Did OU softball find itself again at just the right time?

Can one inning really be the fix-all for OU softball? That sounds crazy to say for the back-to-back-to-back national champions but stay with me here.

Entering the bottom of the sixth inning against Oklahoma State on Sunday, OU was shook. Still fighting, for sure, but definitely not the super power the softball world has come to know.

A 2-2 game turned into an 8-2 rout for the Sooners. A six-spot to remember? The confidence was back. The mojo, too? That’s what we’re about to find out as OU heads to the Big 12 Tournament this week in Oklahoma City.

No. 2-seeded Sooners take on No. 7 Kansas at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. OU swept the Jayhawks in Lawrence earlier this season.

But the road to another Big 12 crown? Could feature No. 3 OSU and No. 1 Texas. Two teams that gave OU four of its six losses this season.

“I think this team is a team that likes the opportunity to get – whoever might have beaten them – they hope to see them again to make it right or revenge tour or whatever you want to call it,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “There are things we can gain from this weekend.

“If we can win it all, likely going through some really good teams, which would help maybe move us. We honestly don’t care if we’re No. 1, 2, 4, 5, as long as we’re in the eight and home throughout? That’s what we’re looking for.”

It’s weird seeing the two seed. It’s even stranger seeing a No. 4 overall national ranking in the latest polls. But polls don’t mean much this time of year, just how well you’re playing.

OU will be in the top eight, staying in Norman and Love’s Field and just has to return to that championship form that it knows so well.

“We’ve had long conversations about this is the last thing you’re going to do as a senior and what you want to remember the most,” Gasso said. “Don’t try too hard. When they have fun, that’s why we were late today. They were having so much fun on the field. They were competing in a way that I hadn’t seen them to do in a while. Really love the direction we’re going right now.

“They look to put it all together at the right time. The Big 12 Tournament, of course, we want to win it. But we want to see our steps going in the right direction. Ultimately, we’re after winning all of it.”

Keeney’s time

Lurking in the shadows might not be the right term, but here comes Karlie Keeney for the Sooners. The Liberty transfer was electric in all three Bedlam games.

Stopping the bleeding Friday and Saturday and delivering a gem of an outing from the starting and relief role Sunday.

“She’s just a program guy. She’s just very in tune with what’s going on,” Gasso said. “Handles her work like a professional. And she’s a team person. She’s just always in it. She’s not pouting and boo-hooing and I should be this or that, she’s just waiting for her turn and she’s just a wonderful example of a good team player and a hard worker and everything you would want out of a pitcher or just an athlete.

“It was almost kind of a matter of time when this was going to be her time and she grabbed it. She shined and gives us some great options going forward.”

Keeney said the pinkie injury of the fall is officially a thing of the past. She’s ready to go out with a bang.

Parker doesn’t know any better

Somebody needs to tell freshman Ella Parker you’re supposed to tense up and be tight in this moment. There was no bigger hit in that six-run sixth than Parker’s three-run home run.

Parker has been brilliant, not just for a freshman. But also her ability to go from one spot in the lineup to another and not blink has been truly impressive.

“It was interesting when she first came. She was very nervous and shaky somewhat,” Gasso said. “She had a lot to learn, and she did. But hitting-wise, that’s always been something — she was heavily recruited for specifically that. But some freshman come in with an attitude like, ‘I know how to hit. This is the way I hit.’

“And they don’t want JT’s help. But when they surrender and they believe in what he’s doing, and she did, they go to another level. So she surrendered that really quickly, as did Kasidi Pickering. And I can’t see them not in this lineup with the way they’re both swinging.”

OU honors

Nine, count them, nine all-conference honors for the Sooners. And senior catcher Kinzie Hansen was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

First Team:

*Kinzie Hansen
*Jayda Coleman
*Alyssa Brito
*Tiare Jennings
*Kelly Maxwell

Second Team:

*Rylie Boone
*Alynah Torres
*Ella Parker
*Kierston Deal

All-Freshman:

*Ella Parker
*Kasidi Pickering