OU softball: Sooners' offense stalls in lopsided Bedlam loss

NORMAN — It looked like the circumstances were right for Oklahoma to have an explosive offensive game.

Oklahoma State opted to pitch Kyra Aycock, their No. 3 pitcher, in favor of ace pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl to start the game. The Sooners appeared to take immediate advantage — four different batters were walked, and Kinzie Hansen forced a bases-loaded walk to give the Sooners an early 1-0 lead.

Instead, the offense completely stalled.

Aycock walked seven batters over the first three innings, but the Sooners managed to score just two runs over that stretch. Kilfoyl took over in the fourth inning and further stymied their rhythm, as the Sooners went scoreless from the third through the fifth inning.

The Sooners scored a late sixth-inning run, but Oklahoma State had already taken full control. The Cowgirls took the lead in the fourth inning, and the OU offense never got going.

The Sooners dropped game one of the weekend Bedlam series, 6-3, Friday at Love's Field.

"We're grounding out. We're popping up, and everybody wants that timely hit," Gasso said. "OSU got 'em, definitely. We were just not squaring the ball up we're used to, and give credit to their pitching staff. At the same time, we need to have more competitive at-bats. We need to swing early. We need to swing hard. We need to think of, 'I'm not gonna get denied and pass the bat to the next person on deck.' We had glimpses of that, but it's gotta happen throughout the game.

"We just weren't doing that the way we know how."

Gasso's right. The Sooners finished with just three hits and only recorded one through the first five innings. Even after forcing eight walks, the Sooners left eight runners on base compared to four for Oklahoma State, which has been a lingering issue this season.

The Sooners were outhit 7-3, marking just the second time that's happened this season.

"They pitched really well," Tiare Jennings said. "But at a certain point we've got to adjust. We had little spurts of it here and there. Just not enough to execute. So, I think just tomorrow you got to get a new game plan, adjust, and we're saying the right things, just not completely doing them. So, tomorrow just bring it all in, and kind of having like a so what mentality, and get after it and see what happens.”

The Sooners fall to 45-5 (21-4 Big 12) on the season. Oklahoma State improves to 43-8 (20-5 Big 12).

Here's a few other notes from the game:

— It certainly wasn't the outcome the Sooners were hoping for in regards to Kelly Maxwell's first matchup against her former team.

Maxwell did a good job holding OSU scoreless through the first two innings before the Cowgirls broke through. Karli Godwin hit a two-out double that scored two runs in the top of the third and evened the score at 2-2, then Maxwell gave up a solo home run to Micaela Wark in the fourth inning that gave OSU a 3-2 lead.

Maxwell was pulled after that for a final line of four hits, three runs, two walks and three strikeouts in four innings.

"I am extremely proud of Kelly because it's a very tough situation," Gasso said. "Even if you're playing at home, it's a tough situation for her. So I was proud of her competing. But there's too many walks. There's hit batters, and then it's a three-run bomb or whatever it is. I thought Kelly came out and was a little bit nervous, and then she started to settle in a bit, but this is a day that she was knowing was coming, and if you've ever been in a situation like that, your heart beats a little bit differently that day."

— Gasso opted to go with Kierston Deal to relieve Maxwell. Deal has been fantastic this season but has really struggled as a relief pitcher, recording an ERA of 4.85 out of the pen this year.

That came to fruition. Deal gave up two home runs, including a two-run bomb to Godwin, in just 0.2 innings before she was pulled for Karlie Keeney.

"KD has been our hottest pitcher as of late," Gasso said. "So if I felt like she wasn’t ready to come in, I wouldn’t put her in. She had an off night, she left the ball over the plate too many times and she’ll tell you that herself. She is too much of a competitor to come in and say, ‘Oh, I’m not ready.’ Again, these are lessons learned when you come in from the bullpen, you better be ready to slam the door.

Keeney was great, allowing no hits or runs with a strikeout in 2.1 innings.

— The second run came on a single from Kasidi Pickering that scored Rylie Boone in the second inning. The other run came in the sixth, when Jayda Coleman hit a single that scored Avery Hodge on a throwing error.

— The game marks the Sooners' first home loss to OSU since 1997, and only the second regular-season loss since 2012.

— The loss puts the Sooners in a bind with the Big 12 standings. The Sooners, who led Texas by just one game coming into the weekend, needed to sweep Oklahoma State to win the regular-season title and secure the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament next weekend.

But now with Texas beating Texas Tech 13-3 on Friday, the Sooners will need the Longhorns to drop the next two games of the series. The Cowgirls could also jump the Sooners in the standings with another win.

— Final word from Gasso: "Not good enough. Give Oklahoma State credit. They swung it really well. They pitched really well. They did great at two parts of the game. Our bats were not timely. Our defense was great. Our pitchers gave up too much, too many hard-hit balls. They’re good, and we knew it. We have to pitch more competitively. That’s the word we were talking about is competitive. More competitive swings, competitive pitches, athletic that way.

"We gave ourselves a chance late in the game, but we were just kind of in a lull in the middle. Against a good team, you can’t give up innings. You can’t sit back and wait. There have been times when we used to be able to do that pretty easily. We’re not made that way this year. We can’t take innings off. We have got to grind, work better at passing the bat on that side. And we have to make competitive pitches. We keep trying to catch up but then giving up a lead, then what does that help? We talked a lot more about being competitive and fearless. Fearless."

— Up next: Game 2 is at 12 p.m. on Saturday (ESPN).