OKLAHOMA CITY — Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman, Rylie Boone, c, and Nicole May arrived in Norman as freshmen filled with dreams.
They’ll leave Norman as softball legends.
On Thursday night, they achieved the unimaginable.
Patty Gasso’s Core 5, along with their 16 teammates, concluded the most dominant run in softball history.
No program had won four consecutive titles.
Not until Oklahoma.
“It wasn’t easy, this season,” Gasso said after OU defeated Texas 8-4 at Devon Park to secure the program’s eighth title. “… It’s probably the hardest coaching season that I’ve had in a while because of a lot of the naysayers, a lot of — I don’t know.
“It’s heavy. It’s just I don’t know how to explain how heavy. ‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown’ is the one thing that really stuck out. I heard someone say that. That really has felt true. It’s been exhausting. These players are exhausted, but they keep going. It’s the love for each other. It’s the love for the game. It’s the love for the university. But they’re elite athletes who have extreme passion.”
The group finished 235-15 over the last four years, securing three Big 12 regular season titles and three Big 12 tournament crowns in addition to the national championships.
They finished 47-5 at Devon Park, formerly USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.
But the last title was by far the hardest.
OU lost eight games from 2021-2023, but seven in 2024.
The Sooners lost a conference series for the first time since 2011 and then again in the final series of the year to Oklahoma State.
Florida had the champions stunned, trailing 5-2 after three innings of an elimination game.
It didn’t matter.
The Sooners rose to the occasion because that’s all they know how to do.
“I think we’ve hit some times where we were kind of low,” Gasso said. “I just felt they really look forward to postseason. They’re very resilient. They feel invincible. That’s the way they play.
“You hear their faith has a lot to do with this. So they’re never afraid. They’re not afraid to lose. This is bigger than a game for them. It’s about life. It’s about trust. It’s about all kinds of things that they’ve changed each other’s lives with.”
The last four teams will forever be in the NCAA record books, and Oklahoma has brought unprecedented attention to the sport, driving interest to all-time highs.
The Sooners were also hated.
As is the plight of any dynasty, admiration quickly turns to disdain.
No one in the program is oblivious to this, no matter how insulated the team tries to be.
“As we went on, if we lost one game, two games, lost to Texas, everyone had an opinion about us,” Coleman said. “It was frustrating just to see everyone on Twitter, TikTok hoping anybody else but us.
“Well … That didn’t happen, so … We’re blessed.”
Life will move forward.
Hansen, Jennings, and Karlie Keeney will be on staff as graduate assistants in Norman next year, Gasso said. Hansen, Jennings, Coleman, and pitcher Kelly Maxwell will play internationally this summer.
They’ll all have chances to pursue professional dreams and move into the next phase of life.
Gasso will be hard at work rebuilding — and there will be a rebuild because there is simply no replacing Jennings, Coleman, Hansen, Boone, and May.
Everyone is still aiming for Oklahoma.
But Gasso’s Core 5 will live forever as the best class in the sport’s history — a group that cannot be surpassed.
“What’s really weird for me is in four years, I’ve never had a cry up here,” Gasso said from the podium. “… I haven’t felt the hurt of the last loss.
“That is just incomprehensible at this level. It’s crazy. But it’s an honor.”
