OU softball defense simply put, ‘beautiful to watch’

There is no magic formula to beating OU softball. The rationale might be because of the Sooners offense, you need a standout pitching staff.

That is true. Or you might say just beat power with power. Go hit for hit with OU and see if you can outslug it.

Daring, not sure it would work. But you can give it a shot.

Beyond that, though, there is one glaring spot where you have to be at your best against Patty Gasso and company.

No team practices, plays defense like the Sooners. No hyperbole to that. If you are going to get the best of OU, you better make sure you do not allow any extra chances.

Because if you do? The Sooners will make you pay.

Take the Sunday game vs. Georgia, for example. Yes, it was a solo home run by sophomore Gabbie Garcia that ended up giving OU the 6-5 advantage. However, it was the defensive gem by Garcia on the final out that preserved the win.

“That was pretty legit right there,” Gasso said. “It’s hard to see how far she was from the back of the bag but just sliding across like that, it was wonderful to see. She’s such a great athlete. I don’t know many shortstops who can make those kinds of plays, so very happy that she’s a Sooner.”

Two outs, runners on first and second, and Garcia made the diving snag and tagged the bag with her glove. Final out, game over. The tying run absolutely would have scored and UGA would have at least one runner in scoring position.

Instead, it was a three-game sweep.

Or earlier in the game, when second baseman Ailana Agbayani went into short-center to reach out and catch a fly ball.

The defense is a huge reason why Agbayani earned that AUSL Golden Ticket on Friday night. Nobody plays a second base like Agbayani.

“It was a big-time play,” Gasso said. “We’re witnessing some greatness and we’re just like, ‘Hey, it’s another play,’ ‘Another play.’ These are big-time plays. Our defense, everybody talks about our home runs, and they should, and everybody talks about our offense, and they should, but our defense is not getting enough credit for what they’re doing to help win games. It’s fun to watch them.

“The word, to me, is like it’s beautiful to watch when you are with them every day, hitting them ground balls, and you’re arranging them out, and then you see it come to fruition in a game is what it’s about.”

OU is ranked third in the nation in fielding percentage at .985. One of three teams (Missouri, Florida) to have less than 20 errors for the season.

The Sooners push the action, make their opponents be at their best. Leads to a lot of errors from the opposition and extra chances for OU. Then when you think you might have done something special, you’ll just routinely see a Web Gem or two every game out.

It is a well-oiled machine that will make this next month incredibly interesting.

OU (46-6 overall, 18-3 SEC), ranked No. 1 in the polls, heads to College Station for a three-game set at Texas A&M (Thursday-Saturday) to conclude the regular season. The Sooners and Aggies have not played each other since the two have been in the SEC.

OU is in the driver’s seat to clinch the SEC regular season championship, sitting alone at the top of the standings going into the final weekend.