Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Preview

Feb 22, 20245 min read

By Taylor Thomas

The machine known as Oklahoma softball is off to another great start to begin the 2024 campaign as Patty Gasso and company have posted a red hot 9-0 start to the season. This week, the Sooners head west once again to Cathedral City, California to participate in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Oklahoma is making its 18th straight appearance in the prestigious tournament and will have a very tough five game schedule that begins with a Friday night doubleheader against Mississippi State and Wisconsin, Saturday against San Diego State, and finishes up with another doubleheader on Sunday against Seattle and Loyola Marymount. We will preview each matchup here as the Sooners look to extend their historic 62 game win streak.

Friday

#18 Mississippi State has begun the season red hot as the Bulldogs enter Year Five under Head Coach and former Oklahoma Sooner legend Samantha Ricketts coming into the tournament with a 8-1 record fresh off of picking up two Top 15 wins against No. 8 Clemson and No. 13 Utah last weekend. Mississippi State is led in the circle by Aspen Wesley, who was just named SEC Co-Pitcher Of The Week, and Josey Marron who both return a lot of experience and look to improve on stellar individual years in 2023. On the offensive side, Coach Ricketts once again has one of the nations top lineups led by Paige Cook and Jesse Blaine. Cook boasts a .421 average on the young season while Blaine currently leads the team with a .462 average and has driven in 11 runs as the duo looks to be a huge threat each time they come around in the order. With big game pitchers like Nicole May and Kelly Maxwell on the roster, look for an outstanding matchup in the circle to start the weekend.
Wisconsin is coming off of a challenging weekend at the Clearwater Invitational dropping games to No. 3 Georgia, No. 19 Kentucky, No. 9 Oklahoma State, UCF, and No. 4 Washington. The Sooners got a strong piece from the Badgers in the transfer portal with sophomore RHP Paytn Monticelli deciding to come to Norman. As a freshman, Monticelli was the team leader in strikeouts with 82 across 80 innings pitched, and Wisconsin is now given the task to replace that production in 2024. Despite coming in with a 4-6 record, the Badgers dropped two one run ball games to Georgia and Kentucky and are led by senior Tessa Magnanimo in the circle, who has made four starts and comes in with a 3.71 ERA. On offense, the Badgers are led by standout freshman Alivia Bark who has started her college career with a .429 average and 3 home runs. Expect to see Monticelli face her former team in some capacity this weekend in what should be a very intriguing matchup.

Saturday

San Diego State has seen a tremendous amount of success in recent years under Head Coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz, who is a 2x Olympic Gold Medalist and an overall legend in the game of softball. Her 2023 squad was one game away from a trip to the WCWS, ultimately falling to Utah in one of the most competitive Super Regionals we saw last year. The Aztecs come in with a 5-5 record, with four of those losses by a combined eight runs to No. 10 Stanford, twice to No. 13 Texas A&M, and No. 25 Oregon. 2023 Mountain West Pitcher Of The Year Allie Light is back for her senior season and comes in with a 1.01 ERA in 27.2 innings of work in the 2024 season. Light has become one of the top pitchers in the country and should get her toughest test yet with the potent Sooner lineup on Saturday.

Sunday

Rounding out the final day in California, the Sooners start things off with a morning game against Seattle University. Competing in the WAC Conference, the Redhawks will enter the Mary Nutter with a 5-5 record and the Sooners will be their second opponent from the Big 12 on the young season after dropping a 5-0 loss to RV UCF. As a team in 2023, the Redhawks finished 10th in the nation with an overall team average of .324 and in the circle return two-time all WAC selection Stefanie Madrigal for her senior season. Madrigal has been great in the circle this season so far, posting a 2.47 ERA across 22.2 innings and looks to be the key piece for this talented Seattle team that once again made the WAC Tournament Championship game last season before ultimately falling to Grand Canyon. Given the amount of experience this team returns both in the lineup and in the circle, the Sooners will need to come out sharp on Sunday morning in order to avoid the upset.
Loyola Marymount has become a familiar opponent of the Oklahoma Sooners in recent years as Patty Gasso’s squad will yet again face off against the Lions to finish up their trip in Cathedral City. Do not be fooled by the 2-8 record as Head Coach Tairia Flowers has scheduled tough again, dropping a 1-0 contest to No. 8 Oklahoma State and also picking up a big 4-0 victory against the 25th ranked Oregon Ducks. LMU has reached the NCAA Tournament each season under the guidance of the former Olympic gold medalist in Coach Flowers, and you can expect much of the same with a talented group of returners looking to repeat as West Coast Conference champions. Jenna Perez has been one of the top arms in the country over her career, and 2024 should bring much of the same from the senior out of California as she holds a career 2.01 ERA in 344 innings at Loyola Marymount. In that loss to Oklahoma State earlier in the season, Perez went all 7 innings with 3 hits and 11 strikeouts and gave her team every chance to pull off the big upset. Expect to see Perez here again in this matchup as the Lions will be hungry to prove yet again that they belong with the nation’s best competition.

Just like every opponent the Sooners will face this season and on, each team is going to bring their very best to try to upset the No. 1 team in the country. Having the amount of elite depth that the Sooner pitching staff has with Kelly Maxwell, Nicole May, Kierston Deal, Karlie Keeney, Paytn Monticelli and the emerging SJ Guerin now, look for Coach Gasso and pitching coach Jen Rocha to utilize the stable of arms all weekend to keep opponents off balance across all five matchups. You can catch all of the action at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic this weekend with a subscription to FloSoftball (all times CT):