Patty Gasso: 'We're not playing complete games'

It’s been an uncharacteristic past couple of days for Patty Gasso and Oklahoma softball. Typically one of the most sound teams in the sport, the Sooners cost themselves the game with some uncharacteristic mistakes Friday and Saturday in a Bedlam series against Oklahoma State.

That resulted in the Cowgirls claiming their first series victory in the rivalry in more than 30 years with a 6-2 win Saturday in Norman. OU was in control for the first half of the game thanks to its sound pitching and defense, but things fell apart down the stretch.

The Sooners gave up four home runs in the fifth and sixth innings alone, where OSU scored all six of its runs on the day. Speaking postgame, Gasso expressed frustration in her squad for the way they seemed to collapse.

“We’re just not playing complete games,” she said. “We get out early and then we just don’t — there’s places in the game where the pitchers are very good and then it’ll collapse. Our defense can do the same and our offense is doing the same. There’s shining lights and then it just fades.

“We’ve got to clean it up. We’re facing a very good team that’s got very good pitching and is very confident. They’ve always come after us and they got us. So we give them credit.”

Saturday’s loss marked only the sixth of the season for the Sooners. They also dropped a series earlier this season against Texas and will have their streak of 11 straight Big 12 regular season titles snapped. Now either the Cowgirls or Longhorns will claim the crown, something that surely has to sting.

After allowing only four hits through the first four innings, OU’s defense gave up six across the next two. They tightened up in the seventh, but it was too late by that point. Starting pitcher Nicole May gave up eight total hits and also had a wild pitch.

Gasso knows time is running out to break out of this slump with the postseason fast approaching. The Sooners are eyeing their fourth straight national championship but will have to work some things out if they hope to get there.

“We don’t make excuses whatsoever,” the coach said. “We know what we have to do. We just need time to figure it out to get it done. We don’t have a lot of time left, so that was the goal was to find where we need to go and how to get there.”

Oklahoma will wrap up the regular season with the final game of the Bedlam series at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday. After that, the Sooners have their sights set on the Big 12 Tournament, which begins May 8 in Oklahoma City.