NORMAN — Patty Gasso had a message for her team before Wednesday's practice. It centered around belief and confidence.
Why? Because that may have been the biggest issue for the Sooners' last weekend.
A lot of things went wrong for Oklahoma, as the Sooners dropped two of three games at Alabama while dropping their second consecutive SEC series loss. The offense scored just seven runs through three games. The pitching outside of Sam Landry was disastrous.
But the Sooners didn't appear ready to battle in a hostile environment.
"I walk out of it more like, why didn't I get them more prepared?" Gasso told OUInsider. "But it's been a while since I've been there. So yeah, it was a fun environment to play in if you were freed up and not nervous about it. We definitely learned a lesson there. We learned a lesson with Tennessee.
"The fight back has to be stronger. It has to be more intense. It's gotta be that 'bow up' mentality. We'd have it and then it'd just disappear, and then we'd have it. And a lot of where we were gaining it was from Sam Landry."
The lack of confidence certainly came out in the Sooners' offense. OU's batters combined for just 15 hits in 79 at-bats over the weekend (.189 batting average), and the offense went scoreless in 19 of the 22 innings.
But the offensive issues aren't isolated to this past weekend. They have a batting average of just .207 over the last eight conference games — with just three wins — and they've averaged just 2.75 runs per game over that span. Only two starters are batting above .275 in conference play (Kasidi Pickering .419, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas .346).
For Gasso, the Sooners just haven't looked confident at the plate. Some of that stems from a lack of experience, but Gasso also simply needs more from her veterans.
"We just had a big conversation with them before we even went out on the field about affirmation," Gasso said. "It's about believing in yourself. To me, if you aren't believing in yourself — I always turn it back to, 'You think I'm a bad recruiter? If you couldn't hit, would I recruit you here?' So it's just trying to raise them up.
"We're in a weird place. Usually, we're in a weird place before we really start to peak. We haven't even started peaking yet. You have not even seen how good we can be. Usually you need to start seeing it swing your way. So hopefully, you're gonna see that the next week or so."
The Sooners (36-5, 10-5 SEC) haven't started to peak yet, but they know it's time to buckle down. There are just three series remaining in the regular season (Mississippi State, at Florida, Texas), and the Sooners know they'll face bigger tests before the postseason begins.
Gasso reminded the team that they're still in good position — they sit in third place in the SEC standings and they're in good position to host both a regional and super regional if they play well down the stretch.
"You would've thought we were last in the SEC," Gasso said. "So we had to put up the standings. I'm like, 'We're tied for second!' They're like, 'What? Really!' Yes. So we're in the race. We're fighting. We're fighting. Let's go."
But they can't afford any more slip-ups. The Sooners simply have to find their confidence, and hope that invigorates their offense.
"We have to figure this out," Gasso said. "I have to count on some of these guys that have been here. But still, some of them here have not had a ton of experience. There are times when I’m stepping in and I’m the one that’s trying to create some of this the best I can.
"We’re going to get there. I know that, I will guarantee you. We’re going to get there."
The Sooners open their series this weekend against Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
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