OU Softball: Despite Early Struggles, Cydney Sanders is 'Having the Time of My Life'

NORMAN — Cydney Sanders felt the pressure. She felt the expectations. And she felt the eyes on her every time she walked back to the dugout without a base hit or a home run.

That’s the enormity of being a first-team All-American as a freshman, and then transferring to two-time national champion Oklahoma, and then not living up to your own high standards.

But now, after a successful weekend against Texas — a breakout weekend at the plate — the Arizona State transfer has a new perspective on her sophomore season in Crimson and Cream.

“I’m having the time of my life regardless of what I'm producing,” Sanders said Wednesday after practice. “I mean, it's good to produce good, but, not my moment right now obviously.”

No. 1-ranked OU is back on the diamond on Thursday as the Sooners (33-1) open a three-game Big 12 Conference series against Texas Tech (28-12). Thursday and Friday’s games start at 6 p.m., and Saturday’s begins at 1 p.m. All three will be televised on ESPN+, and Sanders could be a key figure as the Sooners try to stay unbeaten in conference play.

In Tempe last year, Sanders batted .425, slugged .952 and blasted a team-leading and single-season ASU record 21 home runs. She was runner-up for national freshman of the year to OU’s Jordy Bahl, and was named first-team All-Pac-12 and first-team All-American in 54 starts.

But in her first 28 games at OU this season, Sanders had just 11 hits, was batting .220, had managed just one home run and had two doubles.

Coach Patty Gasso’s message to Sanders over the first two months of the season was simple and pure.

“Believe in what you're doing and give it time,” Gasso said. “Just be patient through it. Don't quit. Don't go home and think about it. Don't lose sleep over it. It's gonna come, and it always does. But they want it now. There's zero patience here. I want it now, I want it now, I want it now. And it's a good lesson to learn. I think she's learned about patience and trusting herself and her ability.”

Sanders was hitting the ball hard. She had struck out only 14 times ahead of the Red River Rivalry series. A lot of well-hit balls simply weren’t finding the grass, or were being caught on the warning track.

She said it was a big help to have the teammates she does at Oklahoma guide her through the rough spots.

“Yeah, they're just, they believe in me, you know?” Sanders said. “That's like, sometimes you don't have people who believe in you and like, want you to succeed. And I feel that even though I'm not performing right now, they're like, helping me along the way and they're wanting me to succeed and they're helping me with different ideas and things like that. So they're helping me a lot more than everybody knows.”

That patience and perseverance finally paid off last weekend against the Longhorns.

After not playing in Friday’s series opener in Oklahoma City and going 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in Saturday’s dramatic seventh-inning rally, Sanders got the start at first base on Sunday and delivered a 2-for-4 afternoon at the plate, with her third double of the season and her first RBI in two weeks.

She’s now hitting .236 on the season — still not great, but definitely trending up.

“I feel like I've been hitting the ball, but it just hasn't fell, really,” she said. “And against Texas, it fell, and it felt really great. So I think I'm on the uprise now. So, pretty good feeling. I feel like it'll be really good for the rest of the season. But I just needed that, honestly.

“Sunday showed me that it's not over. You know, I can — it’s OK. Like, this is a fresh start. Like, I had washed away everything else. This was my new season right here because it’s (conference play) now. So, new season, fresh start, we're just gonna go from here. Don't worry about everything else. We're just gonna go up from here.”

Sunday was her 20th start of the season at first base, and it was easily the best she’s hit as a Sooner. She went 2-for-3 with an RBI against Stephen F. Austin back on Feb. 18, but that had been her only multi-hit game.

“She was kind of down in the dumps,” Gasso said. “You could feel it. She was not happy. And sometimes you just leave athletes alone and let them work it out. But we've talked — I’ve talked to her personally, Grace Lyons, Riley Boone has been big with her. We've had her work with (and) talk with … sports psychologists, kind of get that point of view. And ultimately it comes down to her, and she knows it, and relaxing and not getting caught up in the outcomes of everything.”

After the run rule of the Longhorns, her teammates essentially mobbed her in the clubhouse with congratulations.

“Basically, they were saying, ‘Oh, good to see you Cyd,’” she said. “Yeah, it is good to see me finally.”