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NCAA softball 2023 preview: Oklahoma favored to win third straight title

AP file photo by Sue Ogrocki / Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings, who is entering her third season of college softball but already has 179 career RBIs, will try to help the Sooners win their third consecutive NCAA championship this year.
AP file photo by Sue Ogrocki / Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings, who is entering her third season of college softball but already has 179 career RBIs, will try to help the Sooners win their third consecutive NCAA championship this year. AP file photo by Sue Ogrocki / Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings, who is entering her third season of college softball but already has 179 career RBIs, will try to help the Sooners win their third consecutive NCAA championship this year.

By CLIFF BRUNT / The Associated Press 4 min read

The University of Oklahoma is enjoying one of the most dominant runs ever in women’s college softball.

Under coach Patty Gasso, the Sooners have won five of the past nine NCAA Division I championships. They could add another rare accolade this season by becoming the first program since UCLA from 1988 to 1990 to win three consecutive titles.

Even with NCAA career home runs leader Jocelyn Alo having moved on to play professionally, the Sooners are favored to win it all again. Oklahoma was the preseason No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.

Gasso doesn’t want to talk about winning another national championship yet.

“We don’t talk about winning three,” she said. “Those are words that we’re not really talking about around here because it’s premature. It’s really about the process. It’s the journey. It’s all of that, all the work we put in.”