OU Softball: How Oklahoma’s Seniors Came Together to Spur Another Postseason Run

NORMAN — The 2024 season hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Oklahoma. 

Patty Gasso’s Sooners dropped their first Big 12 series since 2011 in a loss to Texas in Austin. 

And then it happened again. 

OU lost the first two Bedlam contests of the year in a Freaky Friday-style body swap. Oklahoma State played the role of loose-swinging, home run-hitting favorites while the Sooners capitulated late.

It was uncharted territory for a team that lost a single game in 2023 and a senior class that knows nothing but winning back-to-back-to-back national titles. 

“There’s a good group of us on the team that have never been kicked in the teeth before,” OU catcher Kinzie Hansen said after Oklahoma fell to BYU on April 12. 

Oklahoma found a bit of momentum in the regular season finale, avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Cowgirls, and the Sooners rolled that into a Big 12 Tournament title where OU exacted revenge on Texas. 

The clutch hitting was back, and the dominant performances in the circle returned in Oklahoma City. But that wasn’t a result of the Sooners simply waking up because there was another conference title on the line against the Longhorns. 

“Our team came together and worked out some things behind closed doors that a lot of teams don’t do,” Gasso said after beating Texas. “And that’s why we’re here.” 

The progress made behind the scenes saw the Sooners take down Oregon twice in last weekend’s regional action, and has 2-seeded Oklahoma ready to host 15-seeded Florida State at Love’s Field on Thursday. 

The shift was subtle but important, said senior third baseman Alyssa Brito, and it has the Sooners making the most of their final postseason run with 10 seniors at the helm. 

“When we really stepped back for a second,” Brito said on Tuesday, “and thought about the fact that like we get to only play together for a couple of weeks, I think that kind of shifted our perspective. 

“And (I) was like, I don’t get to play with Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen and Rylie Boone for all my life.”

Gasso’s teams always seem to find one guiding light for why they are working so hard to play softball, finding their “why”. 

For this talented group of seniors, finding a way to come together for one last ride and ensuring they leave Oklahoma with no regrets is the rallying cry. 

The spotlight has been focused on the Sooners for the better part of three years. Gasso often references the pressure of outside expectations. Oklahoma is expected to play a perfect game every time it steps onto the field, and the only players who understand the gravity of those expectations are teammates. 

“Living in this space is hard,” Brito said. “… We had to step back and understand like, ‘OK it’s hard. It’s gonna be hard.’ Those are conversations that maybe not a lot of people on teams have and that’s okay. 

“But for us, we had to really get into that and understand, how are we going to handle living in this space and moving forward, what are we going to do side by side?”

Since dropping Game 2 of Bedlam, the Sooners have been up for the challenge. 

Oklahoma rebounded with a victory on Senior Day highlighted by Jennings breaking out of her slump with a sixth inning home run.

The Sooners smothered Kansas and BYU in the Big 12 Tournament before beating Texas. 

OU even played a pair of tight games against Oregon that Gasso is confident will have the team prepared for the rematch of last year’s Women’s College World Series Championship Series against Florida State. 

“Run rules are boring,” Gasso said. “I don’t know that they’re good for anyone, especially us… What’s good for us is what we did with Oregon on Sunday. That’s good for us.”

The pressure cooker of the postseason has been a place where this senior class has forged lifelong memories, collecting trophy after trophy. 

Now the Sooners set their sights on a familiar foe, and the chance to return to the WCWS to compete for a fourth-straight title has Oklahoma playing with fire again.

“They live for postseason,” Gasso said. “And that’s what the most fun is and it means something and you’re chasing something now.

“… You’re looking for that trophy like everybody else. So right now we’re in the chase like everyone else.”