Oklahoma Looking to Bring 'New Approach' Amongst Strong Mary Nutter Classic Field
Oklahoma’s challenging non-conference slate continues this weekend on the West Coast.
Fresh off their first loss of the young season, the No. 2-ranked Sooners (8-1) will take on a slew of familiar faces at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, headlined by the top-ranked UCLA Bruins (12-0).
OU will take on Cal State Fullerton (6-4) and Haley Lee’s former team, Texas A&M (9-2), on Friday before a reunion on Saturday.
The Utah Utes (7-3), Oklahoma’s first opponent on Saturday, is closely tied to Patty Gasso’s program.
Paige Parker, OU’s dominant left-hander who helped fire the Sooners to back-to-back National Championships in 2016 and 2017, serves as the pitching coach for the Utes and Gasso’s son, D.J. Gasso, is Utah’s hitting coach.
“Utah’s very good. Good pitching. An average hitting coach there,” Gasso said with a smile Wednesday. “That might be a problem for them. I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
The Sooners will meet Loyola Marymount (4-7) on Saturday before the massive tilt against UCLA on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Coming into the weekend fresh off the team’s first loss of the year, Gasso is excited to see how her team responds to adversity against stiff competition.
“What I’m really going to sit back and pay attention to is the camaraderie and the fight of our team,” Gasso said. “Against Baylor, it was kind of a ho-hum kind of attitude that is just unlike us.
“I’m glad we got to see what that looked like, but we’ve had some powwows, this team has figured some things out, they’re ready to go into Palm Springs with a new approach. Just a little more feisty.”
Oklahoma got a boost before shipping out to Cathedral City, CA, for the weekend slate.
Veteran leader and standout catcher Kinzie Hansen was cleared to return to action after missing the first nine games with what she labeled as a “little mishap with (her) appendix.”
Hansen blasted 24 home runs in 2021 and finished the year with a .438 batting average and 66 RBIs before fighting through injuries in 2022.
Still, she added eight long balls and 29 RBIs in 52 appearances last year.
“I think you’ll see her this weekend a bit,” Gasso said. “Not catching every game, but you’ll see her in a uniform and likely on the field.”
Even if she doesn’t feature in every contest, the Sooners will be happy to have her leadership in the fold all weekend.
“You can feel her not in the lineup last weekend,” Gasso said. “So our team recognized it. She did a good job trying to stay very vocal, but there’s just a presence that she has that also exudes confidence and gives it to the rest of the team. It’ll be nice to have her back.”
On the heels of the Baylor loss, a major emphasis at practice has been ensuring every member of the OU lineup brings the right approach to the plate in every at-bat.
“I think the loss kind of showed what we need to work on offensively,” third baseman Alyssa Brito said on Wednesday. “I mean we’ve just been putting in a lot of work.”
Gasso expects an improved performance across the board, as the Sooners will have to stay locked in both at the plate and in the circle to put in a good weekend before taking the field in Norman for the first time in 2023.
Oklahoma’s appearance at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic will start against Cal State Fullerton at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, and the contest against Texas A&M will follow at 5 p.m.
All five games this weekend will be broadcast on FloSoftball.
“It’s definitely going to be a test, because we’ve got really good competition,” Gasso said. “We’re going to have to play well, pitch well and hit well, but they understand that there’s a lot of growth that needs to happen.
“... They use the words like emptying the gas tank out there and just letting it all flow and go. So that’s what I’m anxious to see.”
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!
Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!
Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.
Get your OU tickets from SI Tickets HERE.