Oklahoma Softball: OU Looking to Rebound Against Hope Trautwein's Former Team

Fresh off their first loss of the season, the Sooners are looking to show immediate improvement in a mid-week battle against the North Texas Mean Green.

For the first time in 40 games, the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to rebound.

After beating the No. 16-ranked Texas Longhorns in the first two games of last weekend’s series, Patty Gasso’s top-ranked Sooners dropped their first game of the year in Saturday’s Game 3.

Texas pitcher Hailey Dolcini had OU’s number, limiting OU (38-1) to two runs in the 4-2 victory.

“We flat out got beat,” Gasso said in a Zoom press conference on Tuesday. “We needed to be better on Saturday, without question.”

In defeat, Gasso said the Sooners weren’t hanging their heads, but there were lessons to learn and aspects of the game that Oklahoma needed to refine.

One aspect of the game the OU head coach said needed work was the swings of the Sooner offense, though getting extra work in during practice has been tough with the congested playing schedule this deep into the season.

“Our practice time is so limited,” Gasso said. “It’s so valuable, and (we’re) trying to make the most out of that.

“Knowing that we’re going to have to do more swinging on our own and take more time to do it because we’re just not getting enough of it in practice because of the time we have to work with.”

As the Sooners look to bounce back, Oklahoma will play a part in a reunion on Wednesday afternoon.

OU is headed to Denton, TX, to square off against the North Texas Mean Green (25-10), the former team of Oklahoma’s standout super senior Hope Trautwein.

Before leading the nation in ERA with the Sooners, Trautwein played four dominant years for the Mean Green, leaving as one of the most decorated athletes in school history.

Hope Trautwein had a successful career at North Texas, including pitching a perfect game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff  / North Texas Athletics

Trautwein knows what to expect from her former teammates and coaches, and said her new team is in for a tough fight on Wednesday evening.

“I had a great career there, so I have nothing but love and respect for them,” Trautwein said on Tuesday. “They’re a good team, so they’re gonna offer us some good competition.

“I have no doubts that they’re gonna come with their best at us like everyone does. But I think it’s gonna be a good game.”

Trautwein may get the chance to face off against her former team, though no starter for the contest has been named at this point.

Jordy Bahl was thrown twice against the Longhorns last weekend, and Nicole May started the second contest between OU and Texas, so Trautwein may be in line for the start.

If that’s the case, Trautwein said she’s prepared to take the circle against her former team.

“We treat every opponent like it’s the same,” Trautwein said. “I’m sure this has happened a lot since the transfer portal has begun, but from my perspective, treating it like any other opponent.

“But obviously I did play there for four years, so I’m very comfortable with the field. And if I do get that ball, I guess I’m just gonna run with it.”

Regardless of who gets the start in the circle, Gasso said she wants to see the team come out and play with more intensity on Wednesday than they showed on Saturday against Texas.

“I think we needed to just remind ourselves about blue collar and hard-working and just having that little extra edge,” Gasso said. “… I felt like this weekend we lost a little bit of that.

“I thought at times defensively — I thought we played pretty good defensively but there were times we started to panic a little bit and we need to again have the edge of knowing where to throw it, what we’re doing. We just get too panicked when we can really slow down and take care of the ball and what we’re doing. So that’s an easy fix.”

Oklahoma will get its chance to get back in the win column against the Mean Green when the game gets rolling at 6:30 p.m., and the contest will be streamed on ESPN+. 

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