OU softball: Oklahoma State rallies to stun Sooners, secure series win

NORMAN — After Oklahoma's 6-3 loss to Oklahoma State on Friday, OU coach Patty Gasso talked about the need for timely hits. The Cowgirls got them when they needed them, and the Sooners never did.

It was the same story on Saturday. The biggest examples came in the fifth and sixth innings.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Sooners managed to load the bases with only one out. Alynah Torres forced a bases-loaded walk to give the Sooners a 2-1 lead, but Alyssa Brito and Kasidi Pickering both struck out, leaving the bases loaded as the Sooners couldn't seize control.

In the next frame, Oklahoma State wasted no time. The Cowgirls scored five runs off of three home runs in the sixth inning, including a three-run home run, to give Oklahoma State a four-run lead.

That rally proved too much for the Sooners' offense, which struggled all game. The result? A 6-2 win for the Cowgirls at Love's Field, securing the series victory.

It marks the Sooners' first home Big 12 series loss since 2006 and their first series loss to Oklahoma State since 2010.

"We’re just not playing complete games," Gasso said. "We get out early and then we just don’t — there’s places in the game where the pitchers are very very good and then it’ll collapse. Our defense can do the same at times. Our offense is doing the same. There’s shining lights and then it just fades and we’re just not playing complete games.

"We’ve got to clean it up. We’re facing a very good team that’s got very good pitching. Very confident and they’ve always come after us and they’ve got us. So we give them credit. We don’t make excuses whatsoever. We know what we have to do. We just need time to figure it out to get it done and we don’t have a lot of time left. So that is the goal to find where we need to go and how to get there."

The Sooners fall to 45-6 on the season and 21-5 in conference play.

Here's a few other notes from the game:

— The Sooners' offense was again an issue on Saturday. After recording just three hits on Friday, the Sooners had just four hits through the first six innings before a lead-off single from Jayda Coleman in the seventh inning. But on the next three at-bats, the Sooners had two ground outs and a fly out.

The Sooners' lone RBI came in the fourth inning, when Kasidi Pickering scored Alyssa Brito on a single to give them a 1-0 lead. But just like they have all weekend, the Cowgirls responded with a solo home run in the fifth inning to tie it.

Through two games in this series, the Sooners are being outhit 17-8. The Cowgirls also hold a 7-0 advantage in home runs, including the four they hit on Saturday.

The clutch hits that have come to be expected from the Sooners just haven't been there at times this season, and that's been especially apparent this weekend.

— Through five innings, Nicole May was solid in the circle. She gave up six hits but only allowed one run while striking out four batters.

But heading into the sixth she had thrown 95 pitches, only the second time that's happened all season. She gave up a solo home run to Claire Timm on the first pitch of the sixth, which tied the game at 2-2. Four pitches later, she gave up another solo home run to Micaela Wark, which gave OSU a 3-2 lead.

"She threw really well," Gasso said of May. "We need Nicole May and Nicole May has taken a lot of criticism. And I know that she feels it but today she looked different. She started well. It was Nicole May, that was Nicole May. It’s hard to sustain a full game as a pitcher.

"That's why you don't see it very often but as long as she was feeling good, we wanted to do it. We just wanted to do it. So we're learning things about our pitching staff that we need to have nailed down going into postseason so if we have to figure it out now, it's better to figure out now than when your season could be ending."

The Sooners brought in Kelly Maxwell, but the ace struggled in her limited playing time. She committed a throwing error that allowed a base runner to reach first before surrendering a home run to Jilyen Poullard.

Karlie Keeney pitched the seventh inning and retired the side in order.

— The Sooners caught a bad break in the bottom of the fifth, when Rylie Boone was called out despite appearing to beat the tag while sliding into the second. The play would've given the Sooners two base runners with no outs. Instead, OSU challenged the play and the call stood.

— With the loss, and Texas' 23-0 win over Texas Tech on Saturday, the Longhorns have clinched the Big 12 regular-season championship.

The Sooners would finish second with a win on Sunday, but they'll fall to third if they lose.

— Final word from Gasso: "What we're talking about as a team is just we're never going to quit. You'll never see this team quit. So it's just, it's just sometimes it just takes time and when it breaks open, it's going to flood. I mean we are going to go off on that. But right now we're just in that space and we're facing good pitching."

— Up next: The Sooners look to avoid a sweep at 3 p.m. Sunday (ESPN).