OU Softball: How Freshman P Kierston Deal Can be a 'Game-Changer' for Oklahoma This Postseason

On the verge of a dramatic comeback win, most coaches would turn to an experienced arm to close out the win in the circle.

In this season’s second Bedlam contest, Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso wasn’t interested in that.

Her top-ranked Sooners had just flipped the entire game on its head.

Star second baseman Tiare Jennings put OU in front with a two-RBI double, flipping the conversation from the Sooners getting shut out to Oklahoma rallying to win its 40th straight contest.

Jordy Bahl had been called upon to pinch run, and she could have staying in the game to clinch the win on the mound.

Instead, Gasso stuck with her true freshman left-hander Kierston Deal to hold onto the 4-2 lead and shut the door on Oklahoma State.

“I think we (had) some wiggle room,” Gasso said after the win on May 6. “… We’ve nailed some things down for postseason and it was an opportunity… to see her in a big moment.”

Gasso was right at the time.

The Sooners had already locked up the Big 12 regular season title and the bye at the Big 12 Tournament that goes along with it.

In truth, Oklahoma could have probably lost the entire Bedlam series and likely still earned the No. 1-overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

And so just like her team, Gasso was unafraid to lose if it meant she got to see her young pitcher try and navigate a high-pressure situation.

“She was nails,” Gasso said of Deal. “She was outstanding. So that just really equipped us with (another) pitcher.”

That’s not what the country wanted to hear from Gasso and the Sooners.

Oklahoma’s three-headed pitching monster, Bahl, Alex Storako and Nicole May, have been the class of the sport in 2023.

The Sooners not only lead the nation in team ERA, but the gap between them and the second place team, Clemson, is substantial. The distance between OU’s mark (0.86) and Clemson’s (1.33) is the same between the Tigers and No. 12-ranked McNeese.

Deal’s addition in a major way not only forces teams to study another pitcher, it offers Gasso a matchup difference as all three of Bahl, Storako and May are righty’s.

“I think that was a game-changer for us,” Gasso said last week. “… She doesn’t get a lot of opportunities, but we all remember the first game she threw a few innings.

“It was deer in the headlights. She was very awkward and uncomfortable on the mound. You could see that.”

Deal’s nerves showed through in Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame Classic opener.

She gave up a first inning home run to Weber State, and Deal was withdrawn after just two innings pitched.

But she never lost belief, and she kept working to improve throughout the season.

“To see how far she’s come is what everybody was really – she captured our hearts,” Gasso said. “Watching her settle in, have command. Watching her pointing around the infield like she’s done it a million times.”

And while Deal has come a long way since the season began, Jennings still thinks she’s the same player that linked up with the program this past fall.

“She’s been on it since the fall,” Jennings said after the emotional Bedlam win. “As soon as she gets the opportunity she’s fine.

“… I’m just so poor of her and everything she’s worked for.”

Now Deal represents a headache for opposing coaches.

OU’s pitching staff is already hard to prepare for, and Deal adds another variable for teams to consider.

She’s also thrown just 23 1/3 innings, giving teams considerably less information to go on.

Game planning for the Sooners under normal circumstances is already hard enough, and now Deal will also add a wrinkle during postseason, when the turnarounds are quick from each crucial contest.

After falling to Oklahoma in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament, Iowa State coach Jamie Pinkerton admitted the Cyclones had to simply guess what pitcher OU would throw, and he was happy to have guessed correctly. He prepared the team for Storako, and that’s who Gasso threw (not that it mattered, the Sooners still shut Iowa State out).

Those odds get split another way with a fourth pitcher Gasso is unafraid to throw into the fold — and Deal’s left-handed delivery opens up even more matchup problems.

Deal earned full confidence from her coach in Stillwater, and now she’s preparing to play a role in Oklahoma’s run back to Oklahoma City.

“She’s on a staff that has some really elite pitching,” Gasso said. “She’s learning and taking this in stride. Getting the opportunities when she can and making the best of them.

“… She wants more. She’s hungry. You can feel it already. She’s not asking, but her look at me is like, when are you going to give me the ball again?”

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