OU's Rylie Boone plays her role perfectly

OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s not a coincidence that Rylie Boone is involved in some of the biggest OU softball moments of the season.

OK, there’s a little luck in that she happens to come to the plate in tense moments. But it also says a lot about Boone that she can deliver in the clutch.

No. 9-hole hitters simply aren’t supposed to do that. However, Boone isn’t your typical last batter in an order. You try to take a deep breath with Boone at bat, good luck.

“I think, still, college pitchers might look at 7-8-9 and go, ‘Ahh, thank goodness.’ You can’t breathe,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “We don’t want you to be able to breathe with this lineup. So having someone like her in the nine, then you’ve gotta turn around and look at Jayda and then Tiare.”

You want an example? When OU trailed Texas 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh April 1, it was Boone who led off the inning with a single. Jayda Coleman hit the highlight home run as the very next batter.

After Clemson had cut OU’s 4-0 lead in half last Friday, it was Boone leading the inning with a beautiful bunt single. That was an inning punctuated by Haley Lee’s grand slam.

Another? Sure, we can keep going. Boone was the first batter when OU was down 7-4 against Clemson last Saturday. She fought her way toward a single, and, of course, Kinzie Hansen etched her name in OU lore with the three-run home run.

In a tight spot, you can go with Boone.

“Every time Boone gets on, I know we’re going to start rolling,” Jayda Coleman said. “Every time she jumps up and she’s like this, I’m like here we go. She is a party starter.

“I don’t think people talk about her enough. I don’t think she gets enough recognition. She is one of the hardest working people that I know. She’s a great teammate. When she starts hitting, I know we’re going to start rolling. She knows how to flip that lineup around.”

It happened again, sort of, against Stanford. Boone didn’t start the bottom of the fifth inning for OU. She came up with one on and two outs. But it was a Boone single that led to Coleman playing hero with the only RBI of the game in the 2-0 victory.

Boone is unapologetically herself. Even before the ball dropped for a single vs. the Cardinal, you could see Boone jumping up and down and getting everybody fired up.

It’s who she is.

“I’ve always had a lot of passion for the game,” said Boone earlier this season. “I’m very emotional when I first got here, but I think I’ve learned to not get too high with your emotions and also don’t get too low.

“Just stay on that neutral ground. What I have developed is I know when to show it and I know when not to.”

Boone is hitting .381 this season. It’s not the power, just two home runs and 12 RBIs. However, Boone has 43 hits and has scored 36 times.

It didn’t take long for Gasso to recognize the difference in Boone this season.

“Confidence, maturity. There were times, and she would admit this to you, where there was a little bit of moodiness sometimes and she’d get really upset with herself,” Gasso said. “I’ve seen her grow out of that.

“She’s just a spark. And when she comes up, there’s a confidence about her. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more confident watching Rylie Boone at the plate than I am this season. She has really, really been fun to watch.”

Really fun and seemingly at the right place at the right time to make something special happen.