The state of Oklahoma has seen a lot of movement this offseason in the softball world and that trend continued this last weekend. The defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners has seen 3 of their players already announce that they would be leaving Norman. Now, it’s OSU’s turn.
Oklahoma State learned on Friday that their ace Kelly Maxwell will be leaving OSU and entering the transfer portal. Maxwell, despite just finishing her Redshirt Senior season, still has one year of eligibility left thanks her being in school during COVID-19 where all athletes were given an extra year of eligibility. And after spending the first 5 years of her college career in Stillwater, Maxwell has decided that she would like to finish her college career somewhere else. Maxwell took to Instagram on Friday to announce the move saying in part, “This was not an easy decision but one that I felt was best, for my own personal happiness. Thank you for being there and supporting me as I made some of the best memories of my life. I will truly miss you. Go pokes.”
For the last 3 seasons, Maxwell has been the go-to in the circle for the Cowgirls. Her career ERA sits at 1.58 and has had a sub-2 ERA in every season as a member of the Cowgirls. And it was her masterpiece against Oregon in the Super Regional that punched the Cowgirls ticket to the College World Series. In that Super Regional game against the Oregon Ducks, Maxwell pitched 7 shutout innings allowing just 2 hits and walking no one. Maxwell finished the 2023 season with a 16-7 record with a 1.91 earned run average and striking out 229 in 142.2 innings of work. Maxwell led the Big 12 in strikeouts (229, 14th nationally), strikeouts per seven innings (11.2, second in the country) and opposing batting average (.157).
Maxwell’s transfer is a major blow to an Oklahoma State team and will put a lot of pressure on Kyra Aycock, Ivy Rosenberry, and the other underclassmen on the Cowgirls roster. No word on where Maxwell will go. Some OU blogs are throwing out the idea that Maxwell could take Jordy Bahl’s spot in Norman after Bahl transferred to Nebraska earlier in the offseason. For now, it’s just wishful thinking. However, if that does end up happening, OU would be in great shape to capture their 4th straight national championship.
