Weekend Wrap: Oklahoma's Response to Adversity Rooted in Trying to 'Keep it Simple'

Patty Gasso's Sooners responded to adversity after dropping Friday's contest to BYU, showing they're still a work in progress in 2024.

NORMAN — For two years, Oklahoma has been virtually invincible. 

OU had lost four combined games en route to Patty Gasso’s second and third consecutive titles over this most recent three-year run of dominance, rewriting the record books and shattering expectations of what it means to be a dominant force in softball. 

The 2024 Sooners might still be the best team in the country, but they are human. 

One week after losing the program’s first conference series since 2011, a poor Friday night showing had Oklahoma playing for a series victory on Saturday against BYU. 

OU’s 9-4 defeat on Friday was erased with a 7-3 win in the series decider on Saturday as the Sooners showed fight ahead of an exciting final month in the Big 12 race. 

Failure to Convert

Friday’s defeat was marred by mistakes. 

There were two fielding errors, well below Oklahoma’s lofty defensive standards. 

OU’s pitching staff allowed 11 hits, five walks and two hit batters. 

But even with all the traffic Oklahoma allowed on the base paths, there should have been more run support.

The Sooners drew 10 walks, but stranded 10 runners — something that wasn’t acceptable to either Gasso or the team. 

“We were popping the ball up a lot,” OU Catcher Kinzie Hansen said after the loss on Friday. “We were swinging at changeups, which is a little bit more uncharacteristic of us. We were also taking pitches that we usually hammer.

“… Sometimes we get caught up in trying to be so perfect and hit that exact pitch so perfect, and everything has to be perfect. However, you swing hard at a good pitch, no matter what pitch it is, it's gonna go somewhere and it’s gonna go somewhere hard. So just being able to trust ourselves and trust our timing and fall back on that.”

The chase of perfection, especially at the plate, will lead to missed opportunities. 

“When you're trying to be perfect at the plate,” Gasso said. “You're gonna be you're gonna be frozen, you're gonna be stuck.”

Saturday, the Sooners had better success at the plate. 

OU still stranded 11 batters, but OU hit 4-of-11 with two outs — including driving in four of its seven runs with a pair of outs. 

Leaving runners on is something Gasso is confident the team will curb, so long as they continue to fight through every at-bat. 

“We’re getting on base, so we can be encouraged by that,” Gasso said. “We’re going to fix that. I’m certain of that.”

Maxwell Still Firing

For the second straight weekend, Gasso went back to the veteran left-hander to close out the final game of the series. 

Maxwell cruised until the sixth inning, where she dealt with traffic on the bases truly for the first time. 

She escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth before surrendering a pair of runs in the seventh that only served to prolong BYU’s defeat. 

“I’m really proud of her,” Gasso said on Sunday. “There were times when I didn’t know if she was feeling her best. Elite athletes just let that go. They don’t let it be an excuse. Kept getting after it and getting after it. I’m proud of that, great accomplishment for Kelly. The team stepped up for that. They heard about it later in the game and responded immediately.”

So that part of Oklahoma’s pitching rotation is sorted. Maxwell is the ace, and has shown she can win OU games every other day. 

Kelly Maxwell leads all Oklahoma pitchers with a 1.67 ERA in conference play.

BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

Now the Sooners have to figure out how to get the best out of the rest of the pitching staff. 

In Big 12 play, Nicole May has a 2.89 ERA and has looked far from her dominant self of old. 

She pitched well enough for Oklahoma to stay in the second game against Texas, only allowing a pair of runs, but she let three runs come across in the first three innings of Friday’s loss to the Cougars. 

Then in relief Kierston Deal gave up a pair of runs and Karlie Keeney surrendered another four runs. 

“Not good enough. Not gritty enough,” Gasso said. “We can't rely on one arm, and we need fighters. 

“… We just we just got to trust our stuff and we just got to be that just gritty type of pitching staff.”

OU has a midweek game against Tulsa before squaring off with Houston this weekend, giving Gasso and associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha plenty of opportunities to solidify the pitching depth. 

Still in the Fight

By Gasso’s own admission, Oklahoma played too emotional on Friday. 

Saturday, the team came out with an edge and looked more like the teams Sooners fans have grown accustomed to watching over the past few years. 

Flipping that switch was essential, but it didn’t require a massive change, third baseman Alyssa Brito said. 

“I just think we kinda came to a conclusion of really stepping in and saying, ‘Who are we? Who do we want to be this year?’ I think that doesn’t need to be a pressure or anything like that,” she said, “because we’ve been in these situations before.”

Oklahoma knows how to play at a high level. 

This season, they’ve notched wins over Duke, Washington and Texas, who are all fixtures in the top 10. 

The Sooners don't have to be perfect, either.

Oklahoma's last three national title teams lost an average of 2.66 games per season. The previous 20 champions lost an average of 8.95 games on the year. The last three teams to lift the trophy in Oklahoma City have been the exception, not the rule.

Plenty of Oklahoma's current players know what that feels like, but for now OU’s captains want the team to play loose to get the best out of each other.

“Just play free, keep having fun in the game,” shortstop Tiare Jennings said on Friday. “…  Just keep passing the bat and keep it simple. And I think that’s just a good way to kickstart this fire.”