What Patty Gasso Said After the Texas Loss

The Sooners coach said this loss will ultimately help the team refocus and refine as the regular season winds down.

While Oklahoma’s 40-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday with a 4-2 loss to Texas in Austin, OU coach Patty Gasso said the defeat will ultimately propel the Sooners to bigger goals.

“We learned a lot from this game, in many ways,” said said, per an athletic department press release. “We learned a lot from this entire series, in ways that will make us better.”

OU’s ultimate goal wasn’t to go unbeaten, but rather to win the program’s sixth national championship. That hasn’t changed.

“To be realistic, we weren’t going to go undefeated through the season,” Gasso said. “It was just a matter of time. We got outplayed, and that’s exactly why we have our first loss. They earned it. They played well, their pitcher was fantastic and they did everything right. That’s what it came down to. We take this back to Norman and we refine and we get better. That’s what you do with losses.”

Gasso said the team handled defeat much like it has handled victories: with professionalism and with a greater goal in mind.

“There were no breakdowns in the locker room, whatsoever,” Gasso said. “It’s understanding that we need to fine-tune a lot of things as we go forward.”

OU’s 38-0 start remains the best in NCAA Division I history. The 40 consecutive wins is tied for the third-longest in NCAA annals, just short of the record of 47 straight.

The Sooners resume their chase on Wednesday at North Texas. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN+.