Why No. 1 Oklahoma Plays With a 'Joyful' Passion: 'It's Beyond Just a Softball Game'
OKLAHOMA CITY — They’re passionate.
They’re loud.
And they’re back to defend their crown.
The top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners (54-2) begin the final leg of their title defense Thursday at the Women’s College World Series after dominating college softball this season.
Entering the WCWS, the Sooners lead the country in essentially every major offensive category while also laying claim to the best team earned run average in the nation.
Now, OU is ready to once again pair its high level of play with an unbridled fervor on college softball’s biggest stage.
How to Watch:
- Oklahoma vs. Northwestern: Thursday, 1:30 p.m., ESPN
“Our team is very unique,” Oklahoma’s All-American shortstop Grace Lyons said in a press conference on Wednesday. “We have a very tight bond, great chemistry, great atmosphere, and we really focus on the 'why' we play.
“It's beyond just a softball game. When we play for something bigger than that, it makes it so much fun. It makes it joyful, and we can play with passion.”
Tapping into that infectious joy for the game helps take the pressure off the team, Lyons said, as it helps the team focus on playing the game for each other.
“Our young ones bring a lot of passion to where it makes it fun and loose,” Lyons told AllSooners.com. “… I think we find a good balance in it. Because one, we want to act like we’ve been there before, but we also want to celebrate the little things.”
Oklahoma sophomore Jayda Coleman leads the charge, from the videos on social media of her getting off the bus already hyping the team up to her cheers directed toward the OU dugout when she draws a walk.
But even the pitching staff gets in on the fun.
When Nicole May isn’t dominating in the circle, she can be heard leading the dugout chants while the Sooners are at bat on offense.
“I think all of our pitchers do a great job of when they’re not pitching, or even when they are, they’re super excited and they’re leading cheers,” Lyons said. “So it kind of takes the load off of us when we’re trying to focus and watch at-bats and not scream our heads off.
“… Everyone has a role. If you’re not in the starting lineup, that role is to cheer and bring energy.”
The results on the field speak for themselves.
If the Sooners emerge from Oklahoma City as National Champions again, they can lay claim as one of the best teams in the history of the sport.
Even stars of the 2021 Oklahoma team like Jocelyn Alo have said that the 2022 Sooners have found a way to find another gear.
“I've played with a lot of really special teams,” Alo said on Wednesday. “… I think this is the best team I've been on just because of how complete we are and how tight-knit we are.
“… I’ve never seen a pitching staff like this, and they just love to dice us up at practice, so I feel like that's what makes us good. Just iron sharpening iron every day.”
READ MORE 2022 WCWS COVERAGE:
Right off the bat, OU will have a chance to best an accomplishment from last year’s team.
After falling to James Madison on Day 1 of last year’s WCWS, the Sooners can start off on the right foot against the 9-seeded Northwestern Wildcats.
Unlike the matchup against James Madison, OU has some recent experience with the Wildcats to fall back on.
Oklahoma topped Northwestern during Super Regional play in 2019 after already hosting the Wildcats for a pair of games earlier in that season.
The two sides met up again twice in the 2020 season before the year was cut short by COVID, meaning the Sooners are a combined 6-0 against their Big Ten opponents in the past four seasons.
On top of the firsthand experience against Northwestern, OU head coach Patty Gasso said she thinks this year’s team can draw on the experience of navigating the pressure in the 2021 WCWS where her team also entered Oklahoma City as heavy favorites to win it all.
“The goal here was not look back into the rearview mirror and refer so much about what happened last year,” said Gasso, “but learn from those experiences and then look through the front window and go forward and create a new journey, a new experience.
“We've got new players, and I think we've done a really good job of that in maintaining who we are and not referring always to last year. Except for it comes in handy as we go into the World Series and the experience is really going to help us tremendously.”
This year’s Oklahoma team will get its chance to start the 2022 WCWS in the winners’ bracket on Thursday, as first pitch between Northwestern and the Sooners is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Ahead of the contest, Gasso said the Sooners are solely focused on playing their best game, as every team left at this stage is dangerous.
“Any team can (win a National Championship) because those teams that got here are still on a crazy roll,” she said. “They haven't been home for weeks, but they don't care because they're in this beautiful bubble right now that they don't want to get burst.
“It's going to be fun. It's going to be fun for everybody.”
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