Armed With 'New Knowledge', Kelly Maxwell is Ready to Make Most of Lone Season at Oklahoma
Even a Women’s College World Series veteran can still get tense in big moments.
Kelly Maxwell, a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State, experienced that firsthand taking part in her first official weekend with Oklahoma.
The new Sooner pitcher got the ball to start No. 1 OU’s second game in 2024, taking on No. 10 Duke, and she worked around a solid but imperfect start.
The star left-hander gave up a single and hit a batter in the first inning before working out of the jam.
She then led off the second inning with a walk, but after a sacrifice moved Kelly Torres over to second, Maxwell got locked back in.
Maxwell retired the next 11 batters, giving OU full control of the contest that the Sooners would eventually win 3-0 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.
“I was pretty nervous the first game, probably showed a little bit,” Maxwell said on Tuesday. “But I settled in.”
The next time Maxwell entered the circle, she showed no signs of anything other than the dominance that has been on full display throughout her stay at Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso called upon Maxwell in the bottom of the sixth inning against No. 5 Washington to steady the frame after the Sooners had leveled the game at 3-3 in the top half of the inning.
She recorded back-to-back outs, including charging a slow-roller to fire an out at home against the first batter she faced.
Maxwell closed out the final 2 2/3 innings, striking out a pair of Washignton batters while only allowing one baserunner off a walk to notch her second win in the Crimson and Cream.
“I felt like the Washington game,” said Maxwell, “that was me and that was who I've been all these years.”
Gasso had long admired the poise Maxwell brought to the circle in Stillwater, and she left at the chance to add the veteran once Maxwell hit the transfer portal last summer.
But landing the graduate transfer was just the start of the journey Gasso had in mind for Maxwell.
OU associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha has done a phenomenal job getting the best out of veteran transfers, as evidenced by a pair of fantastic seasons from Hope Trautwein and Alex Storako the past two years, and Rocha’s already been hard at work to strengthen Maxwell’s game.
“I think Jen and Kelly,” said Gasso, “they kind of started from ground zero and Kelly hadn’t really looked at numbers. She didn’t look at a lot of video. There was a lot of exploring, a lot of learning.
“… It’s really starting to stick and it’s really starting to show in her pitches.”
Spending so much time breaking down video was new to Maxwell, both of opposing hitters but also the process of watching herself and identifying the areas she wanted to improve.
“It was very different from where I came from,” Maxwell said. “I’ve never really watched much film and never really took the time to study other hitters. So having this new knowledge is really elevating my games and I think it’s going to help me in the long run.”
Entering 2024, Maxwell had pitched 494 2/3 career innings, posting an outstanding 1.58 ERA and fanning 746 batters while issuing just 190 walks.
But still, she was able to target aspects of her game for continued development.
“We work a lot on kind of your mental state and your tempo,” said Maxwell, “and just being able to keep that under control at times so that when you do fall out of it, you can get back into it. So just being aware of your own body.”
The work took a little time to take hold, but Gasso saw her new pitcher turn a corner after the fall slate concluded.
“I think Kelly (started) to hit her stride towards the end of January,” Gasso said, “so I was really excited to see her up against someone else (last weekend). She was cool and calm and money. It was really enjoyable to watch.”
Entering live games allowed Maxwell to get acclimated to another benefit of playing for Oklahoma — Gasso’s defense.
The legendary Sooner coach takes pride in the work both the infield and outfield put on behind every pitcher, allowing Maxwell to tap further into her arsenal of pitches.
“I think you can attack the hitter more,” Maxwell said. “Just trust your pitches, spinning them through the zone rather than always trying to nibble at the corners or trying to go for the strikeout, just let your defense work behind you.”
Maxwell’s returns were great throughout OU’s first weekend, but she’s just trying to improve week-by-week and take in every moment of her last year in college softball, even if she’s still getting up to speed with a new program.
“I'm just trying to stay present, to enjoy the moment,” Maxwell said. “I know this is my last year and just trying to make the most of every part of it so just really relying on my defense and my teammates and just knowing how good we are and how great we can be if we all work together.”
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