OU Softball: Oklahoma's Crossover Show of Support is Fun, But Also Continues to Grow Women's Sports

“At the beginning of the season, we love watching women’s sports in general, we love our gymnastics team,” said Sooners captain Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. “We would do that little thing for them. And then, I don’t know, just kind of make a joke out of it. Everything is funny, like to be loose, have fun, be free. We’ve been doing a lot of different celebrations, I would say.”

Patty Gasso’s players would flash the tribute any time some popped up at second base on a double, sometimes after a stolen base, once in a while on first after an important single.

“We love women’s sports and gymnastics is one of the top programs here,” said outfielder Abby Dayton. “We want to represent them well.”

That one OU national champion team is being honored by another who’s chasing their fifth consecutive national title and ninth overall is telling about the support that Sooner teams give one another.

“It’s respect — absolute respect for each other,” Gasso said this week as the No. 2 overall seed Sooners host Alabama in a Super Regional at Love’s Field.

“The day after the women’s gymnastics team won, they came onto our field with their trophy,” Gasso said. “Hugged some of our players, sitting in the stands, fans were around them. We were rooting, rooting for women’s basketball. 

Gasso and the Oklahoma softball program have done as much for their sport as Geno Auriemma and the Connecticut basketball program or the US Women’s National soccer team. 

Such growth in mainstream popularity has helped clear the way for other phenomena like the Caitlin Clark Experience that swept the nation the last two years and continues in the WNBA.

As these fun moments and historic achievements have laid a pathway for iconic events, women’s sports have gained a powerful seat at the table of American television consumption, and it seems much of that success is rooted in this kind of cross-sport support.

“It’s just respect for women’s sports here and the elite level that we’re all trying to play, all of us, not just the ones named," Gasso said. "It’s hard to live in this world of elite sport and hard to maintain it. There is a different level of respect that we have knowing the grind that it takes.”

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As women’s sports continue to make signifiant strides internally — like the NCAA Tournament giving its women’s teams the same access to quality food, hotel and training facilities as the men’s teams, or the USWNT fighting for equal pay despite their team drawing bigger crowds and TV ratings than the men — the popularity of women’s sports continues to rise.

Those things can go hand in hand, Gasso hinted this week.

With Alabama coming to town, she looked back at the 2012 national championship series in Oklahoma City, when the start of the final game was delayed nearly three hours by inclement weather but was eventually started and played late into the night despite a driving rain that affected pitchers’ ability to get the ball over the plate.

Alabama beat OU for its first national title. 

“I just remember asking, ‘What are we doing?’ “ Gasso said. “And (the answer) was, ‘ESPN won’t come back tomorrow, so we’ve got to play it now.’ ESPN’s saying, ‘We didn’t say that.’ So I’m not getting a real answer.”

Gasso said officials “played it the right way” and insisted she’s not still complaining about it. But she still says it should have been handled differently.

“For me personally, I was disappointed that, if we would have played the next day, it would have been the most-watched female softball game ever and may still hold that because it was such a battle of elite players, elite pitching on both sides,” she said. “It was a tremendous matchup and a tremendous  opportunity to bring more fans into the game and to put us in a better position versus a ball slipping out of your hand when you’re trying to pitch it.

“Back then, maybe people didn’t think we deserved better. Now, that would never happen today. It would not.”