Oklahoma
OU Softball: Oklahoma Will Unveil Patty Gasso Statue Next Week
By OU Media Relations
NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department announced Wednesday it will dedicate a statue honoring head softball coach Patty Gasso, on Friday, Sept. 13. It will be the school’s first statue honoring a female coach or athlete.
The ceremony, which will be open to the public, will begin at 4 p.m. in front of Gate 1 at Love’s Field. The public viewing area will be standing room only immediately south of Gate 1, with a free livestream of the event available on SoonerSports.com. Public parking for the dedication is available in the Lloyd Noble Center lot.
Gasso, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., OU Vice President and Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and an OU Softball alumna will speak at the ceremony. Following the event, photo opportunities at the statue will be available to fans.
The statue was created by master sculptor Brian Hanlon of Hanlon Sculpture Studio.
In her 31st season at Oklahoma, Gasso, who is an NFCA Hall of Fame member, has molded the OU softball program into a national power, elevated the sport on a global level and permanently placed herself among the elite coaches in the history of the game.
OU has won eight national championships under Gasso, is the only NCAA softball program to win four consecutive national titles and is just one of three programs in NCAA history to win more than two national championships. Gasso has reached the Women’s College World Series 17 times during her tenure and has advanced to the postseason every season (no tournament was held in 2020).
With 34 seasons as a head coach to her name, Gasso owns a 1,676-411-3 (.802) career collegiate coaching record and is 1,515-352-2 (.811) at OU. She is the winningest active coach in NCAA history by both total wins and winning percentage and ranks third all-time in both categories.
She closed her time in the Big 12 Conference as the winningest coach — men’s or women’s — in league history and has more than twice as many overall wins as any other coach in OU annals. The Sooners claimed 15 Big 12 regular season titles, including an unprecedented 11 straight from the 2012 season through 2023, and nine conference tournament championships under her direction. Gasso’s teams finished second or higher 24 times in the 28 years since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996.
Numerous Sooner players have prospered under Gasso’s tutelage and garnered national, regional and conference recognition. Most recently, Jocelyn Alo helped lead the Sooners to back-to-back titles en route to consecutive USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year awards in 2021 and 2022. Former OU pitcher Keilani Ricketts was also a two-time USA Softball Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Gasso has recruited and coached 79 All-Americans, 145 all-region honorees and 192 all-conference selections at OU.
In the Big 12 era, Sooners were named Big 12 Player of the Year a total of 16 times and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year nine times, while nine were selected as Big 12 Freshman of the Year and one as Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. In 2010, Amber Flores became the first player in league history to earn player-of-the-year honors twice. Shelby Pendley joined her in 2015 before Alo claimed the honor in consecutive seasons in 2021 and 2022.
OU’s softball success under Gasso is also evident in the classroom, where Sooners have been honored with 180 academic all-conference awards. Twenty-three of those went on to become Academic All-Americans, including former pitcher Lana Moran, the 2000 Academic All-American of the Year.
Gasso and her assistant coaches have consistently been recognized for their efforts on and off the field. The staff was awarded three consecutive Speedline/NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year awards from 1999-2001 and received the national honor in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2023 and 2024. Gasso and her staff have claimed the regional honor in 15 of their 29 seasons, with the most recent award coming in 2023. In addition, Gasso was named Big 12 Coach of the Year 15 times.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of their opening-round series. The OKC Thunder are hoping that they can repeat their Sunday afternoon performance in this contest. Game 2 will be an interesting test with the Suns having more time to prepare.
Phoenix was up against a rock and a hard place in the series opener. The Oklahoma City Thunder not only have the talent advantage but the rest advantage as well. Phoenix punched their ticket to the NBA Playoffs on Friday night by staving off the Golden State Warriors on Friday night before landing in Oklahoma City on Saturday and playing on Saturday afternoon to the tune of a 119-84 blowout Thunder victory.
The NBA has seen plenty of upsets already. The Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers have all stolen games from the higher seed. The Thunder know they have to keep the foot on the gas in this contest.
“These series are unpredictable. No 2 games are the same. The minute you make an assumption, you are overconfident, or the minute you go down and you’re overly urgent, that can impact your ability to be present in the next game,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said pregame on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are seeing the Suns make an adjustment with their starting lineup by inserting Collin Gillespie to give Phoenix a trio of ball handling scoring options alongside Devin Booker and Jalen Green. This gives the Suns hope to be able to find better shot quality against this stifling Thunder defensive unit.
Oklahoma City is healthier now than they have been all season. The Thunder only are missing rookie Thomas Sorber (ACL) who is out for the year. This allows the Bricktown Ballers to roll out their traditional first five in this contest.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns, Game 2 Starting Lineup
Oklahoma City Thunder Starting Lineup
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G
- Lu Dort, G
- Jalen Williams, F
- Chet Holmgren, F
- Isaiah Hartenstein, C
Phoenix Suns Starting Lineup
- Devin Booker, G
- Jalen Green, G
- Collin Gillespie, G
- Dillon Brooks, F
- Oso Ighodaro, C
The series will shift to Phoenix this weekend as the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to head into Saturday afternoon’s Game 3 with a 2-0 advantage in the series.
Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of the NBA Playoff run for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
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NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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