OU Softball: Why Oklahoma is a 'Different Team' Since Regular Season Loss to Alabama

Across three games, the Sooners went 16-for-79 at the pallet (.203), well below the team’s .335 batting average for the entire season. 

Key pieces at the top of OU’s lineup struggled, too. 

Freshman shortstop Gabbie Garcia went 1-for-10 at the plate. Third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas finished the weekend 1-for-10 with a solo home run, and Ella Parker went 2-for-10.

Parker came alive late in the year, and both Garcia and McEnroe-Marinas grew from the experience, as they both continued to grow throughout their first conference campaigns. 

Taking on the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa was also the first massive road environment the Sooners had to battle. 

“The biggest thing that we took away from that last series was the crowd,” McEnroe-Marinas said. “And I feel like with this team now and being able to experience all that we have since then, I feel like we have kind of learned to embrace it and kind of just think like, 'We're playing and they're watching,’ and that's all it really is. Just not making the moment too big and not making this game bigger than it is.”

The Sooners look much more comfortable on the big stage a month later. 

How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Alabama

• Game 1: Friday, 4 p.m., Love's Field, ESPN2
• Game 2: Saturday, 2 p.m., Love's Field, ESPN
• Game 3 (if-necessary): Sunday, Love's Field, time and TV designation TBA

OU was able to erase a 6-1 deficit to Arkansas at the SEC Tournament two weekends ago, and then Oklahoma blew through the field of last weekend’s Norman Regional, posting three run rule victories to set up the battle with Alabama. 

And this time, the crimson-clad fans will be backing the Sooners. 

Pitchers Catelyn Riley and Jocelyn Briski will not only have to battle the OU lineup, but they’ll have to overcome the waves of momentum created by the fans at Love’s Field when the Sooners get rolling. 

The duo did an excellent job against Oklahoma the first time the two programs met, but another week of prep paired with the experience from April’s series will have the OU hitters more prepared for the task on Friday. 

“I think our team went in there with all the knowledge we could have had for the pitchers,” outfielder Abby Dayton said. “I think because it was such a new team and it was early on in the season we kind of let the emotions get to us.

“… We're a different team now and it's completely different. And I'm glad that happened early on in the season, because it made us grow, and we're a different team now.”

As excited as the Sooners are to get a second look at Alabama’s pitching staff, Gasso knows how difficult the weekend will be. Patrick Murphy and his coaching staff will have their own adjustments for Sam Landry and the rest of OU’s pitching staff, and both programs are battle tested in high-pressure postseason situations. 

“I’ve known Pat Murphy for quite awhile. A long, long time actually. And he is really, really good at getting his team ready,” Gasso said. “And they're fast. They're aggressive. They have a good staff and he mixes them up really good, so you've gotta be ready to flip your script quickly as to who he brings in.”

Oklahoma and Alabama haven’t met in Super Regional action since the Crimson Tide dumped the Sooners out of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, which marks the last time OU failed to reach the Women’s College World Series. 

The last time Gasso and Murphy met in the postseason, the Sooners eliminated Alabma from the 2019 WCWS. 

“They challenge you. They challenge you on base paths. If you bobble, they’re gonna score,” Gasso said. “If you do anything bad and it's not clean, they will make you pay for it. (Murphy) is a master of motivation and getting his teams ready to be their best in this type of postseason setting.”