double giving the Sooners a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Nicole Pendley blasted a grand slam increasing the Sooners lead to 5-0. An RBI single from Erin Miller in the third inning and an RBI groundout from Lea Wodach in the sixth inning capped the Sooners scoring. Parker went 7.0 innings and allowed just five hits and struck out nine batters to earn the win. Game two for the Sooners at the regional featured a meeting against Ole Miss and OU once again used the formula of early offense and the pitching of Parker to record a 9-1 run-rule victory. OU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Shay Knighten, but the Sooners would blow the game open in the second inning by scoring seven runs. Nicole Pendley homered to lead off the frame, Knighten delivered a three-run double, Romero drove in a run and two runs scored via the wild pitch. Kady Self added an RBI in the fourth inning and Parker closed the game as she permitted two hits in 5.0 innings or work. With an opportunity to secure a spot in the Super Regional, Oklahoma met Ole Miss in a rematch of the Sooners second game of the regional and this game proved to be much different than the first. Parker and Madi Osias hooked up in a pitcher’s duel that stretched late into the game. Oklahoma broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Miller delivered an RBI single that put the Sooners in front 1-0. Clinging to a 1-0 lead entering the seventh inning, OU tacked on a pair of insurance runs on a sacrifice fly by Kelsey Arnold and another RBI single from Miller putting OU up 3-0. It proved to be more than enough offense for Parker as she tossed a four-hit shutout and struck out nine batters.

The Super Regional: Oklahoma stayed at home for the Super Regional as it hosted Louisiana-Lafayette in Norman, Okla. The Sooners offense stayed hot as OU scored at least eight runs for the seventh time in the last 12 game as Oklahoma defeated Louisiana 8-2 in game one of the Super Regional. Haley Hayden started the Super Regional in dramatic fashion as she homered to lead off the game giving the Ragin’ Cajuns a 1-0 lead. OU quickly responded by scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning as Fale Aviu and Kady Self each drove in a run with an infield single and Lea Wodach plated a run with an RBI bunt single. Aviu increased the Sooners lead to 5-1 in the second inning when she lined a two-run double. Louisiana got a run back in the top of the sixth inning on a home run, but OU answered with home runs from Caleigh Clifton and Sydney Romero which pushed the final margin to 8-2. Game two saw the Sooners jump out to an early advantage and then hold off a furious Louisiana rally to secure a spot in Oklahoma City with an 8-7 victory. RBI singles from Self and Wodach and a Louisiana error gave the Sooners a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Louisiana responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the lead to 3-2 and then tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning on a home run. OU reclaimed the lead when Romero homered to lead off the top of the fifth inning and increased the lead to 6-3 on a two-run single from Shay Knighten in the sixth inning. OU added a seemingly insignificant insurance run in the top of the seventh inning when Wodach tripled in Nicole Pendley to up the margin to 7-3. But it turns out, that run proved to be the difference. Kelsey Vincent hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to bring Louisiana to within 7-6 and the Ragin’ Cajuns put the tying run on base but Paige Parker got a pop out to end the game. With the win, Oklahoma clinched a spot in the Women’s College World Series.

The Field at the Women’s College World Series: Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, UCLA

The Sooners at the Women’s College World Series: Oklahoma would meet Alabama in its opening game of the WCWS and the two teams provided a classic game that featured two outstanding pitching performances and a walk-off home run. Paige Parker of Oklahoma and Alexis Osorio of Alabama were outstanding as neither team was able to push across a run over the first seven innings of play. Kelsey Arnold and Caleigh Clifton each drew a walk in the bottom of the eighth inning and Shay Knighten followed with a home run to right field giving the Sooners a dramatic 3-0 win in the opener. Parker allowed only four hits and struck out seven to earn the win. Game two of the WCWS for the Sooners would feature a game against Michigan and also marked a meeting of sisters as Sydney Romero (Oklahoma) and Sierra Romero (Michigan) faced off. In a game that featured two of the top pitchers in the nation in Parker and Megan Betsa of Michigan, it was the offense that stole the show. OU jumped out to an early lead as the Sooners took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by Knighten and made it 3-0 in the first when Knighten later scored on an error. The Sooners made it 4-0 in the third inning when Romero homered to left field. But an experienced Michigan team would fight back with three runs in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run homer from Aidan Falk and an RBI single from Romero. Nicole Pendley increased the Sooners lead to 5-3 in the sixth inning with a home run and OU increased the lead to 7-3 in the seventh inning on RBIs from Fale Aviu and Kady Self. Michigan scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the bases loaded, but Parker worked out of the jam with a groundout to secure the Sooners 7-5 win. LSU stood between the Sooners playing for the national championship or having to fight back through the loser’s bracket. Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Self singled in Pendley who had tripled giving the Sooners an early lead. OU pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third inning on RBIs from Clifton and Knighten. LSU answered with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the third inning when Sahvanna Jaquish hit a three-run home run to tie the game. As the Sooners had done all throughout the postseason, they responded immediately. Oklahoma quickly regained the lead by scoring three times in the top of the fourth inning when Erin Miller delivered a two-run single and later scored on a wild pitch giving OU a 6-3 lead. Knighten homered in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 7-3 and the Sooners earned a spot in the championship finals with a double play that closed out the win.

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