How one Bedlam inning got the OU softball machine back on track

OU softball head coach Patty Gasso said it in the moment, but it was hard for Sooner fans to take her at face value.

Gasso understood the significance of Oklahoma’s 8-2 victory against Oklahoma State in the final Bedlam regular season matchup this season (May 5).

She said she felt like OU was a different team. The problem? Well, Gasso had been trying to preach (and convince?) everybody that was the case after other losses.

After Louisiana shocked OU the opening weekend of Love’s Field, Gasso challenged the team. Said we’ll find out what the Sooners are made of.

OU went about its business until losing two of three at Texas. Gasso used the term ‘bow up’ this time around, flex your muscles and show who you are.

Eh, never really panned out. A surprising loss to BYU followed, and OU sort of got by heading into Bedlam weekend.

Then OSU took it to OU, outscoring the Sooners 12-5 in winning the first two games. Clinching the series and denying OU the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament.

After each defeat, Gasso said it’s time to respond. Adversity is good if you figure it all out. Except OU really hadn’t.

But one inning, one six-run frame, finally had the light bulb come on. And the Sooners have been rolling ever since.

No. 2 OU has won nine in a row and begins the Women’s College World Series against No. 10 Duke at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Oklahoma City.

How an inning in Norman, though, got the quest for a fourth straight national championship back as a realistic endeavor.

“What you saw was absolute frustration, knowing that we’re underachieving,” Gasso said. “When you have 10 players that know this is it — and I’ve never had to deal with. I don’t know how to manage all of those emotions at one time. But there was a heavy feeling on this team. It was quiet. Kind of heavy.

“And I don’t know if the Senior Day was looming on them, I really don’t know. I don’t know that they would ever really tell me. They’re always like we’re good. We’re okay. We’re good. But there was something definitely different. But like I said, this was bigger than a victory for us today was to see that we really are — now I know we are in a good place.”

OU led 2-0 in the top of the sixth when OSU tied it with a two-run single. The Cowgirls had punched back at OU all weekend.

Tension was high at Love’s. A lot of anxious energy. One out, and then things got going. Three straight singles (Rylie Boone, Cydney Sanders, Jayda Coleman) gave OU a 3-2 lead.

Then finally, the big bomb. Freshman Ella Parker smashed a three-run home run. Tiare Jennings followed with another, which is actually OU’s last back-to-back home runs at this moment.

“I think she (Parker) has such a beautiful swing and she’s just been kind of missing, just missing, just missing,” said Gasso after that game. “So it was a matter of time. And when we got, you know, we gave up quite a few home runs this weekend. And to finally get one ourselves was kind of like a door opening up for this offense as well.”

The Sooners tacked on one more, and the Senior Day celebration was on.

OU dominated the Big 12 Tournament, taking out No. 1 Texas in the championship. And the Sooners have made short work of their opponents in the Norman Regional and vs. Florida State in the Super Regional.

Add it all up? OU has outscored its opponents 61-14 ever since that final Bedlam game.

“That weekend and that Sunday in particular was a day of celebration,” said senior Alyssa Brito when asked by SoonerScoop. “And I think then we were like, ‘OK, this is the last hurrah for the 10 seniors and this class,’ it was just looked at as a day of being joyful and just really being present in that moment.

“We shifted that energy into the next weekend, knowing postseason, every weekend could be your last. Nothing’s guaranteed, the game doesn’t know who’s supposed to win. I think now we’ve carried that mentality of survival mode, being present in this space and just taking advantage of all the opportunities we have to be on the field one next to one another and whatever’s in store for us in this team.

“Bedlam was a time where, yes, there was a lot of failure if you look at it from the surface, but at the end of the day, it was a chance for us to really get back to why we do it. And that’s to have fun, get back to your purpose and celebrate one another in the time that we have together because that time is coming to an end.”

The pressure last year was from the winning streak and getting a third straight championship. OU persevered, but it took its toll. Going for four in a row just sounds ridiculous in this age or parity.

But here we are. The Sooners are among the final eight once again. Whatever missteps this team had, the peaks and valleys, seems to be a thing of the past.

Engaged, energized and ready.

“I think when you look at kind of what we’ve done collectively it was kind of no secret that this year would be hard,” Brito said. “I think that’s kind of something that I’ve had to sit with what we’re trying to do and what we’ve created here, why would it be easy? And I mean the teams every year get better and better just like we’re having to improve year to year.

“We’ve had to work through a lot and there was a lot of maybe sometimes where we were like trying to figure out too what this year would look like and what was our identity with this team. But I think at the end of the day, it was really coming back to what our purpose was. And for a lot of us? That’s Jesus and that’s serving the Lord and that’s glorifying him with our play. And when we looked at the results? That’s hard to handle, but then you kind of had to step back and be like, well, we say these things, we have to stay true to that and understand that it doesn’t define us and just delight in where He has us.”

Time for one last run.