How OU softball is embracing not being Big 12 Tournament favorites for first time

University of Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso is embracing the “uncharted territory” her team is navigating for this week’s Big 12 Tournament.

The Sooners are used to entering the tournament, which they begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday against Kansas at Devon Park, as prohibitive favorites and have generally run through the field.

But OU (46-6, 22-5 Big 12) comes into this year’s tournament as the No. 2 seed behind Texas and having dropped conference series to not only the Longhorns but also Oklahoma State.

Gasso said the experience of not being the favorites can be a positive for her team.

“I think I look forward to it,” Gasso said. “We’ve always been seeded No. 1 and we’ve always had our way. This is good for us. We need this.”

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Since the tournament was reinstated in 2017 after a six-year absence, OU is 13-1 in the event, winning it four times and finishing runner-up in 2022.

The Sooners’ five conference losses were their most since 2012.

Gasso and several of her players said they felt Sunday’s 8-2 win over OSU had the feeling of a turning point.

“Sunday we really connected the dots and fired on all cylinders — defense, pitching, hitting,” Sooners pitcher Karlie Keeney said. “And I think we’re just going to remember we’re trusting in the process and not the outcome, and so I think the same things that we did and showed on Sunday, we’re going to continue to ride that.”

Gasso said she could feel the weight on her players lately, and felt the shift Sunday.

“I think what it comes down to is there was something heavy laying on this team,” Gasso said. “I don’t know if it was 10 players knowing that this is Senior Day weekend. I don’t know exactly what it was, no one would ever say it, so I don’t know if I’ll ever get it out of them and I don’t really care. ... For the first time in a long time they really responded hard. That’s been our signature and I hope that really continues.”

The Sooners have won three consecutive Women’s College World Series titles and came into this season as heavy favorites to repeat, especially as they returned most of the core from those recent teams.

But the season has been a rollercoaster, with an NCAA-record 71-game winning streak coming to an end March 3, dropping back-to-back games to Texas in early April for their first Big 12 series loss since 2011, a stunning 9-4 home loss to BYU on April 12 and then the back-to-back losses to the Cowgirls.

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“Sometimes you can get caught up in all the pressure and expectations and kind of just not feel like yourself,” Sooners catcher and captain Kinzie Hansen said in a radio interview Monday on 107.7-FM. “Sometimes that might be what happens to this team. When we lose like that, we lose to ourselves. … We lose to ourselves because we put ourselves in that mindset.”

Hansen said Sunday’s game felt like “weight off our shoulders.”

“I think it’s allowing us to kind of exhale to be honest,” Gasso said. “You’re supposed to win every game every day. Every day we play, every team, doesn’t matter — sweep the series. I mean, that’s the expectation. I think it’s our expectation. It can become smothering at times.

"I’m really anxious to see the response at the Big 12 Tournament. What they look like, how hungry they are, and just if they’re freed up. They were handcuffed all weekend. And no disrespect (to OSU), we got flat-out beaten. But we definitely were not close to being our best. And that’s where we need to be. So, this Big 12 Tournament is going to tell a story for our future, as well.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball coach Patty Gasso confident entering Big 12 Tournament