Notebook: Oklahoma's Alyssa Brito gets her redemption
It almost caught everybody off guard because this just doesn’t happen with Oklahoma softball. A team that is so good defensively slipped up in a major way.
But you can always redeem yourself. Alyssa Brito did that and then some in helping turn things around in a wild fifth inning for the Sooners. OU put the finishing touches on a 9-2 victory against Clemson in Game 1 of the Super Regionals on Friday afternoon in Norman.
Brito committed just her third error of the season in the top of the fifth inning. Tensions were running high after OU’s 4-0 lead was cut in half to 4-2 entering the bottom of the frame.
Haley Lee removed all doubt with a grand slam, and then Brito followed right after with her 16th home run of the season.
“So Brito knew it,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “I kind of walked up and started to say it and she looked at me like, ‘Gah.’ And she goes, boom. And I’m like, ‘OK, we’re good. We’re good. Everybody’s good. Just flush it out by hitting it over the fence, If that’s how we do it, then that’s how we do it.”
OU is now 55-1 overall and on a 47-game winning streak. That’s a magic number, tying the all-time 47-game mark by Arizona in 1996-97.
Game 2 is Noon on Saturday. TV designation is still TBD.
Oklahoma Takeaways
*OU got that fifth inning rally going with some small ball. Rylie Boone laid down a beautiful bunt down the first baseline. With her speed, it wasn’t even close at first.
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And it wasn’t Gasso’s call.
“That wasn’t my decision. But I’m all for that decision,” joked Gasso. “It really sparked everything. It just kind of created that momentum. They were not expecting it and it was laid down perfectly.”
Boone had the same effect when attempting to lay down a bunt in the second inning. It led to a passed ball, and Grace Lyons scoring.
*Those mid-season issues feel like a thing of the past for Cydney Sanders. Sanders hit a home run for the third game in a row this postseason.
Oklahoma was up 2-0 but struggling to really connect well vs. Clemson star Valerie Cagle. Sanders changed all that with a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
Quotable
“The difference, though, is we have to keep going and they play, what, 12 at a time? So it probably took them a little bit longer. But look, when I first got here, I had his office, and I was a queen because I was in his office. So I know who he is, very well, and it’s an honor for that, but I never would’ve put that together.” – Patty Gasso on the 47-game winning streak, the same as OU football under Bud Wilkinson
