Three Oklahoma Sooners softball players are entering the transfer portal.
The national champion Oklahoma softball team was already bidding farewell to 10 seniors and now will also see three more players leaving through the transfer portal.
The transfer portal is known for both giving and taking away talent. Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso has leveraged the portal to enhance an already strong recruitment strategy, contributing significantly to the team’s four consecutive national championships.
Notable players acquired through the transfer portal who have been instrumental in Oklahoma’s championship run include pitchers Giselle Juarez, Hope Trautwein, Alex Storako, and Kelly Maxwell. Additionally, Alyssa Brito, Alynah Torres, and Cydney Sanders from this year’s national championship team were also portal acquisitions. Juarez and Maxwell were named Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Players in 2021 and 2024, respectively.
While the transfer portal has been a valuable asset, it also has its drawbacks. This week, the Oklahoma program experienced the downside, as three players from the 2024 roster have announced their departure via the transfer portal, according to a social media post by Justin McLeod of D1Softball.com.
The most notable of the recent departures is sophomore Avery Hodge, who performed excellently at second base in the Women’s College World Series, filling in for the injured Alynah Torres. Torres was hit in the face by a ball lost in the sun during OU’s series win over UCLA. Additionally, redshirt-freshman pitcher S.J. Geurin and redshirt-sophomore utility player Quincee Lilio have also entered the transfer portal.
Hodge has a career batting average of .278 over two seasons at OU and went 4 for 12 (.333) in WCWS games against Florida and Texas, also making several impressive plays in the field. Lilio had limited playtime this season, with a .129 batting average over 31 at-bats and a career average of .211. She was a top-five overall prospect coming out of high school in Richmond, Texas, according to Extra Inning Softball. Geurin pitched 10 innings for OU in the 2024 season with a 0.70 earned run average.
The transfer departures highlight a challenge for programs like OU, which recruit top talent and have deep rosters every year. Talented players may not get as much playtime as they desire and might seek more opportunities elsewhere. Hodge, Lilio, and Geurin are all skilled players who could potentially start at other programs.
Oklahoma has another outstanding recruiting class coming in, but with the high number of departures from the senior-heavy 2024 roster, Gasso is expected to be very active in the transfer portal again this offseason.
