Oklahoma 'Lethargic' in Bedlam Loss, but Still Plenty of Room to Learn From Struggles

Patty Gasso’s frustration was evident after Oklahoma’s Bedlam loss on Wednesday at Devon Park.

“I feel we came in a little bit lethargic, a little bit like, ‘We got this,’ maybe. I don’t know,” Gasso said after the top-ranked Sooners fell 6-4 to Oklahoma State. “It’s just unacceptable for the Sooners. Not taking anything away (from Oklahoma State, they) absolutely won that game and beat us.

“We have to learn. We just became the No. 1 team in the country. I know they know. We don’t talk about it but the history of this program is to bow up. We got bowed up (on), and that’s OK.”

For the first time this season, Oklahoma has dropped back-to-back games.

And while the performance in the loss was “unacceptable,” as Gasso put it, there are still plenty of growth opportunities out of the losses.

“We had to see what it looked like and learn how to punch back a little big better,” Gasso said. “If it helps us this weekend against Arkansas, against Georgia, against Texas A&M, then we’ll take this. We have to get this message, though.”

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Oklahoma has plenty of youth and for several key players — Kendall Wells, Kai Minor, Allyssa Parker, and Lexi McDaniel among them — made their first appearances at Devon Park and got a look at one of the nation’s top pitchers in the Cowgirls’ Ruby Meylan.

It also gave Parker a chance to work in the circle and fight through some adversity.

Parker threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.

That came after throwing 1 1/3 innings, allowing a run and striking out one, in Sunday’s loss to Texas.

“It’s been really important to me to get this experience in and just feel the nerves and feel the crowd on me and feel my team behind me and get into a headspace to where I’m confident going against these really good offenses,” Parker said. “These last two outings, I’ve been really good about calming my nerves and it’s been a really good, I guess, growth point for me.”

There were some bright spots among those young players — Parker's performance in the circle working through trouble, Minor's third-inning triple and Wells' home run that followed two batters later.

One of the biggest areas where growth is possible coming out of Wednesday’s loss, Gasso said, was for the Sooners’ young players to learn how to respond to adversity.

“We talked in the locker room — it’s important to feel things,” Gasso said. “I don’t know, this generation kind of seems like they don’t like to feel pain or frustration and we need to feel. We need to feel that this hurts, and it should hurt and if it hurts when you are more likely to respond to that hurt and make a wrong a right.”

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