OU is home for the first time this season, UIC and Kentucky.
Patty Gasso
UCLA beatdown?
I think they came in focused and ready. They played a good weekend series. They played really well. There's some really solid at bats and you could see them with some good two-strike at bats, big innings with two outs. They were doing that the entire weekend. It wasn't anything that looked that much different except it was against UCLA and it just seemed to multiply like momentum was in our dugout the whole team.
It was also Alex Storako throwing well and really the strategy to give her this big opportunity in front of a big crowd and a big moment to see how she handled it. She was nails. She was fantastic and threw well. Everything about that day - and really that weekend - was just jelling really well. It was just a good answer to what happened the week before, which everyone thought the world was falling. I've done this long enough to know that early losses are very valuable and they made sure of that.
I ask about Storako?
I feel like I can trust her. I was still not quite sure where she was. She had a fall of trying to learn about us, learn about Coach (Jennifer) Rocha and her style. And she has got it. She's got it now under her belt. She feels very confident. She's feisty, she's fiery and she's fun to watch. She really helped elevate our team. Our team really wanted to play hard behind her. I feel very confident with what I saw.
Managing pitchers/innings?
It's a little tricky, difficult, because you want them all to have as many innings as you can, but it doesn't make sense for me to put Jordy on the mound all the time. All of them are so capable. I just feel really confident about that. So it's our matchups. We go in knowing who will be first out of the bullpen and who would be our closer so we have a game plan going forward with each outing. But I've got to give them all opportunities.
Hitting adjustments worked, eh?
Oh yes, absolutely. Everything in my mind, if I look back, stemmed from a couple of at-bats. I’m trying to think who they were against. Rylie Boone was up with two strikes and just battling and battling. Got a base hit, maybe got a double out of it, I’m not quite sure. She fought hard. And then Sophia Nugent had the same type of situation. Two strikes, battle, battle, and hits that absolute missile bomb she hit. Those two at-bats changed our weekend. We were getting stuck with changeups. We were freezing with two strikes on changeups. They were doing a good job with their rhythm and hitting with two strikes. It just got infectious and went throughout our lineup.
Kinzie?
It just felt normal. When she’s not there, you can feel she’s not there. Her presence behind the plate but her presence in the dugout as well. She’s become a very good vocal leader. A good example. She’s the one I saw this last weekend picking up people’s bags and carrying them if they had their hands full. Just doing those little things. Caring about the team, I think people recognize that. She is on a mission. Last year her injuries really kept the season away from her that she wanted. She’s determined, and yea, she played really well. It felt good to have her back. You just felt that presence.
Rylie?
She’s a spark. You have her in the nine. You have a spark in the leadoff. It’s throughout. I really love Rylie Boone. She is becoming another Jayda Coleman-style. I can bunt. I can slap. I can hit it over. I can steal. She’s become a complete player. She’s so good on defense as well. I don’t know, to me, junior year is your transformational year. It’s like I have it figured out. I’m kinda like an adult in this softball world. I get it. That’s what I’m feeling. I’m feeling like she has it all clicking and all figuring it out. Good leader and good inspirational-style player for us.
I ask about playing at home?
“Excited is the word. We’ve been on the road for three weeks, and it’s (like), ‘Keep your suitcase out.’ Which is awful. I tell these guys, ‘Go home and put your suitcase away. Don’t look at it.’ But I know they don’t. I think they just leave everything still in it until they throw it in the washer and put it back in. So it’s nice to put away our suitcase. Our home crowd follows us. So when we walk in, wherever we go, even at Baylor, you felt a big contingency of Sooner fans.
“So it wasn’t like we were on the ropes in a hostile environment anywhere that we’ve been thus far. But just to sleep in your bed, have familiar faces here and just your home crowd, your music is important, hitting out on our field instead of hitting in pop-up cages, it’s just everything about it is exciting. Families all come in. So I know we’re all looking forward to it.”
Can a 14-0 beatdown of No. 1 ever be a bad thing?
“Usually yes, to be honest. We played really well. I don’t know how UCLA would say they played, and that’s not my issue. But I know that they’re better than what we saw. So we walk away thinking we’ve made it, we’re here. It’s too early. We’re not there. So I take it as us playing very well, and that’s all I can say because I don’t know how they would compare how they played. But like I said, I do believe, if we see them again in postseason, they’re going to be a completely different style team. So it’s not getting too high. Everybody’s out there just putting it out in the universe, and I’m just telling these guys (just) don’t care. Because it doesn’t matter.
“We love to get the win and it’s a big one with the score, it’s one versus two. Do I care? Oh, we must win so we can be called No. 1? No, that doesn’t matter. None of it really matters. It’s just us finding where we are in the season. And right now, I like where we are in the season."
Defense has been elite?
Practicing hard and repetition, repetition. One thing that excites me more than anything is we have a .990 fielding average, which is almost ridiculous and a lot of balls are put in play so I'm really excited about the defense and their pride in what they're doing. I would tell you that you had to be very good on defense on those fields that we played on, because they were hard. Balls were playing fast but there were a lot of awkward hops. Guys stood behind them. They did a good job. They didn't step away from them. Defense, me I love defense because I was better at defense than offense. I do believe in softball and in every sport defense does ... look at Jayda Coleman, look at our outfield play last year. Defense really helps change momentum and can win you championships.
Patty Gasso
UCLA beatdown?
I think they came in focused and ready. They played a good weekend series. They played really well. There's some really solid at bats and you could see them with some good two-strike at bats, big innings with two outs. They were doing that the entire weekend. It wasn't anything that looked that much different except it was against UCLA and it just seemed to multiply like momentum was in our dugout the whole team.
It was also Alex Storako throwing well and really the strategy to give her this big opportunity in front of a big crowd and a big moment to see how she handled it. She was nails. She was fantastic and threw well. Everything about that day - and really that weekend - was just jelling really well. It was just a good answer to what happened the week before, which everyone thought the world was falling. I've done this long enough to know that early losses are very valuable and they made sure of that.
I ask about Storako?
I feel like I can trust her. I was still not quite sure where she was. She had a fall of trying to learn about us, learn about Coach (Jennifer) Rocha and her style. And she has got it. She's got it now under her belt. She feels very confident. She's feisty, she's fiery and she's fun to watch. She really helped elevate our team. Our team really wanted to play hard behind her. I feel very confident with what I saw.
Managing pitchers/innings?
It's a little tricky, difficult, because you want them all to have as many innings as you can, but it doesn't make sense for me to put Jordy on the mound all the time. All of them are so capable. I just feel really confident about that. So it's our matchups. We go in knowing who will be first out of the bullpen and who would be our closer so we have a game plan going forward with each outing. But I've got to give them all opportunities.
Hitting adjustments worked, eh?
Oh yes, absolutely. Everything in my mind, if I look back, stemmed from a couple of at-bats. I’m trying to think who they were against. Rylie Boone was up with two strikes and just battling and battling. Got a base hit, maybe got a double out of it, I’m not quite sure. She fought hard. And then Sophia Nugent had the same type of situation. Two strikes, battle, battle, and hits that absolute missile bomb she hit. Those two at-bats changed our weekend. We were getting stuck with changeups. We were freezing with two strikes on changeups. They were doing a good job with their rhythm and hitting with two strikes. It just got infectious and went throughout our lineup.
Kinzie?
It just felt normal. When she’s not there, you can feel she’s not there. Her presence behind the plate but her presence in the dugout as well. She’s become a very good vocal leader. A good example. She’s the one I saw this last weekend picking up people’s bags and carrying them if they had their hands full. Just doing those little things. Caring about the team, I think people recognize that. She is on a mission. Last year her injuries really kept the season away from her that she wanted. She’s determined, and yea, she played really well. It felt good to have her back. You just felt that presence.
Rylie?
She’s a spark. You have her in the nine. You have a spark in the leadoff. It’s throughout. I really love Rylie Boone. She is becoming another Jayda Coleman-style. I can bunt. I can slap. I can hit it over. I can steal. She’s become a complete player. She’s so good on defense as well. I don’t know, to me, junior year is your transformational year. It’s like I have it figured out. I’m kinda like an adult in this softball world. I get it. That’s what I’m feeling. I’m feeling like she has it all clicking and all figuring it out. Good leader and good inspirational-style player for us.
I ask about playing at home?
“Excited is the word. We’ve been on the road for three weeks, and it’s (like), ‘Keep your suitcase out.’ Which is awful. I tell these guys, ‘Go home and put your suitcase away. Don’t look at it.’ But I know they don’t. I think they just leave everything still in it until they throw it in the washer and put it back in. So it’s nice to put away our suitcase. Our home crowd follows us. So when we walk in, wherever we go, even at Baylor, you felt a big contingency of Sooner fans.
“So it wasn’t like we were on the ropes in a hostile environment anywhere that we’ve been thus far. But just to sleep in your bed, have familiar faces here and just your home crowd, your music is important, hitting out on our field instead of hitting in pop-up cages, it’s just everything about it is exciting. Families all come in. So I know we’re all looking forward to it.”
Can a 14-0 beatdown of No. 1 ever be a bad thing?
“Usually yes, to be honest. We played really well. I don’t know how UCLA would say they played, and that’s not my issue. But I know that they’re better than what we saw. So we walk away thinking we’ve made it, we’re here. It’s too early. We’re not there. So I take it as us playing very well, and that’s all I can say because I don’t know how they would compare how they played. But like I said, I do believe, if we see them again in postseason, they’re going to be a completely different style team. So it’s not getting too high. Everybody’s out there just putting it out in the universe, and I’m just telling these guys (just) don’t care. Because it doesn’t matter.
“We love to get the win and it’s a big one with the score, it’s one versus two. Do I care? Oh, we must win so we can be called No. 1? No, that doesn’t matter. None of it really matters. It’s just us finding where we are in the season. And right now, I like where we are in the season."
Defense has been elite?
Practicing hard and repetition, repetition. One thing that excites me more than anything is we have a .990 fielding average, which is almost ridiculous and a lot of balls are put in play so I'm really excited about the defense and their pride in what they're doing. I would tell you that you had to be very good on defense on those fields that we played on, because they were hard. Balls were playing fast but there were a lot of awkward hops. Guys stood behind them. They did a good job. They didn't step away from them. Defense, me I love defense because I was better at defense than offense. I do believe in softball and in every sport defense does ... look at Jayda Coleman, look at our outfield play last year. Defense really helps change momentum and can win you championships.
