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OU sophomore Chaney Helton has her moment

Bob Przybyloby: Bob Przybylo02/18/26BPrzybylo

Debates are going to be had about OU softball winning 34-0 in five innings at Texas-El Paso on Sunday afternoon.

That sort of score is always going to ruffle a few feathers, especially if you didn’t watch it and have no context of how it happened.

But that weekend, and that game in particular, allowed head coach Patty Gasso to use her entire bench. Gasso has been adamant that this team is going to need everybody during the 2026 season.

And that moment came for OU sophomore Chaney Helton during the fifth inning. To an outsider, it was just a solo home run to make the score 23-0. But for Helton, it was her first-career home run.

It meant something for her and to the team.

“I think a few of us actually cried,” third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas said. “I think Chaney’s home run was one of the top 10 best moments of my life. Just to see how happy she was and how proud of herself she was. Her being able to run home and get a big hug from the whole team was so comforting to her.

“It’s like our Lil Chaney. She is all of our best friends. It was so amazing, such a heart-filling moment to see her compete like that. It was just amazing. I’m pretty sure she cried in the dugout too.”

Gasso has stressed everybody being ready for their moment. Usually for Helton, that means in a pinch-running capacity. She has been doing it for two seasons and doing it well.

You don’t expect a power surge from Helton. So that

“She came around home plate, I think she was crying afterwards,” Gasso said. “The one thing she said to me was, ‘I wish my dad was here to see that.’ So, sentimental for her. She’s one of the hardest workers on the team and always waiting on that opportunity. So it was really exciting for the team to feel that for her.”

Helton has scored seven runs this season and is 2-for-6 at the plate. Helton appeared in 45 games during the 2025 season, scoring 18 runs. But she was only up to the plate five times, not registering a hit.

Sunday meant something.

OU is at the Mary Nutter Classic in California to play six games in four days, beginning Thursday evening.

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