Jordy Bahl reveals where her excitement on the mound comes from after dominant regional outing

Oklahoma star pitcher Jordy Bahl can be an energetic presence on the mound for the Sooners. But her on-the-mound demeanor differs from her teammates as all four of the pitchers act differently when toeing the rubber.

After starting Oklahoma’s 11-0 victory Saturday over Missouri in the Normal Regional, Bahl discussed the different approaches by the pitchers and compared herself to Friday’s starter Nicole May.

“I would say that all of us pitchers have different personalities but it is the confidence that we all have going out there, which breeds the reaction that you see,” Bahl said. “Nicole, she’s just chill, boss lady. She always got it under control. That’s why she looks out there, I just, I don’t know. Like you said, I kind of just get excited sometimes and that’s just each of us being our true selves.”

Bahl, the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and last season’s National Freshman of the Year, is 16-1 with a 1.10 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 150 strikeouts in 114.1 innings during her sophomore campaign.

May. who earned a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team, is an undefeated 17-0 with a 0.58 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 122 strikeouts in 96.2 innings.

Against the Tigers in Oklahoma’s second game of the Normal Regional, Bahl pitched five innings and allowed no runs and just one hit.

“Jordy did a great job starting the game,” head coach Patty Gasso said after the game. “The way she did, just really pounding the zone, ahead of the counts, really shutting the Missouri offense down. I loved how we scored early and we just start scoring often. Defense was outstanding. There’s nothing I could pick apart that I wasn’t really pleased with.”

May had pitched the first game of the series against Hofstra, which was also an 11-0 victory. She pitched four innings and allowed only one hit and zero runs, just like Bahl would do the next day.

Oklahoma has made the Super Regionals every postseason over the past decade. The last time they missed it was 2009.

“They love this time of year,” Gasso said of her team. “They work their way, they play 50 games and they are exhausted. They know how many are left in order to win it all and it’s almost like a countdown because they’re exhausted and ready to go on vacation. But they want to have a trophy as they go off to the Bahamas or wherever they’re going. That’s all I would say.”