Latest / The Sooners On SI Podcast / Sooners on SI Softball Show 11: The Sooners are Super
Transcript
- 0:12[SPEAKER_00]: What's I really welcome on in?
- 0:13[SPEAKER_00]: It is that time of week.
- 0:14[SPEAKER_00]: It is the suitors on a side softball show.
- 0:17[SPEAKER_00]: It's a super addition to the softball show because Oklahoma absolutely shredded the field in the dormant regional three games, one against Binghamton, one against Kansas, one against Michigan, 28 to one, the combined score, pitching staff allows six hits.
- 0:33[SPEAKER_00]: the offense offense.
- 0:34[SPEAKER_00]: It was about as good a weekend as you could have drawn up and we're here to recap it all.
- 0:39[SPEAKER_00]: Preview this matchup with Mississippi State where Oklahoma's looking to punch a ticket to the Tintstrait Women's College World Series for the program.
- 0:48[SPEAKER_00]: I right chat with here alongside my good friend colleague and aficionado of everything here there far and wide the
- 0:59[SPEAKER_01]: uh... doing great just looking for to another fun weekend assault ball after uh... the seniors got it done last weekend luckily got a south in time for me to uh... make my hockey game and uh... when a championship so that was nice
- 1:14[SPEAKER_00]: He is a champion.
- 1:16[SPEAKER_00]: It might be the only banner that it's hard with.
- 1:19[SPEAKER_00]: At least non college softball division, that's okay.
- 1:23[SPEAKER_00]: If I'm too horse and I sound even worse than I usually do, I apologize.
- 1:27[SPEAKER_00]: I was yelling at a Frenchman last night.
- 1:29[SPEAKER_00]: It did not go well.
- 1:30[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see if that goes okay.
- 1:33[SPEAKER_00]: No sleep, which is never a good combo to pod.
- 1:35[SPEAKER_00]: But we are off.
- 1:37[SPEAKER_00]: and running.
- 1:38[SPEAKER_00]: Let me work backwards for you guys.
- 1:40[SPEAKER_00]: Let's do some of the scheduled for this week while we're coming on Tuesday instead of Monday, then we'll dive in.
- 1:45[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, Super is OU Mississippi State Friday, noon central, Saturday, noon central.
- 1:51[SPEAKER_00]: Both those will be at love field.
- 1:53[SPEAKER_00]: If we meet a third game, we will get to scheduling all that stuff later on.
- 1:57[SPEAKER_00]: It would be on Sunday,
- 1:59[SPEAKER_00]: per use, ESPN does not schedule all the supers until they find out how many they have.
- 2:04[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk to Patty Gasso and crew on either Wednesday or Thursday, so a couple days later, the normal is the NCAA tournament schedule is slightly deferred, meaning we don't want to just get you here on Monday and then have to vamp and vamp and fill and fill and fill for a couple of days plus I'm not getting you sleep right now, so that was important yesterday, so apologies for being a day late, but Ryan.
- 2:26[SPEAKER_00]: It was, I thought, everything that Patty Gasseau and Oklahoma could have asked for a more out of normal regional, are you going to win a national championship simply because you flex your muscles against Binghamton, Kansas, and Michigan know.
- 2:39[SPEAKER_00]: But you can only play the opponents in front of you in regional play.
- 2:42[SPEAKER_00]: And as you look across the country, even teams that made it through 3-0 had to go through some ups and downs.
- 2:49[SPEAKER_00]: There were some upsets across the country.
- 2:51[SPEAKER_00]: But Oklahoma was one of those teams that made quick work
- 2:56[SPEAKER_00]: on Friday, it's being in ten five innings on Saturday against Kansas and just couldn't quite break through to run rule the Wolverines, but Oklahoma was in charge in front early and wish can truly never had any momentum whatsoever throughout the seven in the contest.
- 3:12[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no doubt about it.
- 3:13[SPEAKER_01]: It was they were in control the whole way.
- 3:17[SPEAKER_01]: the pitching was really good and up and down the lineup.
- 3:20[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, you know, Audrey Lauery stands out and actually with Cheneyau for what she did in Game 2, but also was able to get the freshman in there.
- 3:32[SPEAKER_01]: You got Kirsten deal in there, get her a big standing ovation coming up to field after a solid performance from her.
- 3:39[SPEAKER_01]: So I think
- 3:39[SPEAKER_01]: as good as you could have written up in the script as far as what they needed to accomplish this weekend.
- 3:48[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, heck, you look at the bracket.
- 3:51[SPEAKER_01]: The top three seeds really control things throughout their regionals, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, then there were some some teams that didn't
- 4:07[SPEAKER_01]: uh... is bounced uh... for the state once again is bounced so uh... yet considering uh... everything i think about his perfect a weekend as you could have hoped for uh... from Oklahoma outside of maybe uh... you know get find in a way for Idaho state uh... to somehow when uh... when that regional but Mississippi state will be fun coming in here
- 4:33[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Sam Ricketts and her crew coming in, not gonna complain about that whatsoever, should be a fantastic matchup.
- 4:40[SPEAKER_00]: Before we get to all of that, I just thought, you coming on Friday, coming on Saturday, and while Oklahoma, I don't think dwelling is absolutely the wrong word and the wrong way to characterize it.
- 4:50[SPEAKER_00]: I think that Patty Gasso, as much as she had said on Tuesday, we could go that she liked what she saw at a practice, all that stuff.
- 4:58[SPEAKER_00]: It was kind of the,
- 5:01[SPEAKER_00]: What else are you going to say when you come off that Georgia game?
- 5:03[SPEAKER_00]: Like you would hope, I mean, if she had said anything other than it's past it, that's alarms, red flags, all that stuff, you never have to say that you've had good practices and Patty will tell us if she, she won't say it come in and say we've had bad practices, but she's not wanted just default to the practices have been good if they're not good, but what you saw I thought on Friday and Saturday was just super efficient, it was ringing out, it wasn't,
- 5:28[SPEAKER_00]: The things that upset Patty gas, so I think when you have opponents that are clearly overbatched is when it's like six so early and then the third, the fourth and the fifth inning is nothing and then it's almost like, oh crap, we need to actually run rule you saw against Kansas against Binghamton, it didn't matter top of the line up bottom of the line up middle of the line up first inning fourth inning.
- 5:48[SPEAKER_00]: Oklahoma was very, very consistently taking advantage of the mismatches that they had.
- 5:54[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought that that's why Patty Gassau was just so excited about it because it's like, we all know, going to be better competition this weekend.
- 6:00[SPEAKER_00]: If Oklahoma was able to get through this, it'll be much better competition than what you saw in the normal regional at the one's cultural series.
- 6:07[SPEAKER_00]: But it was as I thought,
- 6:16[SPEAKER_00]: no ticket for granted, not doing on anything and I thought it was a really really just professional performance from the students.
- 6:23[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
- 6:24[SPEAKER_01]: And even the, you know, innings where they didn't necessarily score like I look at the first inning, for instance, it gets Kansas where they went three up, three down.
- 6:34[SPEAKER_01]: They were still at bats where they were, you know, either work in the count or trying to find their pitch.
- 6:40[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't a
- 6:41[SPEAKER_01]: But being too passive and letting good, hitable pitches get by ya.
- 6:47[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't being too aggressive and getting three pitch innings, four pitch innings, five pitch innings.
- 6:54[SPEAKER_01]: Like we've seen at times, the approach was sound from start to finish, the line up really from top to bottom, but you talk about a couple things just real quick.
- 7:05[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure we'll get into, but you know, Cassie Pickering.
- 7:08[SPEAKER_01]: all the talk about her, you know, bouncing out of that slump.
- 7:12[SPEAKER_01]: I think we can finally say that that's the case and she's she's out of it.
- 7:18[SPEAKER_01]: You know, put together some really good at bats.
- 7:20[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, he had a couple of home runs.
- 7:22[SPEAKER_01]: Isabella, Emily, and continues to be fantastic and just up and down the order.
- 7:27[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of agbiani had a couple of really good games at the plate and things like that.
- 7:32[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't just,
- 7:34[SPEAKER_01]: you know wait for the three run home run to put up runs it was straighting together hits at bats doubles to the gap you know working walks taking hit by pitches taking advantage of of defensive miscues on the other side and just really sort of got back to what this offense has been known for and then you know you sort of alluded to the the Georgia game and it wasn't like
- 8:05[SPEAKER_01]: like you said it wasn't like they were dwelling on it, but also it clearly, you know, motivated them.
- 8:13[SPEAKER_01]: You know, Patty Gasso brought it up unprompted after Saturday's game that they were still sort of drawing motivation from that and working to get away from that as far as the things that went wrong in that one that cost them that game.
- 8:30[SPEAKER_01]: And that's the best you could have hoped for and
- 8:33[SPEAKER_01]: You know, this team doesn't need extra motivation.
- 8:36[SPEAKER_01]: They don't need to, you know, be the, you know, Michael Jordan where they, you know, try to squeeze every bit of maybe false motivation out that you can, but you need motivation where you can find it and certainly they were able to do that and channel it in a very positive way all around.
- 8:55[SPEAKER_00]: Work for AMJ, work for Baker Mayfield is working for victim women down right now.
- 8:58[SPEAKER_00]: Wouldn't be the worst thing.
- 8:59[SPEAKER_00]: No, I think that when Patty gas looks up and down too.
- 9:03[SPEAKER_00]: She sees seven different tuners with RBI's on Friday against Binghamton and then both Kansas and Michigan.
- 9:11[SPEAKER_00]: five different sooners with RBI's.
- 9:14[SPEAKER_00]: I think that she'll take that.
- 9:16[SPEAKER_00]: No question.
- 9:17[SPEAKER_00]: When you look at the weekend as a whole, seven of the nine starters, and we saw the same starters different like order of hitters as far as one to nine, but the same starter started all of those games far as the line up goes.
- 9:31[SPEAKER_00]: Seven of those nine had a multi hit weekend.
- 9:34[SPEAKER_00]: One of those that didn't was kind of wells, I don't think anyone in Norman, in Oklahoma, in the world is concerned about kind of wells or anything like that.
- 9:42[SPEAKER_00]: So you think that that's going to be someone that I think is going to be firing on all cylinders here in supers and beyond if they make it there.
- 9:49[SPEAKER_00]: The other one, City Barker, she was like very surprised for her strong walks and moving runners over a couple of times and we talked with Patty, what was that a month ago, a month and a half ago where she was like I'm not even worried about the offensive side of it with her what she brings defensively, she had some good defensive plays.
- 10:15[SPEAKER_00]: I think the biggest thing is the 789, which was slightly different on Friday and Saturday than on Sunday.
- 10:21[SPEAKER_00]: I'm only technically hitting the bottom three on Sunday.
- 10:25[SPEAKER_00]: Borker had it on Friday and Saturday, but the 789 in the order combined to go 9 for 21 with seven RBIs and four walks.
- 10:37[SPEAKER_00]: 9 for 21, 7 RBIs, and 4 walks from your 7, 8, and 9 hole hitter, everyone that watches all your softball covers it, loves it, just is curious, they know Oklahoma's lineup is most dangerous when it is truly a no-pitches off, no days off type of day for opposing pitching tasks, and that's exactly it, Binghamton, Kansas, and Michigan experience.
- 11:00[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I know that about it.
- 11:02[SPEAKER_01]: I think you've got a highlight.
- 11:03[SPEAKER_01]: I'll on a ag buy on me there going what was it was it for for for for seven I think in the regional Sunday at a couple of RBI's drove in a couple of runs trying to
- 11:20[SPEAKER_01]: bring up, yeah, four for seven, four RBIs, four runs, or two runs for her, got hit a couple of times or got hit once, had a sacrifice butt against Kansas.
- 11:32[SPEAKER_01]: So just a really efficient, again, up and down the order, but especially that bottom third, when you're working the way you are, there you set up the rest of the lineup, the top of the order to produce some big time innings,
- 11:49[SPEAKER_01]: when you said maybe some things were not slightly off because they were still good at bats and good contact there, but I mean, Ella Parker, if she gets another four feet probably, she gets as a three home run day.
- 12:06[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know that I've ever seen of hitter fly out to the warning track
- 12:18[SPEAKER_01]: just a lot of good feelings right now around what they're able to do and the production that they're able to have.
- 12:26[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, you get, you know, because of everything, we talked about the pictures, getting a chance to get Berkeley's a K in the game, Alyssa Parker in games, things like that, they were also able to get the hitters in the games.
- 12:39[SPEAKER_01]: We saw likes to make Daniel.
- 12:41[SPEAKER_01]: I think all three games, if I'm not mistaken, we saw, you know, Cheney Hilton, especially running the
- 12:48[SPEAKER_01]: So, they were able to get those itters out there and get them a little bit of taste because you figure they're going to need some pinch running, probably, you know, lexemic Daniel coming off the bench with the bat at some point in, whether it's this weekend in super regionals or in the world series, so you want to get them that postseason experience as early as possible and as often as possible.
- 13:13[SPEAKER_00]: Got a list of park where she's in the batting line up and in the field as well as in the circle and you mentioned Cassie Pickering huge for her she's now three of the last five games she has a home run and for a high minor she has a lead off double in three of the last four games I believe if my hashtag math is correct that'll play
- 13:38[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, we talked about Ella Parker and the way I look at it was like a player like Ella Parker.
- 13:43[SPEAKER_00]: We know she's electric We know she's clutch.
- 13:45[SPEAKER_00]: We know she's elite Uh, that the wind blow and basically foul pulled a foul pull like straight across the field on Saturday I think actually is what killed all three of her flyballs because they were just absolute launch I think that with a player like Ella Parker we know The softball give it and the softball take it.
- 14:02[SPEAKER_00]: It may have take it
- 14:03[SPEAKER_00]: in a stator day in a regional, which just means she's due for a massive, super, or a massive world series of suitable advances.
- 14:11[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that considering there's no shortage of options, you'll take the, okay, today I want some L.O.S.
- 14:16[SPEAKER_00]: Day, stowed away for a bigger day later on, and Gabby Garcia, excellent O Week as well.
- 14:21[SPEAKER_01]: And let's mention the defense from her was fantastic yet again and continues to just amaze not that we should be surprised at it at this point but made a really good diving catch over there we continue to see her arm and just
- 14:40[SPEAKER_01]: even though the hits maybe weren't there as much as she wanted she did have a couple this weekend had the the home run against Binghamton, but you know still able to be immensely productive even on the O for day
- 14:58[SPEAKER_00]: Feels like the only thing she's missing is a straight up home on robbery, right?
- 15:01[SPEAKER_00]: Because we've seen her outfield assists from the shallows, from deep and right field.
- 15:06[SPEAKER_00]: We know that she can gun you down at home.
- 15:08[SPEAKER_00]: We know she can make the diving grab.
- 15:10[SPEAKER_00]: We know she's hyper mobile when healthy you saw that as a freshman.
- 15:14[SPEAKER_00]: She had the most stolen bases for an Oklahoma freshman.
- 15:18[SPEAKER_00]: two seasons ago, where I guess three seasons ago, if you include this one since a jade of Coleman, dad'll play it like we know that she's hyper athletic and that last year was literally just a shin split thing, but it's just been like a straight-up climb the wall, a home run robbery.
- 15:31[SPEAKER_00]: If you've not seen a ton of it, love's field, just because I think the height of the wall there and some of the distances that people are just hammering stuff.
- 15:38[SPEAKER_00]: So
- 15:38[SPEAKER_00]: feels like that is the only thing missing for L. Parker and guess what if Oakland takes care of this weekend her abdating and kind of all three will have some opportunity to get out there to a little bit shorter wall at Devon Park and we'll see there is well I kind of themed Friday in the circle is the freshman day when you got Zika and Alyssa Parker in
- 15:58[SPEAKER_00]: Sunday was seen your day when you got Kirsten deal and said, Bursan in and then plenty of work throughout the week and for a little uh, Audril Aurek excuse me, Audril Aurek Friday and Sunday getting the starts, which you know, just went all five and was excellent and smooth as you like against KU.
- 16:14[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, on Sunday, pedigasso is asking about the pitching.
- 16:18[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of been the one of the big conversations around this team all year long, whether it be because of
- 16:23[SPEAKER_00]: Carly Keeney and Jen Rocher are just that being one of the things that's identified is not the exact numbers were used to seeing from an OU pitching staff and pati gas so did say that she feels like she has seen a shift in this pitching staff as it pertains to when giving up a home run or something like that and I she's allow me kind of as the example against Michigan because it was one pitch one home run.
- 16:47[SPEAKER_00]: There's a difference patty gas, so said between hanging one basically and throwing a good pitch and then the batter who's on scholarship too, just driving a good pitch out.
- 16:58[SPEAKER_00]: And that's something that patty gas so thinks that she's seen that shift in Audrey Lauerib, acknowledging
- 17:04[SPEAKER_00]: don't have to throw out my game plan, hat tip.
- 17:06[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get lock straight back in.
- 17:08[SPEAKER_00]: I'm no longer thinking about that other pitch.
- 17:10[SPEAKER_00]: I'm I'm full focus ahead of what I need to do.
- 17:12[SPEAKER_00]: And she said the Audrey Lary has really not just emerged as the ace of the staff as far as who do we pitch on Friday and who do we ride with, but the leader of that bull pit in one of the vocal leaders of that bull pit Audrey Lary asked her about just her comfort in that role.
- 17:27[SPEAKER_00]: And she has embraced it
- 17:31[SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about no captain on the team, things like that.
- 17:34[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if you get down to it, Audrilariate certainly the captain of that pitching staff.
- 17:38[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the kind of stuff you want to see is they'll certainly be tested much much more difficult tests ahead.
- 17:46[SPEAKER_00]: Broke along with what it comes to Mississippi State and what would lie beyond that 30 take care of us, but certainly the kind of stuff that you wanted to hear, especially as that was a pitching staff that looked pretty shell shocked along with the rest of the team in that kind of against Georgia in Lexington.
- 17:59[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no doubt about it.
- 18:00[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, what you said about lowery, what Patigasso talked about, that's one of the hardest things for for young pitchers, especially hitters, you know, have some similar things that they've got to work through too.
- 18:12[SPEAKER_01]: But pitchers,
- 18:14[SPEAKER_01]: so much of the time you're coming from high school you've just been absolutely dominant you're you know controlling the things from start to finish and even your bad pitches aren't getting hit hard for for the most part.
- 18:30[SPEAKER_01]: But when you make that step up to college and you're playing against hitters, like you said, that also have scholarships on the other side, and not that they didn't have a good competition through a travel ball, things like that, but especially coming from where Audrey Lauer is coming from and Indiana, not exactly, it's not the bat busters and things like that, but it takes
- 18:59[SPEAKER_01]: get away from hay, just get down on yourself every time something doesn't go your way to hey, these are really good headers too.
- 19:07[SPEAKER_01]: It's made a decent pitch, they still hit it.
- 19:10[SPEAKER_01]: Now, lock in, stay with the game plan, you know, go back to the thing that we always hear from skip Johnson about trust in the process and plenty of other coaches, but here skip Johnson say it almost as much as Nick Sabin did, trust in the process and don't worry about outcomes,
- 19:28[SPEAKER_01]: and they've got to do that.
- 19:30[SPEAKER_01]: I think Audrey Lauery has gotten a lot better at managing that and being able to bounce back, you know, for instance, we saw Aaron Hone hit the ball out of the park on Sunday in the Michigan game.
- 19:47[SPEAKER_01]: She was able to get right back in the flow.
- 19:50[SPEAKER_01]: Didn't have any real real issues.
- 19:51[SPEAKER_01]: I think right after that is when Elaparker made a great catch.
- 19:55[SPEAKER_01]: out there, and they were just rolling right along and didn't really miss a beat there.
- 20:02[SPEAKER_01]: So I think that that's a big thing, again, the competitions are going to get better, the hitters are much better.
- 20:10[SPEAKER_01]: This weekend, although, you know, Mississippi states offensive and exactly, you know, the best in the world.
- 20:14[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, it's not a big deal.
- 20:16[SPEAKER_01]: It's a big deal.
- 20:16[SPEAKER_01]: It's a big deal.
- 20:16[SPEAKER_01]: It's a big deal.
- 20:17[SPEAKER_01]: It's a big deal.
- 20:17[SPEAKER_01]: It's a big deal.
- 20:18[SPEAKER_01]: It's a big deal.
- 20:18[SPEAKER_01]: things get more difficult from here on out so let's not say hey everything's fixed with this pitching staff but there are some really good signs from what we saw this weekend.
- 20:29[SPEAKER_00]: And then even extended to, you saw Berkley's a K, it was, I forget the exact order either a single or a walk or a walk in a single to start hers off.
- 20:39[SPEAKER_00]: She was able to settle back in, get out of that, no sweat, Alyssa Parker was great.
- 20:44[SPEAKER_00]: Kirsten Ville was fantastic for her 15 pitches.
- 20:46[SPEAKER_00]: Burr's not only got five, but it was efficient and fast.
- 20:50[SPEAKER_00]: And Miley would chain, it was excellent and just totally shut down, Kansas on Saturday, which, again,
- 20:58[SPEAKER_00]: expect Kansas or Michigan to make any real noise in this regional?
- 21:02[SPEAKER_00]: No.
- 21:02[SPEAKER_00]: Did we expect Oklahoma to take care of business in this manner?
- 21:05[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
- 21:06[SPEAKER_00]: Those are still two lineups that have power and they it could have very easily been a really comfortable 11 to 3-run rule, but Kansas has a little bit more offensive success or Michigan has a little bit more offensive success and they did, which I think is full credit for this pitching staff.
- 21:21[SPEAKER_00]: Now,
- 21:22[SPEAKER_00]: Like you said, gotta keep doing it.
- 21:23[SPEAKER_00]: I'm doing it this weekend against a team that doesn't have as much power, but we'll have the pitching that they're going to help us stay.
- 21:29[SPEAKER_00]: They'll be in this thing as far as tight games, all that goes, you have to avoid any eye infections as well, which is just, I feel like every year we get to post season.
- 21:38[SPEAKER_00]: And there's one team that do something in same backgrounds.
- 21:41[SPEAKER_00]: It was what?
- 21:42[SPEAKER_00]: Was it food poisoning a couple years ago that hit Arkansas, right?
- 21:45[SPEAKER_00]: Is super, super cool.
- 21:47[SPEAKER_00]: for Oregon, that's obviously an eye-infection, which was sounded like a terrifying, scary experience, but it just seems like there's always one of these teams, and no one can really control it, and as long as you just keep focusing, keep on roll, and that's what will come as been so good at.
- 22:03[SPEAKER_00]: So, not have anything to rail them to get to the world's series, since what 2015 is kind of spectacular.
- 22:09[SPEAKER_00]: And they want to do that again.
- 22:10[SPEAKER_00]: It'll be a familiar name
- 22:14[SPEAKER_00]: with the Mississippi State Bulldogs coming in there.
- 22:16[SPEAKER_00]: The victors out of the Eugene regional former sooner star current sooner legend.
- 22:23[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think you can be a former legend.
- 22:24[SPEAKER_00]: I think you're just a legend Sam Rickett cement the Rickett's coming in also served.
- 22:29[SPEAKER_00]: I'm pedigast so staff for a hot minute as she was getting her coaching career going.
- 22:33[SPEAKER_00]: She's been excellent.
- 22:34[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, Mississippi State took over in 2020 the shortened season.
- 22:38[SPEAKER_00]: has been rocking and rolling out in Starkville since then.
- 22:41[SPEAKER_00]: It's the second trip to Super's for Samantha Ricketts and the Bulldogs last in 2022.
- 22:46[SPEAKER_00]: That year, they got to get a Arizona team I believe that had also upset a seed in their region.
- 22:54[SPEAKER_00]: No such luck this go around as they will be headed to Norman America.
- 22:57[SPEAKER_00]: A place they've played before, Mississippi State was in Norman last year for a couple of games.
- 23:02[SPEAKER_00]: Up at Devon Park for one of those games.
- 23:04[SPEAKER_00]: not counting what's going to happen on Friday and Saturday at the minimum since 2021 these two programs have played eight times and so while the settings differ in a couple of those have been neutral side, one was in Louisiana, one of them at Cathedral City for the Mary Nutter, they've been in Starkville for a multi-team event in the preseason and certainly an SEC series in Norman with that game up in.
- 23:25[SPEAKER_00]: Oklahoma City at Devon Park.
- 23:27[SPEAKER_00]: Samantha Rickett's pedigas, so there's a certain brand of softball that you know you get with both of those teams and certainly the pitching staff for Mississippi State is worth everyone's respect, but I think that you know whether it's tight games, low scoring, high score, whatever.
- 23:43[SPEAKER_00]: There's not going to be any free innings when a Samantha Rickett's Mississippi State team comes to town.
- 23:49[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no doubt about it and obviously, you know, we talk about Samantha Ricketts and the job that she's done has been fantastic, but also look at Mississippi State's pitching coaches because if you're a softball fan, it's a name that you know well, Terran Moat.
- 24:05[SPEAKER_01]: And she's done fantastic things with that group.
- 24:09[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, heck, you just look at what they were able to do over the weekend, especially with the no-hitter on, what was it that Saturday?
- 24:19[SPEAKER_01]: I guess against Oregon, just a fantastic game there.
- 24:25[SPEAKER_01]: And then to come back the next day with 14 strikeouts for, I'm just completely blanking on her name
- 24:34[SPEAKER_01]: and have it in front of me what's at oh fair cloth was was fantastic in in both of those games and
- 24:48[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see how what kind of challenge that presents for for Oklahoma's hitters, but certainly Mississippi states pitchers are not going to back down.
- 24:57[SPEAKER_01]: They're not going to be intimidated by this.
- 25:00[SPEAKER_01]: They played an SEC schedule as well, even if OU and Mississippi State didn't match up.
- 25:08[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not going to be anything new for them.
- 25:12[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know,
- 25:13[SPEAKER_01]: It should be a good one, and it'll be nice to have an OU legend, like you said, back at Love's Field, she was able to experience it last year, in that series, talked about how special that was, and obviously getting her team to play out at Devon Park.
- 25:32[SPEAKER_01]: as well, and that's the goal that they're trying to get back to, but Oklahoma's in the way, and you know, it should be a formidable matchup and a fun one for sure.
- 25:46[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
- 25:47[SPEAKER_00]: If you're a, okay, she's spark fan or snail yourself in, you'll know that gold had been drafted by the Oklahoma City spark excuse me.
- 25:54[SPEAKER_00]: So when her collegiate career wraps up, she'll be headed to training camp with the spark to get going and mid-June.
- 26:02[SPEAKER_00]: She enters the weekend with a 2.12 ERA and I guess the technical title of staff A's, even though, Elizabeth Faircroft has been excellent as well, a 2.28 staff or ERA.
- 26:12[SPEAKER_00]: For a fair clock going in, you mentioned the no no against Oregon, and this is going to be one of those weekends that I'm really, really excited to see what look you get from this OU lineup, because like you mentioned in a couple of those first innings, I don't know, come a jump out of against being in to him, it's like that Kansas game.
- 26:29[SPEAKER_00]: It's not necessarily a failure or a bad ending.
- 26:33[SPEAKER_00]: If Oklahoma goes out there and gets blanked in the first inning of either one of these, uh, first two games, we do to expect that one of them will get to start on Thursday when we get to start on Friday.
- 26:41[SPEAKER_00]: It's about the, if you don't put an actual run on the board,
- 26:46[SPEAKER_00]: can you work deep into counts and start egg in the pitch count up there, but two given everybody in that dugout in the on deck circle is many bites at the Apple as many lookins at the stuff that both those are bringing because it is an elite pitching staff rolling into normal, but it's also at the same time, this is not disrespect to Mississippi State or anything like that, but Oklahoma has seen great staffs in
- 27:10[SPEAKER_00]: where the LSU is pitching, going into that, they've seen some kind of off the radar as far as the scout goes.
- 27:16[SPEAKER_00]: The Georgia that they've talked about, they've seen team Kavanaugh.
- 27:18[SPEAKER_00]: Texas is like, it's not gonna be a like shock to the system broke all when you see really, really good pitching head and the love field this weekend by any means.
- 27:26[SPEAKER_01]: It's not, but you look at the, some of the national stats and, you know, Mississippi State is third in the SEC in Earn Run Ever, which is the season, and the only two teams ahead of them in a conference are Tennessee and Alabama, two teams, oh, you is not face this year.
- 27:45[SPEAKER_01]: So this is the best pitching staff that, oh, you will have faced 2.15, ERA and
- 27:51[SPEAKER_01]: But it's also not forget that this is one of the best defensive teams in the country.
- 27:57[SPEAKER_01]: I believe they're second nationally in fielding percentage behind only Missouri, another SEC team.
- 28:03[SPEAKER_01]: It seems like an ERA, but especially in fielding percentage.
- 28:08[SPEAKER_01]: It's just SEC teams all at the top there.
- 28:12[SPEAKER_01]: with that.
- 28:13[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you've been excellent fielding as well, so should be a great defensive series out there, but anybody who's looking past Mississippi state and you know, looking to the world series and everything, even with Oh, use history, you know, the hitters better be locked in this weekend and do those things that you said.
- 28:33[SPEAKER_01]: productive at bats, give them looks, get used to, especially those two top tier pitchers that miss city state is able to throw at you and try to, you know, maybe wear them down, figure them out a little bit as much as you can over three games and, you know,
- 28:50[SPEAKER_01]: grind your way through it because this isn't going to be one of the ones.
- 28:54[SPEAKER_01]: I think like this weekend where they're able to jump out quickly and just be in control from the jump.
- 29:03[SPEAKER_01]: This one will take a little bit more work however you want to slice it to get through.
- 29:10[SPEAKER_00]: It's something to that you certainly you know we know ever listen to the snows.
- 29:15[SPEAKER_00]: We are very confident that Oklahoma will not be overlooked anything like that in a special that there would have been the case anyway with Patty Gasson what the entire staff does but you know it being Samantha Rickett told and it's going to have the intention of she probably not going to say this out loud but if you talk to any of the players in the past and certainly I was talking to a Lucifer Brito this week you everyone in that clubhouse knows.
- 29:38[SPEAKER_00]: Don't go out and make Patty gas or lose to whatever former players.
- 29:42[SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't want that.
- 29:43[SPEAKER_00]: You don't want that.
- 29:44[SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to go well as far as that goes.
- 29:46[SPEAKER_00]: But really strong defensively, shocker, we could be talking about a Patty gas team or Sam Rickett's team studying.
- 29:54[SPEAKER_00]: Great in the circle usually and this is also going to shock everyone great on the car As far as the offense goes super athletic really great at taking extra bases that is something that Mississippi state brings to the table just a couple of heavy hitters Cara sells 14 homerons, Nadia Barberry 14 homerons.
- 30:12[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody else for the Bulldogs has more than five so not saying that
- 30:17[SPEAKER_00]: They can't leave the park up and down the line up as well, but it's a little bit less about that and it's going to be more about attest to Oklahoma's defense as you got a bunch of different hitters that have fantastic on base percentage once they get on base just about everybody in the line up has not necessarily that it will be called every time someone gets to forth, but just about everybody in the line up has the green light.
- 30:38[SPEAKER_00]: to try to steal second or try to take some extra bases once the ball gets in play.
- 30:42[SPEAKER_00]: So I thought it was a really crisp weekend from Oklahoma's defense as well.
- 30:46[SPEAKER_00]: I know that we haven't talked about it a ton, but it's gonna need to be that as well to support the pitching staff this weekend because inevitably riders are gonna get on base.
- 30:54[SPEAKER_00]: It's an SEC series, but as we've seen before, Oklahoma can turn a couple double plays.
- 30:58[SPEAKER_00]: Limit, hey, a single needs to say a single, hey, hit the right cut.
- 31:02[SPEAKER_00]: and make sure that you're not taking bases in behind, like Oklahoma is able to do against Kansas at times and against Michigan, but third baseman had a couple of miscuse, early, which gave Oklahoma some extra baseman.
- 31:13[SPEAKER_01]: As long as all that's taken for end, it seemed like Michigan forgot how
- 31:18[SPEAKER_01]: dang fast, Kai Miner is, they kept trying to throw her out in situations where they had no business thrown her out, and OU was able to pick up some extra bases because of it, and ultimately score at least one extra run because Michigan thought they could throw out Kai Miner at third base when she's standing like two feet from third base by the time that the throw leaves the field or
- 31:45[SPEAKER_00]: No, no shade to first place of Maddie Rami, though, who is excellent for the Wolverines.
- 31:49[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't want her career to end.
- 31:50[SPEAKER_00]: And also, we got to cross the padded gas so it's getting smoked by a deflection off the bingo card, which is... Paddy Gasil is one of the elite, like, awareness, third base coaches, like, paddy never has to move more than one or two steps either way, because she just knows that ball's coming at my right foot.
- 32:08[SPEAKER_00]: I'll just lift it up and take one step to the left or stuff like that.
- 32:12[SPEAKER_00]: I know it took a throw that probably shouldn't have happened and then a deflection off of the mint at third, but it was still interesting to see.
- 32:20[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, Patty got hit.
- 32:21[SPEAKER_00]: What's going on here?
- 32:22[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously just a little glancing blow.
- 32:24[SPEAKER_00]: Patty was more than okay, but I was like, I did not often you see that for an OU softball game.
- 32:30[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we saw a little bit of everything out there.
- 32:32[SPEAKER_01]: We saw that.
- 32:32[SPEAKER_01]: We saw a foul ball call that I thought was pretty clearly a fair ball call, but
- 32:40[SPEAKER_01]: also when you look at the replay you realize exactly why the Empire made the call because he couldn't see that it hitter because the catchers back was was to him there and that is not a reviewable call so yeah just a a wild weekend out there with a a little bit of everything and we got some great patty gas official expressions out of the play that you're talking about some of the pictures that I saw the stills that I saw were pretty fantastic
- 33:09[SPEAKER_01]: But that's, you know, what we've gotten used to with a patigasso for sure.
- 33:15[SPEAKER_00]: Very excited for this super regional here in Norman America.
- 33:19[SPEAKER_00]: We're not going to spend a ton of time on it.
- 33:22[SPEAKER_00]: But we are loaded across the weekend.
- 33:25[SPEAKER_00]: We'll start on Thursday.
- 33:27[SPEAKER_00]: That'll be Georgia Tennessee game one.
- 33:29[SPEAKER_00]: It'll be game one.
- 33:31[SPEAKER_00]: for Ruby Maillin, the Jordie from Formally Jordie Ball of OSU and Nebraska.
- 33:38[SPEAKER_00]: One of those pictures is going to finish their career in the state where they started, where those two have been battling for their whole lives.
- 33:45[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of why Ruby Maillin has such a chip on her shoulder.
- 33:47[SPEAKER_00]: feel like is because she's always been kind of playing second filled a Jordi in state and we'll see what's able to happen there.
- 33:54[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you get a couple of SEC series, been an LSU being the other one.
- 33:59[SPEAKER_00]: You've got UCF, how did UCLA after UCF has upset.
- 34:05[SPEAKER_00]: Florida State as far as that goes.
- 34:07[SPEAKER_00]: You've got no Texas Texas A&M as you mentioned.
- 34:10[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, you'll have Kinsey Brown who's as hot as any pitcher in the country right now trying to silence the bats in Austin.
- 34:17[SPEAKER_00]: What else kind of caught your eye across the country this weekend?
- 34:20[SPEAKER_00]: You have Ole Misses coaching staff, which probably should just resign after they set themselves on fire in love with America on Saturday morning, but a crazy, crazy opening week into the
- 34:33[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the Ole Miss thing was crazy.
- 34:35[SPEAKER_01]: I honestly, I think I had like mentally advanced Ole Miss in that game, and then all of a sudden you look up and text us tech, wins it, and then- They're coaching stuff, did too.
- 34:48[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
- 34:50[SPEAKER_01]: and it's just insane.
- 34:53[SPEAKER_01]: And then you sort of figured when it got to Sunday, Ole Miss didn't really stand a chance and they didn't.
- 35:01[SPEAKER_01]: You talk about Florida State, that was certainly interesting.
- 35:04[SPEAKER_01]: How about UCLA getting a big time scare in their opening game against Cal Baptist, another game that I had sort of written off.
- 35:12[SPEAKER_01]: UCLA jumps up to a big lead early.
- 35:15[SPEAKER_01]: And then you think, oh, there's no way it's Cal Baptist that that game's over and then I wake up on was it Friday morning and see the score and the Cal Baptist was actually ahead in the seventh was just unbelievable, but you know, really good weekend overall.
- 35:36[SPEAKER_01]: How about Duke coming back after dropping a game
- 35:42[SPEAKER_01]: early in their regional loss to Arizona on Saturday and then came back and beat the Wildcats twice on Sunday to advance.
- 35:52[SPEAKER_01]: So regional weekend is always incredibly fun, but I think this weekend will be even much better as we get a lot more
- 36:01[SPEAKER_01]: really hotly contested games a lot closer scores, you know, that that Florida Texas Tech series should be fantastic.
- 36:10[SPEAKER_01]: That'll be fun.
- 36:11[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we'll see if Nigerianity is able to be her typical dominant self or what Florida and Tim Walton is able to do to counteract that.
- 36:22[SPEAKER_01]: Tennessee Georgia should be a great matchup as well, but
- 36:27[SPEAKER_01]: You know, that Nebraska Oklahoma State, I think, might be the most fun, uh, uh, super regional outside of the one that we're going to be at to, uh, keep an eye on and see what goes down with, uh, Jordi from and Ruby Mail and, uh, two of the, just absolutely fantastic pictures in the country with, uh, a ton of backstory, a ton of history and, uh, you know, should be an incredible, super regional there to see.
- 36:55[SPEAKER_01]: If Jordy Ball, Jordy From, gets back to the Women's College World Series, or if Kenny Guy asks he's Bunch and Ruby Mailing is able to upset them on the road and get back to Oklahoma City as well.
- 37:09[SPEAKER_00]: The fun starts for us, noon, Friday, noon, Saturday, the two schedules.
- 37:15[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, scheduling, God's.
- 37:17[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to that.
- 37:18[SPEAKER_00]: If necessary on Sunday, we will pass along when that start time would be.
- 37:23[SPEAKER_00]: If we get there, a lot of stuff I'll be played until we have to worry too much about that.
- 37:27[SPEAKER_00]: Starting.
- 37:28[SPEAKER_00]: at noon on Friday.
- 37:30[SPEAKER_00]: We will have continued coverage obviously all week long, all throughout the rest of the season.
- 37:36[SPEAKER_00]: You're one stop shop for everything local home, but certainly all you softball.
- 37:39[SPEAKER_00]: Oklahoma sooners on si.com head over there as we were turning in burning all week and long and that ain't going to stop.
- 37:47[SPEAKER_00]: Certainly as Oklahoma ramps up into the second weekend of postseason play right I am looking forward to see you Friday I'll talk to you tomorrow Wednesday on the full Students on the side podcast that'll be here in your podcast feed Who's YouTube page all that fun stuff?
- 38:01[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to watch any of the post game stuff from the weekend just go to who's YouTube page John Hoover Media got the full post game press conferences a lot of kind of minor a lot of pedigast so obviously in your lives this weekend But and a little bit better audio now.
- 38:13[SPEAKER_01]: Yes
- 38:15[SPEAKER_00]: We got a mold box which matters to us but it matters to you as well when it comes to audio and being able to hear things a little bit more clearly as opposed to the echo echo some got all of that time Ryan thank you so much for hanging out I'll talk to you tomorrow.
- 38:30[SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you Friday and all that fun stuff so for the great Ryan Abraham Ryan Chadman.
- 38:34[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for hanging out in tagging along can you enjoy the show share with a friend
- 38:37[SPEAKER_00]: and get you ready for all your super action between the suitors and the Bulldog.
- 38:42[SPEAKER_00]: We will talk to you next Monday, either certainly recapping everything that happened at the Norman's Superrational Regardless, and hopefully for every listing, we'll be previewing the 18s that made it to Oklahoma City, which will hopefully include Oklahoma for every listing in at the Women's College World Series.
- 38:59[SPEAKER_00]: But tell them, we'll talk to you guys on Monday.
- 39:01[SPEAKER_00]: See you.