Patty Gasso on how long Kelly Maxwell can pitch in championship series opener: 'You go as far as you can go'

Tuesday, Oklahoma’s season rode on the left arm of Kelly Maxwell in an elimination game against Florida. She delivered, throwing 148 pitches to help lead the Sooners back to the Women’s College World Series championship series against Texas.

More than 24 hours later, Maxwell was back in the circle for Game 1 against the Longhorns. Patty Gasso said OU needed to “pour everything” they could into the matchup against Texas, and that starts with Maxwell. Through four innings, she allowed just one run as Oklahoma held a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth.

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As for how long the Oklahoma State transfer can go on such short rest, Gasso said she’s going to get as much as she can out of Maxwell given the stakes.

“This is a World Series, so you grit it out,” Gasso told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “You go as far as you can. She’s either gonna tell us or we’re gonna see something that needs attention. But right now, she’s grooving.”

Oklahoma started out hot against Texas when Tiare Jennings hit a two-run home run to take a 2-0 lead. The Longhorns then cut into the lead when Mia Scott crushed a solo shot of her own, but OU got two more big swings in back-to-back at-bats from Kinzie Hansen and Kasidi Pickering to make it a 5-1 advantage.

Gasso said her team stuck to the plan to start the game, but her hope is Oklahoma can create more scoring chances against a Texas team with a high-powered offense and strong pitching.

“Attacking early in the count, set a good tone,” Gasso said of what she saw from OU in the first few innings. “Kelly’s doing a really good job against some great hitters. They’re following the game plan. Just got to work to get more runners in scoring position. But I like what we’ve been doing so far.”

Patty Gasso’s group is looking to do something no other team has done by winning four consecutive WCWS titles. However, Mike White and Co. stand in the way as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament after sweeping the regular-season series against Oklahoma for the first time in 15 years.

The Women’s College World Series began with a double-elimination format, but the championship series moves to a Best of 3 series. Game 1 is Wednesday night with Game 2 to follow on Thursday. A Game 3 would await Friday in Oklahoma City if necessary.