Just a few days after winning their 3rd straight national championship, the Oklahoma Sooners received a gut punch in news that took the college softball world by surprise. OU ace Jordy Bahl, without question the nation’s best pitcher despite being just a sophomore, announced on social media that she is leaving the Oklahoma program as she looks to “return home”.
❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/6OBFmG5VEE
— Jordyn Bahl (@jordybahl) June 12, 2023
Bahl has been virtually unhittable from the start of her college career at OU. In her 2 seasons in Norman, he was able to compile a 44-2 record in 71 appearances and put up a mind boggling 1.00 ERA throughout her 2 years in the crimson and cream. In 288.2 innings pitched, Bahl allowed just 41 earned runs! She was always the person head coach Patty Gasso would turn to when she needed someone to slam the door on the opposing team. And Bahl was always up to the task. There’s no question that Bahl was one of the top reasons why OU was so dominant the last 2 seasons in route to their 2nd and 3rd straight titles. If you are a softball fan, any time she pitched you were glued to your television watching the master go to work. It is pretty surprising that she would leave just a dominant organization, but many understand the reasoning behind it.
While nothing has been announced yet, Bahl is expected to transfer to Nebraska and play the rest of her college career for the Cornhuskers. In her social media statement, Bahl said she has decided to “play the game I love, closer to the things that have made me who I am and that have always been more important to me than this game.” Bahl grew up in Papillion, Nebraska, which is less than an hour’s drive from the Nebraska campus. Bahl added in her statement the she is “excited to finish the softball journey right where it began.”
While the loss of Bahl is big to the Sooners, head coach Patty Gasso will have options to lean on in the upcoming softball season in the circle. Oklahoma will return much of its core from last season, including pitchers Nicole May (18-0, 0.91 ERA) and Kierston Deal (3-0, 0.77 ERA). Oklahoma will still be good without Jordy Bahl…but they just won’t be as dominant as they were with her.
