OU pitching must pick itself back up at Norman Regional

There used to be this aura of invincibility with OU softball. Where if the Sooners jumped out to an early lead, go ahead and put that to bed.

However, back-to-back weeks have seen OU blow a four-run lead at Texas A&M and then a five-run cushion against Georgia in the SEC Tournament.

The OU offense can bring it with the best of them, no doubt. But the pitching? There is no fear from the opposition.

There are times when Audrey Lowry and Miali Guachino throw like an ace. The one constant, though? Nothing from one outing seems to be an indicator of what the next one will be.

A great performance doesn’t mean another one is coming. Flip it, and it’s true in the negative sense as well. A bad outing doesn’t mean cannot bounce back.

The bounce back, though, must indeed happen at the Norman Regional.

“Well, you’ve got to face one of the best hitting lineups in the country and that’s really difficult but when you look at it the right way and say, you know, they hit it deep but it stayed in the park and we got the out,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “Just get the out. Just get the out, however it looks, screaming line drive, we don’t care, let us make the play. I need them to understand that and not get caught up in their own performance. One pitch at a time, one out at a time, don’t let the moment get too big, don’t look ahead, don’t look behind.

“Sometimes they’ll go back and go, ‘Oh, last time I threw her I threw her this and she hit it hard.’ Just let those things leave your mind and just go on to the next pitch, or the next play or whatever. That’s the message to the entire team. They’re so hard — they’re hard on themselves, a lot of these athletes, because they’re elite and they want to be great and when they don’t get what they want, they’re not happy. And I understand it but it doesn’t make for a good mood sometimes for our team so we need to forget about ourselves and celebrate other things that we’re seeing on the field. So you’re starting to see a little bit more of that.”

First win oh-so important

It’s hard to compare an early-season tournament like in February with something like a Regional. But there are some things that correlate, no matter what.

Starting fast? Always the goal?

“Anytime we’re in a tournament, we want to win our first game and put it, we always say, put it in our back pockets and say, ‘OK, now we go on to the next.’ But winning the first game is the most important,” Gasso said. “Then when you do have those, like you’re playing the game to see who goes to the championship game, you want to win that so you don’t have to go to the if-game, but you know you have the if-game if you need it. So, being aggressive and trying to snag those first-game wins is really important here.”

Norman Regional Schedule

Friday
Game 1: Binghamton vs. OU, 2:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 2: Michigan vs. Kansas, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)

Saturday
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2 p.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 4:30 p.m.
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m.

Sunday
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 2 p.m.
Game 7: *If Necessary, 4:30 p.m.