Take a bow, Oklahoma softball. You achieved greatness on a scale unlike anything ever seen before in the sport.

Oklahoma’s NCAA-record 71-game winning streak, which lasted over a full calendar year and saw the Sooners win a national championship in the process – their third consecutive – ended Sunday when Louisiana defeated the Sooners 7-5 in eight innings in Norman, Oklahoma. 

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With multiple OU rosters over the past several seasons having reasonable claims to being the most talented the sport has ever seen, the combined talent in the Sooners’ program over the past two years – as evidenced by what it has achieved – very well may be unmatched.

What Oklahoma did across its record-setting streak was unprecedented, and with plenty of the 2024 college softball campaign still left to be played, the Sooners may not be done breaking records and setting standards this season.

Here’s a look at the longest winning streak in college softball history for what it was – and some of the craziest statistics from the streak:

1,635

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso’s career win total following the streak. 

Gasso, amid her 30th season as the Sooners’ leader and 34th overall as a college coach (she spent four seasons at Long Beach City College), surpassed both Ralph Weekly and Margie Wright for most career wins with NCAA programs during the streak.

Gasso now has 1,474 wins in her career at the NCAA level. She sits behind Carol Hutchins (1,707) and Mike Candrea (1,674) for most NCAA softball wins all-time. 

578

Oklahoma’s runs scored during the streak. 

One of the most lethal college softball lineups of all-time, the Sooners routinely blasted opponents during their streak with multiple All-American hitters.

493

Total strikeouts thrown by Oklahoma during the streak. 

The Sooners’ staff fanned far more hitters than hits given up across the streak and saw a single-game high of 13 strikeouts thrown by Jordy Bahl in an April matchup against LSU last season. 

378

Days between Oklahoma losses. 

From when Baylor defeated OU on Feb. 19, 2023, to when Louisiana took down the Sooners this past weekend, a lot happened. 

All four major professional sports leagues awarded new championship trophies, Charles III was crowned King of the United Kingdom and the “Barbenheimer” (Barbie and Oppenheimer) phenomenon in film struck theaters throughout the country. But, throughout those events and more, OU softball never lost a game.

140

Total home runs hit by Oklahoma during the streak. 

At an average of just under two long bombs per game, almost every game the Sooners played during their legendary run was bound to have at least a couple of balls go over the outfield wall. 

72

Runs allowed by Oklahoma during the streak. 

Yep, Oklahoma hit almost double the amount of home runs as the number of runs it allowed during the winning streak. 

In terms of home runs given up to opponents, OU’s staff only allowed foes to go yard 30 times during the streak, though five were hit by Miami (Ohio) alone during the Sooners’ 9-7 win over the RedHawks last Friday. 

71

The number of games Oklahoma won in the longest winning streak in college softball history. 

OU surpassed Arizona’s record of 47 consecutive wins when it defeated Clemson in the final of the Norman Super Regional last May, which also happened to be the Sooners’ final game at their old home diamond, Marita Hynes Field. 

Across all Division I sports and their longest winning streaks, OU softball’s run is the seventh-longest. 

NCAA Records:

• Miami (Florida) men’s tennis (137 matches, 1957-1964)
• Oklahoma men’s gymnastics (121 meets, 2015-2019)
• UConn women’s basketball (111 games, 2014-2017)
• Penn State women’s volleyball (109 matches, 2007-2010)
• North Carolina women’s soccer (92 games, 1990-1994),
• UCLA men’s basketball (88 games, 1971-1974)

🎥 𝗦𝗖 𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝟭𝟬 ➡️ @maddieehaydenn #GeauxCajuns pic.twitter.com/qg2P2F9PFJ

— Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns® Softball (@RaginCajunsSB) March 4, 2024

46

Wins over Power Five opponents during the streak. 

The Sooners by no means shied away from tough competition during the streak, taking on multiple powerful college softball programs from big-time leagues and going a 18-0 in the Big 12 Conference, including a league tournament title last season. 

42

Different programs Oklahoma defeated during the streak. 

Far and wide and big and small, programs were no match for OU on the softball diamond over the past year.

40

Total shutouts during the streak. 

Oklahoma’s pitching, led by Jordy Bahl (who has since transferred to Nebraska), Nicole May, Kelly Maxwell and plenty of other weapons in the circle, was dynamite over the past 71 games, pairing with the Sooners’ elite offense to put teams in early holes and prevent them from ever getting out of them.

33

Total run-rule wins during Oklahoma’s streak. 

Often tied with a shutout, nearly half of the Sooners’ victories across the streak came in short order, with OU frequently needing less than the standard seven innings to come out with a victory. 

18

Most runs scored in a single win during the streak. 

OU ripped Kentucky to shreds by an 18-0 margin in five innings way back in the early days of the streak on March 3, 2023, with Alex Storako throwing a no-hitter and Kinzie Hansen having a seven-RBI day at the plate at Marita Hynes Field. 

Five Sooners finished with home runs that day. Hansen had two, and Jayda Coleman, Sophia Nugent, Cydney Sanders and Quincee Lilio also went yard. 

3

No-hitters thrown by Oklahoma’s pitching staff during the streak. 

Storako wasn’t the only Sooner to toss a no-no during the streak, all of which were thrown in the 2023 season. 

Bahl threw a perfect game – the 20th in OU history – a week after Storako’s no-hitter in the Sooners’ 13-0 rout of Southeastern Louisiana on March 10, 2023, then May and Kierston Deal followed with a combined no-hitter in Big 12 play against Kansas on April 29, 2023, clinching OU at least a share of the league title (before it went on to clinch it outright).  

Thank you, 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧!

We welcomed a program-record 𝟏𝟑,𝟑𝟓𝟎 fans to Love’s Field over opening weekend!#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/afj8AEcU6k

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) March 4, 2024

2

Home stadiums Oklahoma softball won games during its streak. 

Marita Hynes Field, home to the Sooners from 1998-2023, was a mecca of college softball for a quarter of a century and where OU won the home legs of its historic streak in 2023. 

The glitzy Love’s Field, however – a $48 million facility with a capacity for 4,200 people, making it the biggest on-campus college softball facility in America – opened in time to see some 2024 games in the streak happen within its walls. 

OU won its inaugural game at Love’s Field, 9-7 against Miami (Ohio), last Friday and won three more, before Louisiana took down the Sooners on Sunday to break the streak and hand the Sooners’ their first loss on their new diamond.

1

Oklahoma’s national championships during the streak. 

The crowning achievement during OU’s record-setting streak undoubtedly was the program’s seventh national title and third straight, making the Sooners just the second team in the sport’s history to three-peat, joining UCLA, which pulled off the feat from 1988-1990. 

An unprecedented four-peat now is possible for the Sooners, and though Oklahoma can’t make it back to the Women’s College World Series with an unblemished record, the drive to return to Oklahoma City to firmly establish itself as the greatest dynasty in college softball history will have plenty of energy behind it. 

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