COLUMN: Oklahoma's Focused Approach Struck Fear Back Into College Softball This Weekend
Oklahoma hasn’t suffered many early-season setbacks — especially the past two seasons.
Six-time National Champion Patty Gasso welcomes the adversity, looking at any shortcomings as valuable experience needed to improve.
Her Sooners took multiple steps forward this weekend, rebounding from a 4-3 loss to Baylor last week by dominating all challengers at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, CA.
Across five games, OU outscored its opponents by a combined score of 50-4, headlined by a 14-0 demolition of the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins on Sunday.
Gasso called for a better approach at the plate coming out of the Getterman Classic in Waco, and her offense responded, looking much more dangerous all weekend.
The Sooners appeared to have a much better plan every time they stepped into the batters’ box, sitting on pitches instead of chasing junk out of the zone. They were immediately rewarded with results despite playing in far from ideal weather conditions on Friday and Saturday, scoring 36 runs in the damp and cold elements.
Production came from all parts of the lineup as well.
Kinzie Hansen returned for the first time this year, finishing the weekend 4-for-13 with eight RBIs and blasting a pair of home runs against UCLA. Arizona State transfer Alynah Torres also came alive, hitting 4-for-9 with 2 RBIs while also drawing a pair of walks. Gasso was even able to slide extra-base hit machine Alyssa Brito all the way down into the ninth spot in the lineup to distribute the scoring threat top-to-bottom.
Jayda Coleman, whom Gasso said increased her power this offseason, launched her first two home runs of the year. Second baseman Tiare Jennings translated her steady start to the year into the fireworks show fans have come accustomed to during her first two seasons with the Sooners.
Competition within the team was still rampant too.
Even after posting an eye-popping eight-RBI performance against Stephen F. Austin last week, true freshman Jocelyn Erickson wasn’t a nailed-on starter. She had to continue to earn her place in Gasso’s lineup. But even in the biggest moment, Erickson delivered, finishing 2-for-3 against UCLA.
Gasso said she wasn’t happy with how the team responded after going down against Baylor.
“Against Baylor, it was kind of a ho-hum kind of attitude that is just unlike us,” Gasso said last Wednesday. “… They’re ready to go into Palm Springs with a new approach. Just a little more feisty. They use the words like ‘emptying the gas tank out there,” and ‘just letting it all flow and go.’ ”
Whether the offense reached suitable levels of “feisty” or not, the OU bats battled.
Oklahoma’s first 10 hits against UCLA all came with two outs, including all six runs put on the board in the second inning. Jennings also added a two-RBI double in the third inning against the Bruins, but the offense even produced when falling behind on Saturday.
Wet conditions complicated a defensive play by Rylie Boone against Utah, allowing an inside-the-park home run in the top of the first inning.
But OU wasted no time striking back, plating three runs in the bottom half of the inning to establish the lead and it never turned back.
Hitting is only half the battle in any game, though.
Spearheaded by a couple of stellar performances by super senior Alex Storako, Oklahoma’s pitching staff also had a strong showing across the weekend.
The group combined to issue just seven walks, and Storako allowed no free passes as she shut out UCLA in her first career start against the Bruins.
Cutting down on the walks has been an emphasis through the first three weekends of play. Storako, Nicole May, Jordy Bahl and Kierston Deal all have a lethal arsenal to freeze hitters, and with an explosive offense supporting them, the OU pitchers just need to not allow any free passes to give opposing teams any kind of momentum.
Storako was even better than that against the Bruins, ensuring they had no way to get back into the game as she didn’t even allow a single base runner to advance to second base.
Perhaps the worst part for anyone left on Oklahoma’s schedule?
Despite the dominant weekend, the Sooners didn’t actually fully empty the tank.
Though she was steady and effective, Bahl can still round into her 2022 form.
Her 1.21 WHIP is above her 0.74 mark from last year as she’s allowed a bit more traffic on the base paths. Likely a result of teams across the country heavily scouting the star pitcher all summer and fall, she’s still adjusting to a different kind of pressure early in her sophomore season.
Cydney Sanders still has plenty of room to grow as well. The sophomore transfer from Arizona State is hitting .250 with five RBIs, three walks and seven strikeouts, and she’s yet to blast a home run after a phenomenal freshman season. She finished her 2022 campaign with a .425 average, 21 home runs and 63 total RBIs, and she still has plenty of time to become a key piece of the Sooner lineup this season.
Early struggles in Year 2 is nothing new to collegiate athletics, as Gasso even pointed out that Jocelyn Alo, the game’s career home run leader, didn’t storm out of the gates her sophomore year.
“Any freshman that has a great year, they go into their sophomore year, and it’s different,” Gasso said last week. “Who knows what they’re thinking? Are they trying to match it?
“… Some of my greatest players have gone through trying to find themselves their sophomore season.”
Hansen is also bound to perform even better after having to take the first two weeks of the season off due to an appendix procedure.
Fans at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic got a more focused Oklahoma team. And now that Gasso has seen what the 2023 Sooners are capable of, she’ll again raise the standard, propelling the team forward as the season continues to unfold.
And as parity continues to rule the rest of the softball world, OU is once again the unquestioned title favorite positioned at the top of the sport, and its best softball is still yet to come.
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