No. 12/9 Oklahoma (31-7, 6-1 Big 12) defeated North Texas (20-20, 3-9 C-USA) Wednesday by a score of 6-1 thanks to six-run fifth inning.
The Sooners were down 1-0 going into the bottom of the fifth before they exploded for six runs in that inning. Coach Patty Gasso said while she has faith in her team, she was a little nervous before the fifth inning.
“It always concerns a coach because you just want to get things settled and create momentum,” Gasso said. “So that’s what it’s about is trying to get momentum started for us. But I’m never panicked with this team because they can do some great things. And I saw that at Baylor in the eighth inning so I know what they can do.
“This game scared me, honestly, just because [North Texas is] a good team and we left a lot of energy and heart on the Baylor field, and it’s just kind of rebounding from all that energy and being ready to focus and put it all out here. And I think that had a lot to do with our slow start.”
Freshman Shay Knighten, who went 2-2 with 1 RBI, agreed with her coach that North Texas is a good team and said that OU takes no opponent lightly.
“We play each team the same, we go out and play hard," Knighten said. "North Texas is not a slouch team. They always fight, they always find a way to scratch something across. They always give us a run for our money so we just came out and played how we normally played. Just play hard and attack.”
Gasso also said that her team had to adjust to the wind, which played a part in the team’s slow start.
“What we were doing was the same thing over and over and that’s trying to hit balls out of the yard, and tonight the air was not allowing us to do that," Gasso said. "So we needed to make adjustments. Shay early in the game hit a hard ball through the right side. It’s that kind of swing we need to bring in to kind of create and add some momentum. We started working more of an angle down toward ground balls or hard line-drives than trying to lift things out of the park.”
The Sooners have now won six straight and 13 of their last 14 games. Knighten attributed their consistent high level of play to the freedom Gasso gives them.
“Coach gives us freedom to play," Knighten added. "So I think we take that and just kind of run with it. We know that each team is going to come out to beat us. We have a target on our chest, on our back at all times. So I think for us to just go out and stick to our game plan and just attack each pitcher, attack each at-bat, play hard defense and just back up our pitchers. I think that’s what allows us to play consistently to just have fun with it.”
OU beings a three-game series at home against Texas on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The two play again Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
