NORMAN — Audrey Lowry is very unassuming when she's in the circle. The true freshman doesn't draw much attention to herself.
She's only been on campus a few months, but that quiet personality has drawn comparisons to a former OU pitching standout — Kelly Maxwell. The resemblance is clear as day for OU coach Patty Gasso.
"You go out, you might look at her and go, 'Oh, what a cute little pitcher,'" Gasso said earlier this month. "And she's used to that. She's very quiet, she's kind of shy, but she's very crafty. Kelly Maxwell has a little bit of that, kind of shyness in her, but I see her looking to be someone like a Kelly Maxwell in the future. Kelly didn't start that way. Kelly Maxwell took a couple of years to develop that. Audrey can mix her pitches up. She throws a lot of strikes.
"I'm really excited about her future, and I really am excited where her progress with Coach Rocha is right now."
That's quite the early impression for Lowry. But that's the kind of impact that she's already made in Norman.
The buzz was already high around Lowry, who was a highly-coveted prospect in the 2024 class, ranked second overall in the 2024 class, per Extra Innings Softball. Lowry posted a 0.95 ERA with 252 strikeouts in 148 innings her junior year and was a three-time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year nominee.
She showed why the buzz was high on her — and why she reminds her head coach of Maxwell — during the Sooners' fall schedule. She earned the start earlier this month against MACU in a lineup that loosely resembled OU's projected starters next season, and she dominated: Four strikeouts, zero hits or walks allowed in three innings.
Lowry feels she's grown a ton since she arrived on campus, and one of the biggest reasons has been facing OU's lineup.
"It's definitely probably the most competitive lineup you can face in the fall, so it was definitely challenging but I learned a lot," Lowry said. "Mentally, (learning) how to approach the game here at such a high level and just I learned so much competitively facing this lineup and it's just been a great learning experience."
She also shares another similarity with Maxwell — both pitchers are left handed. And Lowry considers it a privileged to be compared to the OU pitcher who was named Most Outstanding Player at last year's Women's College World Series.
"It means a lot because Kelly is influential to many people, especially me," Lowry said. "When I got here, everyone was like, 'Oh, you're Kelly, you look just like Kelly, you act just like Kelly. You're literally Kelly.' And I actually saw Kelly at a football game and I was talking to her about it. She just laughed. She thought it was hilarious.
"But it's a great honor to be here and be in the circle here. It's really challenging especially this fall, going against these batters. You have to work hard, you have to go 100% and when you're on the mound, you don't feel, you just throw."
The other buzz for Lowry is that there's a real opportunity to make an impact next season.
The Sooners have largely built their pitching staff after the departures of Maxwell, Nicole May and Karlie Keeney. Gasso and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha added Isabella Smith and Sam Landry via the transfer portal, while Lowry was the only pitcher in the 2024 freshman class. Kierston Deal and Paytn Monticelli are the only returning pitchers from last season, and only Deal is expected to see significant playing time next season.
Rocha also has shown a preference in developing a deep pitching staff. Four different pitchers threw at least 60 innings last season — five different pitchers saw the circle in the title-clinching game against Texas — and three different players threw over 100 in 2023. Plus, given the amount of new players, there's plenty of incentive for the Sooners to tinker with their lineups early in the year — which should open an opportunity for a freshman like Lowry.
And regardless of whether Lowry's career mimics Maxwell's, there's plenty of motivation for her to prove she deserves playing time.
"It definitely pushes me because she has high expectations and we just work hard in the bullpen every day," Lowry said. "We throw every day and we try to get better every day."
