A locked in Kasidi Pickering puts OU softball in regional championship

It can almost look too easy for OU sophomore Kasidi Pickering. It’s obviously not, but the way she handles each plate appearance, there’s a plan.

The plan has been appreciated by head coach Patty Gasso all season. And that plan was on full display Saturday afternoon.

Pickering began her day with a solo home run, ended with a grand slam and has powered OU into the Norman Regional championship.

The sophomore drove in six runs in an 11-2 run-rule (five innings) victory for the top-ranked Sooners against Cal in a winner’s bracket game at Love’s Field.

OU will play in the regional championship 1 p.m. Sunday, against either Boston University, Omaha or Cal.

“So she is just an easy watch, you know? Just really sees the ball well,” Gasso said. “She’ll identify balls and strikes very easily. You can hear it. But her hands are quick and her body is strong, and it looks, like you said, very simple. It does.

“It looks very easy, but she definitely works on it, hits a lot on her own. I know Gabbie does as well, and it takes that kind of effort and commitment and I think swinging so much, that’s why it looks easy because she does it so much.”

Pickering doesn’t feel like a traditional leadoff hitter. She entered the game with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs. Pickering isn’t necessarily setting the tone by setting the table. She does it by announcing her presence. That’s something that can become infectious across the board.

“Oh, immediately, we’re hyped and just want to feed off the energy that she has started for us,” freshman Gabbie Garcia said. “Just continue to keep passing the bat.”

Garcia added a two-run home run of her own in the fourth inning before Pickering hit the grand slam to put OU in run-rule territory.

In between the power surge of Garcia (three RBIs) and Pickering (six RBIs), there was a bunch of station-to-station softball.

OU didn’t hit a home run in a four-run second inning. Instead, it was small ball. Back-to-back-to-back RBI singles by Pickering, Ella Parker and Sydney Barker helped spur OU to a 5-1 lead.

Cal answered back with three straight hits and a run in the top of the third. Then it was the OU defense that ended the threat.

Bases loaded, one out, and Sam Landry was able to induce a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play. Just a huge moment by Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and Ailana Agbayani and Cydney Sanders.

“As much as we enjoy watching hits being strung together, for me there’s nothing more like an exclamation point than a double play that ends an inning,” Gasso said. “These guys up the middle are phenomenal. I would have to call them the best middle in the country that I’ve seen…

“I think Nelly did a good job getting that started for us and trusting to go that way. It was huge. It’s big momentum when you can do something on defense and have everybody run into the dugout. We got out of some big moments there.”

Cal never threatened again, and Pickering took OU home.

Landry allowed seven hits but just the two runs. She struck out four in four innings to move to 21-4 this season. Freshman Audrey Lowry threw the final inning, ending the game with a strikeout.

Up next

A long night of waiting for OU (47-7). The Sooners can sit back and watch as Cal, Omaha and Boston University will spend Saturday evening figuring out who is taking on OU. The winner plays OU at 1 p.m. Sunday in the regional championship and would have to beat the Sooners twice.

OU? Has everything at its disposal with the staff.

“Yes, nice to not run too much with Sam,” Gasso said. “KD did a nice job. Audrey did a nice job closing. We feel really good about the energy. It may not feel extremely warm but both teams were running out of gas.

“I don’t know if you can see it or not but it’s just kind of a heavy air that was on us. We recognize that. We got back and we kind of take a reset and I think that’s when the game pretty much ended was after we went back there and decided to get more involved and just push through some of that.”