Oklahoma Softball: Patty Gasso Suggests One Change to the WCWS Schedule

The OU head coach suggested one potential tweak to the future schedule of the Women's College World Series on Tuesday.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Women’s College World Series has looked a bit different this year.

The NCAA added two days to the event, rewarding teams who continue to win with extra rest days.

For the most part, the new format has been praised by the participating teams, but Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso suggested a minor tweak to the schedule.

UCLA and Texas both entered Monday’s semifinals needing to beat Oklahoma and Oklahoma State twice in a row to storm all the way out of the losers’ bracket and advance to the championship series.

The Bruins and the Longhorns both won their first contests of the day, forcing the if-necessary game 30 minutes after the first game concluded.

And that’s where Gasso suggested an alteration of the current schedule.

“First, I'll say the days off are really important for rest, recovery, mobility,” Gasso said on Tuesday. “But also, student-athlete welfare… I would change one thing, and I felt this yesterday. I felt it for us and Oklahoma State.

“The last time we played a double-header was in March, and we are in the final four and we're playing a double-header 30 minutes after — I mean, you're playing two games with a 30-minute break to decide who is going to play for a National Championship. I didn't like that. Even though we came out victorious. I think if the teams that come through the winner's bracket lose, that we should be playing on a Tuesday night.”

Returning to play the if-necessary games on Tuesday would wipe out the day of rest ahead of the championship series, but that’s a sacrifice Gasso appeared to be willing to make.

“Don't make us play a double-header because we've earned that right,” she said. “… Play (Tuesday night) in that (if-necessary) game, and if we lose that day off, at least we got the morning off.

“… But playing a double-header just is something that we have not been used to.”

On top of the rest factor, there were also logistical challenges on the nutrition side of things that all four teams had to navigate yesterday.

"There's a lot of difficulties behind it for us just trying to get food in to feed your team,” Gasso said. “I mean, there's a lot of things that go with this. Again, I'm talking about the welfare of the student-athlete, and it's felt like 200 degrees yesterday. You're putting your season on the line in a double-header situation.”

Even Texas coach Mike White, who successfully guided his team to two straight wins on Monday, wondered if playing a double header was in the best interest of the student athletes at the WCWS.

“That big momentum game is the second game,” White said. “Winning that first game for us yesterday was huge, but not having the ability to come back and regroup can hurt some teams.

“You play all year for it. So maybe eliminating double-headers altogether would be a good thing, but we've got to step forward right now. I think it's been a good step. Especially giving the winning teams one day off in between certainly helps.”

Regardless, the Sooners and the Longhorns survived Monday, and will put it all on the line for the National Championship starting on Wednesday.

First pitch for Game 1 of the WCWS championship series is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN. 

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