Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso earns bonus after leading Sooners to third straight title

Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso continues to further cement herself as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport. She led the mighty Oklahoma Sooners to their third straight national crown on Thursday night, joining the UCLA Bruins (1988-1990) as the only other team in women’s college softball history to accomplish the feat. Gasso earned her seventh national title as the Sooners’ head coach. Not only did she earn another piece of hardware, but she also landed a hefty contract bonus.

Steve Berkowitz of USA Today reported on Thursday evening via Twitter that Gasso earned a $75,000 bonus. That puts her season total in bonuses at $200,000. Her basic annual salary was $1.625 million for the 2023 season.

Following the historic win, Gasso discussed her emotions with ESPN’s Holly Rowe on the field.

Patty Gasso discussed her emotions after accomplishing history

She discussed how her team was able to accomplish some impressive history. “Commitment. They were just proud of our work ethic. And they believed in each other. They fought. And they knew how good they could be,” Gasso said.

The Hall-of-Fame head coach also said that she felt a tremendous amount of freedom and relief following the win. The enormous amount of pressure was finally lifted off their shoulders. “Our fall was the reason why we’re here but right now what you feel Holly is from us is freedom. Because it was absolutely suffocating as we were going along. The expectations. They’re overwhelming. But they handled it like champions and that’s why we’re here right now,” Gasso said.

The Sooners got an impressive performance from Jordy Bahl when they needed it the most. All told, Bahl — the 2022 NFCA National Freshman of the Year a season ago — finished the WCWS, with a 4-0 record, no earned runs and 33 strikeouts across, 24.2 innings. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Women’s College World Series.

Gasso discussed how proud she was of her superstar. “She’s always wished that she could have this moment. And she’s dreamed of it. And I think it’d probably look just like this or even bigger than she expected. So, I can’t tell ya how proud I am of her and all the expectations that lay on her all the time. Bringing in a run, allows her to free herself up thinking about coming back on the mound. But, she is just one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen,” Gasso said.

The Hall-of-Fame head coach discussed how she’s able to hit the reset button each and every year, despite having such remarkable success in her program. “They come here, they know what they’re getting. And I just have stood strong with what I believe in. And the foundation of this program was built with all those guys standing in the stands right now. It’s been here for a long time. And so, there’s a level of expectation that they need to step up to and they do,” the seven-time national champion head coach said.

The Sooners ended the season with just one loss — a February loss to Baylor. They didn’t drop another game the rest of the way, finishing the year with 53 consecutive victories to finish with a 61-1 overall record.

It’s only fitting Oklahoma completed the three-peat against Florida State, whom the Sooners beat in the 2021 Women’s College World Series to start this historic run.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.