How Oklahoma's Trip to LSU Prepared the Sooners to Take on Texas

NORMAN — Patty Gasso knows what lies ahead.

No. 2 Oklahoma travels south for its yearly war with No. 4 Texas this weekend in yet another series that's implications will be felt across the country.

OU can truly assert itself in the race for the SEC regular season title with a series victory — something much easier said than done.

To emerge victorious, the Sooners (38-3, 11-1 SEC) will have to outplay a talented team and survive a hostile atmosphere.

"This will be the toughest place that we have played. We played at LSU. This is different," Gasso said on Wednesday.

OU took two of those three contests in Baton Rouge, but the Sooners' high-powered offense had to battle for every single run.

Gasso said she was pleased with the resiliency she saw firsthand in Oklahoma's trip to LSU, and that her team will have to carry those lessons with them this weekend against the Longhorns.

"I think it really helped us," Gasso said. "There were times when I could see we were getting a little rattled and we had to kind of reset and pitchers might have been a little bit rattled and then you see them settle in like Miali (Guachino) and just go off."

The Sunday performance is what Gasso referenced with Guachino.

Though she pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief in the series opener with the Tigers, Sunday's finale is where she shined.

Guachino did allow three home runs and four runs, Gasso liked how the sophomore battled back to spin 11 strikeouts.

"She gave up, I think, a home run. ... That didn’t stop her from being who she is and continuing to throw elite pitches," Gasso said.

Oklahoma Sooners, Miali Guachino — Oklahoma pitcher Miali Guachino takes the circle in a contest against Kentucky at Love's Field. | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

That ability to bounce back and quickly move past a bad inning will be necessary in Texas.

The Sooners were able to erase early deficits in each of its first two games against Kentucky this past weekend.

That task is easier at home, but the Sooners have already shown they can dig deep on the road.

Junior Ella Parker was especially impressed with how the younger members of OU's roster responded to adversity at LSU, as a majority of the team will be taking the field in Austin for the first time this weekend.

"They are good with response. I know they haven’t dealt with a lot of high-pressure situations in those environments," Parker said. "… But it just goes to show that they stick to what they know and play the game of softball and they’re not going to let any moment get too big."

Coming off their mini four-game homestand, Gasso is confident in how her team is playing headed into the weekend as long as they are able to handle the atmosphere come Friday night (7 p.m., ESPN2).

"I just need these players to go in fearless," Gasso said. "They haven’t been afraid of going in anywhere, but this is fun. It’s rivalry. But they’ve got to go in being tough."