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Best of OU head coach Patty Gasso: Allyssa Parker handling it all

Bob Przybyloby: Bob Przybylo02/18/26BPrzybylo

Last weekend was expected to be a walk in the park for OU softball. And it was, punctuated by the 34-0 victory at UTEP on Sunday.

But now it’s time for Mary Nutter week for OU. Don’t think you’ll see any 30-spots being put up this weekend in California.

Get ready for that weekend, head coach Patty Gasso addressed the local media Tuesday evening. Here’s the best of the best from the OU leader.

Allyssa Parker doing a little bit of everything?

“Her whole life, she’s been handling it. If she wasn’t pitching, she was playing shortstop or playing center. They moved her out to center field. She was a great center fielder. And she’s always hitting lead off or two, two or three for her team. So she knows what it feels like. This might be a little more of a tougher grind for her to be moving. She’s working in the bullpen, and I’m like, ‘I need Allyssa at second. Where is she? Where is she? Hurry up. Hurry her up, hurry her up.’

“But then I’m like, ‘What am I doing? Don’t hurry her up. Let her finish her bullpen.’ And so everybody — JT is like, ‘I need her to swing.’ And she’s like, ‘What am I doing? What do you need me to do?’ And she’s doing it very well. It’s exhausting, though, and I’ve had another pitcher that was doing quite a bit of that as well. So it’s exhausting, but she’s, she’s loving every second of it.”

Versatility the name of the game?

“It is. It’s important because this is becoming a game of matchups. If you have a lefty pitcher, and your righties are the better matchup, the more righties you can have in the lineup, the better. And vice versa. So it just kind of depends on who we’re facing.

“But usually a really good pitcher can have more success getting either righties out or lefties out. And that is a big reason why we are trying to get everybody to find places. Barker, it’s been fun to watch her. And that’s an athlete who’s a baller and she knows how to play every position for the most part, and that’s what keeps her in the lineup. But again, sometimes we’ll have a boatload of lefties and then Nelly as a rightie, or Kendall or Bela behind the plate. So we’re just trying to set us up for success from the offensive side. That’s why the defensive side is really important.”

Kai Minor adjusting just fine? 

“She’s very unassuming. She is fast. Can rob balls, cover gaps, steal home runs. Offensively, she is more than a triple threat. She can lay down bunts, she can slap, she can chop it a mile high. But she’s hitting bombs right now. So we’re just letting her swing and just a really easy swing, but she’s really strong. She looks thin but I know she’s very strong. Just playing pretty free. Very, very athletic, is how I would describe her.

“Really understanding hitting. Really understanding how her swing works. Understanding what she should be looking for. A little more calculated than just kind of, whatever, going after something. She’s now understanding when, why, how, all of that.”

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