Patty Gasso with no regrets following OU sweep vs. Texas

A lot of OU fans were probably thinking they were going to hit the exits early. But an eight-run cushion allowed head coach Patty Gasso the opportunity to work the rest of the staff.

It just didn’t happen to pan out the way everybody thought. What looked like a sure-fire run-rule victory for OU became a gritty battle against rival Texas.

The Sooners did enough in the late innings to earn a 9-8 victory Sunday in front of another record crowd at Love’s Field.

Sunday’s attendance set a single-game record at 4,609 and a series record at 13,734 fans.

Gasso knows there are going to be those moments in the postseason. It cannot be Sam Landry all the time. The word du jour is staff. It has to be a staff.

“You may be wondering, but we really have to give our pitchers opportunities,” Gasso said. “And that’s what we did. Didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to, but we knew how far we would go. I really wanted to see Paytn in there and Audrey – that’s something Coach Rocha really wanted to see that our pitchers get an opportunity. We need a staff going forward.”

Isabella Smith was the surprise starter and fared extremely well. She got through the first three innings and didn’t allow anything. After a leadoff single in the fourth, Smith was pulled.

Part of the plan.

OU had to see what Audrey Lowry and Paytn Monticelli could do. But you couldn’t hide Sunday afternoon. And an 8-0 advantage turned into 8-6 with just one out in the fourth. One out combined for the two.

So yes, the call was made back to Landry. Landry got out of the fourth without any further damage. She allowed a two-run home run to tie it in the fifth and then was nails in the final two frames.

“It was a tough trial on them in a big atmosphere,” Gasso said. “But they had to feel that. And how to do that without nerves being in the way. That’s exactly what happens when you are locked in and just let things go and don’t get caught up in your outcome and what every pitch is doing. You trust your stuff and try to just clear it all out.”

Landry pitched the final 3.2 innings, striking out five and earning her second win of the weekend vs. the Longhorns. She is now 17-3 this season.

“We call them championship innings, and find a way to score and they did,” Gasso said. “So I’m really proud of that. And we do not regret bringing in these pitchers because they need this work. So proud of Sam closing and I loved what Bella did.”

Ella Parker, for the second game in a row, went deep, like way deep. Her two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the first was a sign of things to come.

Parker’s blast came on the 10^th pitch of her appearance against Texas ace Teagan Kavan. Gabbie Garcia saw that and decided to top it. On the 12^th pitch of her at bat in the second inning, Garcia hit a three-run shot with two outs.

It was 8-0 through the three innings. But the ultimate decider turned out to be an RBI sacrifice fly by Isabela Emerling in the bottom of the sixth.

Bust out the brooms and maybe get ready for a No. 1 ranking when the Softball America poll is released Monday.

Final word

“I’m excited about this because we’ve been waiting. I think Alabama was a really tough time for us. Nothing’s working, it just didn’t feel right, but one thing I can guarantee is we’re always going to peak sometime and I think we’re moving in that direction and this is the time you want it. You don’t want to do it early in the season and then drag yourself through the rest of the season. We stayed steady, we had a few bumps but now I can feel the escalation of where we’re going right now.” — Gasso

Up next

Time to close out the SEC regular season. Seriously, already. No. 5 OU (42-5 overall, 16-5 SEC) heads to Gainesville for a three-game set at Florida. The series runs from Thursday-Saturday.