OU Softball: How P Audrey Lowry's 'It Factor' Will Help Oklahoma This Postseason

Lowry missed time in the middle of the season due to muscle strain, but she feels she’s done a much better job of managing her injury recovery and managing the nerves that come with starting her first season at Oklahoma. 

“I feel good,” Lowry said. “It's just working every day in the bullpen and being competitive in practice and live pitching.

“… (I’m) just focusing on playing free, because if you're not playing free — this counts for both pitchers and hitters — if you're not playing free, then it's just not going to happen and you're not going to create momentum, so just having that confidence and trusting my teammates and trusting what I have and just put it all out there.”

Lowry had to pull herself out of a valley to close April. She allowed four runs on five hits and recorded just one out against Mississippi State on April 20, then allowed five runs on four hits and didn’t get an out in the series finale against Texas on April 27.

But she also held South Carolina to just one run in her first SEC start on March 9 before her injury, and closed with the pair of strong relief outings against Florida and shut down Arkansas. 

“The support that I have here, especially with the pitching staff and the other players, is just really amazing,” Lowry said. “And it goes with everyone, even if you're in a slump, like there's people who they're gonna pick you up no matter what. So it's just really having that support and working every day at practice collectively. It's just, it's really good.”

Fellow freshman Sydney Barker has enjoyed watching Lowry progress throughout the season, and she believes the left-hander’s best stuff is still to come. 

"Audrey and I actually played PGF All-American Games together our junior and senior year so I've seen her grow beyond being a Sooner,” Barker said. “The growth has been crazy, I've hit off of her since we were like 16… It’s really cool to see.”

Lowry will make her NCAA Tournament debut at some point this weekend with the Sooners. 

OU’s weekend starts against Boston University, with California and Omaha opposite of the Sooners and the Terriers on the bracket. 

Landry won’t be able to start every game this weekend, but Gasso has faith in both Lowry and Kierston Deal to get the job done when called upon. 

“What's really great about this team is they all want to help,” Gasso said. “As frustrated as they are, maybe that they're not getting the pitching time, but they still want to help. ‘However I can help.’

“And Audrey just took that upon herself with that mentality. And if you give me two innings, I'm good. But I'm going to show you that you need to give me more. And this settling of her heart rate and her breathing has really allowed her to grow in a way that we knew she was capable of.”