NORMAN — The Oklahoma softball team has been tested time and time again this season. Given the amount of youth and inexperience, the Sooners have largely passed those tests with flying colors.
Now, they head into a new challenge — the postseason. And they enter it with lofty expectations.
Despite losing the most decorated senior class in softball history, the Sooners finished the regular season with a 45-7 record. They were selected as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, marking the seventh straight season they've been selected as a top-four seed — an impressive feat for a new-look team.
But this isn't the same experienced, veteran group the Sooners have leaned on in past postseasons. They'll be relying on a lot of underclassmen and a lot of transfers.
"It's definitely new for us freshman for sure," OU true freshman Sydney Barker said. "But I know we have a lot of new transfers, too, so it's new for a lot of people on our team. It's just cool to be here knowing there's a legacy behind us. We don't feel pressure to continue it, we feel an honor to be here after them. Being here and being able to hold this regional going into postseason, it's a special feeling and we're all very excited."
The Sooners can enter the postseason with excitement because of what they've already accomplished.
Patty Gasso knew the regular season would feature a lot of growing moments. The Sooners returned just eight players from last season's team, and only a few of them — namely Kasidi Pickering, Ella Parker, Cydney Sanders and Kierston Deal — played key roles. Yet, the Sooners still earned the SEC regular season championship outright in their first season in the conference, and they did it before playing their final two games.
The Sooners won five of their eight conference series, and three of those victories came against teams who are seeded in the top eight for the NCAA Tournament. Two of those losses? Three-seed Florida and seven-seed Tennessee.
In last week's SEC Tournament, the Sooners proved they were ready for the big stage. They opened the slate with a 4-1 win over LSU, then the young players were massive in the come-from-behind win over Arkansas. Barker blasted two home runs; redshirt freshman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, who is also the team captain, went 2-for-3 at the plate; true freshman Audrey Lowry pitched three hitless innings to end the game; and true freshman Gabbie Garcia hit a three-run home run to walk it off in the seventh inning
That SEC Tournament was particularly important for Gasso. But it's nothing new, considering how well her team has played all season.
"Very important to see that," Gasso said. "But I'm not going, 'Oh my gosh they're freshmen.' I forget. I forget that they're freshmen. I forget that they've not had this big moment. Gabbie Garcia is playing like she's a junior. Nothing is phasing her. And Audrey, nothing is phasing her. Barker is saying — she wouldn't say it out loud, but it's like, 'Give me a chance. Let me show you. Let me show you.' And she did. And she was about ready to get another start because of it.
"So I forget. "I don't think about that when we're in it."
That'll be the key for the Sooners. Despite their lack of collective postseason experience, the Sooners faced an SEC gauntlet and still earned a ton of accolades on their way to a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they'll be expected to continue the postseason success that the program and fans have come to expect.
But they don't see it as pressure. They see it as an opportunity.
"It's always been something we've looked forward to," Lowry said, "and now the time is here, so just being ready at anytime and don't let the excitement get too overwhelming and just stay the course."
