Oklahoma Focused Internally Ahead of Regular-Season Finale at Texas A&M

NORMAN — Patty Gasso isn’t much for looking backward.

Last season, Oklahoma entered the final weekend in similar position to how they’re entering this weekend’s series at Texas A&M.

Back then, the Sooners needed two wins or Texas A&M losses to clinch the SEC regular-season title in their first year in the league.

Oklahoma got that with a Thursday win, plus a Tennessee win over the Aggies on Friday before the Sooners took the field. Oklahoma then dropped its last two games of the regular season to Florida.

This weekend, top-ranked OU has an even more favorable outlook.

They need just one win to clinch a share of the title and the No. 1 overall seed in next weekend’s SEC Tournament in Lexington, Ky.

“I don’t remember that far back, to be honest,” Gasso said. “It king of just was a blur. I really like where we’re at. I asked out team this, and I do believe them, I said, ‘Have we peaked yet?’ ‘Absolutely not.’ I said, ‘Have you played your best game yet?’ ‘No, we have not.’ They’re still very hungry for what’s going on right now.”

The Sooners (46-6, 18-3 SEC) open the series against the No. 14 Aggies at 8 p.m. Thursday in College Station, Texas.

It’s a place Gasso is plenty familiar with, though it’s been awhile since the Sooners have been there.

Gasso is 13-7 all-time against Texas A&M in College Station, with the last meeting coming in 2012, the Aggies last year in the Big 12.

“I also can tell you that they know what we’re walking into and they know they are going to have to be tough and gritty to handle the environment,” Gasso said. “So I feel like we’re pretty prepared. We’ve played in the Texas environment, we’ve played in our own environment, so there’s not much else we can do right now except just … It’s internal now.”

How to Watch No. 1 Oklahoma at No. 14 Texas A&M

Game 1: 8 p.m. Thursday, at Davis Diamond, SEC Network
Game 2: 5 p.m. Friday, at Davis Diamond, SEC Network
Game 3: 4 p.m. Saturday, at Davis Diamond, ESPN2

Last season, the Sooners and Aggies were on a collision course in the SEC Tournament before their matchup in the championship game was washed out by rain.

Gasso said her team isn’t motivated by not being able to play last season, when Texas A&M ultimately earned the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament but failed to make it out of regionals.

Oklahoma was the No. 2 seed and made the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series.

“We’re trying to set them up the best way that we can but at the same time, make it really fun for them,” Gasso said. “It should be exciting. To me, this is something I would look forward to as a player and I’m definitely looking forward to it as a coach because I know we are going to get pushed. I know the fans. I know their team. I know the coaches.”

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One of Texas A&M’s offensive standouts, Micaela Wark, is an Oklahoma State transfer. Wark leads the Aggies with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs.

Mya Perez is hitting .455 with 17 home runs.

Sydney Lessentine leads Texas A&M in the circle with a 14-3 record and a 2.82 ERA in 119 innings.

But for Gasso, much of her focus has been internally on her team as the Sooners look to wrap up the regular season building toward the coming weeks.

“If we’re really who we say we want to be, we would maybe be peaking on that weekend, this next weekend” Gasso said. “We should be starting to move in that direction. You don’t want to finish before you’ve peaked, so we’ve got to start moving.”

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