Maybe Patty Gasso shouldn’t be surprised.
After all, the legendary University of Oklahoma softball coach has had a front-row seat to plenty of magical moments during the Sooners’ run to four consecutive Women’s College World Series titles.
But even Gasso was floored by the latest — Ella Parker’s three-run, walk-off home run to give her team a stunning 4-3 victory over Tennessee in their WCWS opener and move OU another step closer to another national title.
“This team, this surprised me, so much so that I lost myself for a minute,” Gasso said. “And I’m going to probably regret that, but I felt it. We weren’t so great today. I think they would tell you. We were letting the early score dampen our spirits a bit, and we were making uncharacteristic mistakes, things like that.”
OU now advances to face a familiar foe — Texas — yet again on softball’s biggest stage.
The Sooners are 5-0 against the Longhorns in the WCWS over the previous three seasons.
While the cast of players has changed, OU’s success has not.
“I think the biggest thing is instilling that blue-collar mindset and championship mindset and really working on transforming this team from girls to women,” Sooners third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas said what stood out to her about the way Gasso has brought this year’s team together. “I think she’s just an amazing role model, and she’s been doing a really good job instilling that mindset into us.”
The Sooners had opportunity after opportunity to come through off Tennessee star Karlyn Pickens before the seventh.
Each time, though, the chance fizzled out.
The Sooners were 0 for 13 with runners on base before Kasidi Pickering’s two-out single in the seventh moments before Parker’s game-winner.
“It was really getting frustrating,” Gasso said. “But there’s something about this — we’re so blessed on this platform, and these guys do have and they believe in their abilities. … It surprised me today, but sometimes it just makes you smile. Like, there’s no way you just did that.”
But the Sooners did.
Yet again.
On April 12 against Alabama, the Sooners’ offense faced the prospect of their first shutout in years before coming alive for five runs in the seventh for the series-opening victory over the Crimson Tide.
After blowing an 8-0 lead against Texas on April 27, OU scratched across a run in the sixth to finish off the sweep.
Then in the SEC semifinals against Arkansas on May 9, Gabbie Garcia blasted a three-run game-winning home run in the seventh to walk the game off.
Sooners’ hitters regularly talk about a “pass-the-bat” approach at the plate during tight moments.
Both Pickering and Parker said that approach didn’t waver even as outs dwindled against Tennessee.
“We’re just so invested in each other and knowing you’re never out,” Pickering said. “If there’s one pitch left to play, we know we can take the game over.”
Even with a largely new cast, the Sooners keep finding ways to pull off the improbable.
OU has won eight consecutive games, and goes into Saturday’s showdown with the Longhorns as the favorites once again, and with plenty of momentum on their side.
“It’s, again, where your heart is, and you heart wants to do it for your team, for our program, maybe even for your coaches,” Gasso said. “Like, you’re bought in. You’re bought in with what you’re doing, and you’re going to do anything you can to do it in the right way.
“And that’s what I love about this team, is that they’re just — they’ll sell out for you, and they don’t care. They don’t care what the score is, they’ll just keep fighting until they get there. And they’ve proven that.”
Ryan Aber covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ryan? He can be reached at raber@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @RyAber. Sign up for the OU Sooners newsletter to access more OU coverage. Support Ryan’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Even Patty Gasso was surprised by OU softball’s latest magic moment