Oklahoma Sooners softball coach Patty Gasso on playing on ABC: 'It was a wow moment'
The Women’s College World Series is underway, and Saturday saw a big-time matchup between Oklahoma and Texas. Oklahoma came away with the 7-2 victory to continue its recent streak, and the moment was a very special one for Sooners head coach Patty Gasso.
Saturday’s matchup was a big one on a number of fronts. In addition to the stakes being high as they always are in the Women’s College World Series, the game between Oklahoma and Texas was also the first WCWS game to be aired on ABC. To be a part of that with Oklahoma was something that blew Gasso away.
“To think that we are in a game on ABC is just a wow factor for me personally,” she said. “I don’t even talk to our team about it because they don’t watch ABC, they watch Netflix. For me, it was a wow moment.
“For our sport, for women’s athletics, it’s just off the charts. I am really anxious to see what kind of viewership there was because it’s just going to continue to help this whole sport just continue to grow.”
Oklahoma began the Women’s College World Series with a 13-2 victory over Northwestern on Thursday. The Sooners advanced to Saturday, and now advance again after beating Texas. Northwestern and Oregon State have been eliminated from the tournament already, with two elimination games on tap for Sunday. UCLA and Florida face off on ABC at 3 p.m. ET, and Arizona faces off against Texas at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2. The losers of those games will be eliminated, with the winners surviving another day. In addition to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State is also undefeated at the Women’s College World Series so far.
This season has been a special one for Oklahoma and Gasso. The Sooners are currently 56-2 on the year and on a seven-game winning streak. Oklahoma went 17-1 in Big 12 play. The Sooners’ last loss on the season came in May against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship.