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Oklahoma's Saturday Bounce-Back Showed Maturity and Poise Under Pressure

The Sooners put a chaotic start to the weekend in College Station behind them to clinch the SEC crown on Saturday.
Ryan Chapman|
Oklahoma outfielder Abby Dayton was all smiles after the Sooners hit a home run against Kentucky.
Oklahoma outfielder Abby Dayton was all smiles after the Sooners hit a home run against Kentucky. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma dug deep in the midst of crazy circumstances, but Patty Gasso’s Sooners once again showed their “Championship Mindset” is real.

Had the weather not wrecked plans on Thursday night, the Sooners would have likely cruised to victory in the series opener to sweep Texas A&M.

Instead, the Sooners and the Aggies leapt into action on Friday afternoon to finish the contest that was suspended in the sixth inning.

Patty Gasso opted to go to Miali Guachino after Audrey Lowry, who had tied a career-high with eight strikeouts on Thursday, recorded one out.

The Sooners proceeded to allow five runs on five singles in a haze in College Station to lose the game.

Alabama notched a pair of wins to put pressure on Oklahoma, but the SEC regular-season title is headed back to Norman.

Oklahoma used small ball, not home runs, to get out in front in the first game on Saturday. Freshman Kai Minor responded with an RBI-triple after Texas A&M tied the game, too, to deliver the first victory.

Then the bats got hot.

OU hit three homers, including a three-run shot by Kasidi Pickering, to fuel a 6-4 win.

Guachino put Friday's rough outing behind her with 4 1/3 innings of work in the first game on Saturday. She allowed three runs, both coming in her last two at-bats via home runs, on five hits, and she issued two walks and struck two batters out. Lowry was able to take over for Guachino to close the game out, then Gasso handed the ball to LSU transfer Sydney Berzon in the finale.

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Berzon threw five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while ringing up a season-high five strikeouts, in one of her best outings of the season.

Before Pickering's home run, she opened the scoring on Saturday with an RBI-single in the first game of the doubleheader, and the long ball announced that her slump is now behind her.

Perhaps most impressively, the 15 combined hits on Saturday came from eight different batters as Oklahoma's offense displayed great offensive balance against more tough SEC competition.

Nothing ever comes easy in this conference, but the Sooners once again showed they can battle through adversity and win in many different ways, qualities that are necessary if Oklahoma wants to close the year with another dogpile at Devon Park in June.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is co-publisher at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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