Patty Gasso explains pitching staff approach in Game 3 win over Texas

NORMAN ‚— Patty Gasso laughed as she opened Sunday's postgame press conference.

The Oklahoma head coach couldn't help herself.

The Sooners had just finished a rollercoaster 9-8 win over Texas, completing the series sweep. It was a game that saw the Sooners take a commanding 8-0 lead in the third inning, only for the Longhorns to tie it in the fifth inning after scoring eight unanswered runs.

"What a game," Gasso said as she laughed.

It was a notable game because of how the Sooners handled things with the pitching staff.

With Oklahoma winning Games 1 and 2, the Sooners opted to start Isabella Smith. The redshirt senior was flawless through the first three innings, retiring all nine batters she faced to go with one strikeout. Smith was on a heater.

But after she surrendered a leadoff single in the top of the fourth inning, Smith was pulled in favor of Audrey Lowry. But the true freshman struggled mightily — she allowed five straight base runners, including four consecutive singles that scored four runs and cut Oklahoma's lead in half.

Lowry was then replaced, but it wasn't for ace pitcher Sam Landry. Instead, the Sooners inserted Paytn Monticelli, who had pitched 3.2 total innings in conference play and hadn't faced an SEC opponent since Arkansas on March 16. Monticelli surrendered two RBI singles that cut OU's lead to 8-6 before she was eventually replaced by Landry.

Monticelli and Lowry faced eight pitchers and combined for just one out while allowing six runs.

It was a risky decision to play Lowry and Monticelli in favor of Landry, and it nearly cost the Sooners. Gasso explained that decision after the game.

"We really have to give our pitchers opportunities," Gasso said. "And that’s what we did. Didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to, but we knew how far we would go. I really wanted to see Paytn in there and Audrey — (OU pitching coach Jennifer Rocha) really wanted to see that our pitchers get an opportunity. We need a staff going forward. It was a tough trial on them in a big atmosphere. But they had to feel that. And how to do that without nerves being in the way.

"That’s exactly what happens when you are locked in and just let things go and don’t get caught up in your outcome and what every pitch is doing. You trust your stuff and try to just clear it all out. When you do that, as a hitter, pitcher, defender, you can’t be stopped. But it’s hard to do. It’s hard to do in front of a sell-out crowd when everybody is looking at you and expectations are high."

The game really appeared to be in jeopardy after Landry allowed a two-run home run in the fifth inning, which tied the game at eight runs apiece. But Landry shut Texas out in the final two innings, and a sacrifice fly from Isabela Emerling in the sixth inning was enough to give the Sooners a narrow win.

The Sooners have leaned heavily on Landry this season. The senior has thrown 78 of the team's 144 innings against conference opponents (54%) and has been sensational, logging a 2.14 ERA with an opponent batting average of .177.

But Gasso has remained adamant that the Sooners develop a full pitching staff. They saw the benefits of that this weekend as Kierston Deal surrendered just four hits and two runs while pitching all seven innings in Saturday's 7-2 win that secured the series victory. Smith was fantastic to open Sunday's game.

But the Sooners saw the downside of that strategy, too, as Monticelli and Lowry struggled. But Gasso emphasized that the pitching staff has to learn how to face adversity, and this weekend's series against No. 2-ranked Texas was a prime opportunity.

"We call them championship innings, and find a way to score and they did," Gasso said. "So I’m really proud of that. And we do not regret bringing in these pitchers because they need this work. So proud of Sam closing and I loved what Bella did. We wanted to give her one time through the lineup. We knew what we wanted to do so that you bite off a piece but not fill you up too much."

Still, the weekend worked out for the Sooners. They got great performances in the circle, and the offense combined for 30 hits and 23 runs across the three games. Most importantly, they improved to 42-5 (16-5 SEC) and sit alone atop the SEC standings.

They close out the regular season next weekend at Florida. The series begins at 5 p.m. Friday (SECN).

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