Football may be king at the University of Oklahoma, but the Sooners Softball team is undoubtedly queen. The Sooners made history last week when they won the Women’s College World Series for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.

It is the first time in college softball history that a team has four-peated, and with the current climate in college athletics, it’s an even more spectacular accomplishment. It’s difficult to keep a successful team together from one year to the next but doing it four consecutive years is amazing.

With the transfer portal and the NIL money that is being thrown at college athletes, keeping a dynasty together is even more challenging now than in years past.

In the case of the Sooners, the team benefitted from the transfer portal, with at least one player; pitcher Kelly Maxwell, who transferred from Oklahoma State. Maxwell was named the Outstanding Player of the WCWS. Her transfer from the Sooners in-state rivals proved to payoff, as she went from being on a team in the WCWS to the team that won it for the fourth year in a row.

After the Sooners swept Texas in two games in the championship finals, Maxwell was asked how she felt about helping the Sooners win the title.

“Just gratitude,” Maxwell said. “Just thankful for everything that I’ve been through and all that I’ve gone through and just being able to have a team that loves me and supports me. All the glory to God, and I think just being able to fight for them as they had my back, too.”

Maxwell pitched 27 innings and compiled a perfect 3-0 record in the WCWS.

Oklahoma’s run of dominance began in 2021, the year after COVID-19 canceled the NCAA Women’s World Series. The Sooners beat Florida State three games to two in the final series to earn the Sooners their fifth title.

OU defended their national championship the next season. The Sooners defeated Texas twice to make easy work of the Longhorns in the 2022 finals. Head coach Patty Gasso’s team made it three in a row in 2023 when the Sooners defeated Florida State 2-0 in the final series.

Oklahoma completed a third straight sweep in the finals this year by beating Texas 8-3 in Game 1 and 8-4 in Game 2, officially making history as the only program to win four consecutive national championships.

The Sooners now have eight total national titles, have won in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. That puts OU tied with Arizona in second all-time, with only UCLA ahead with 12 national titles. Way behind the top three programs are three schools with two titles: Arizona State, Florida and Texas A&M.