The chase begins

They’re the two-time defending national champions. But for Oklahoma softball, it’s not about what it has accomplished. It’s about what’s to come.

And what’s to come begins now as Patty Gasso’s club gets the season underway this weekend, with a four-day tournament in California.

Winning two championships in a row is tough enough, but it’s been done. Heck, it’s been done by the Sooners themselves in 2016-17, but there is no talk of a three-peat in the locker room.

It’s going to be a storyline all season, no doubt, but it’s about 2023 and taking care of business for the Sooners.

“So we don't talk about winning – three-peat – those are words that we're not really talking about around here,” Gasso said. “Because it's premature. It's really about the process. It's the journey. It's all of the work we put in and now it's playing it out.”

Premature, but the expectations are there. Gone is one of the all-time greats in Jocelyn Alo, but the Sooners are loaded as usual.

Familiar names like Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings and Grace Lyons are back again, providing leadership and production. Gasso was able to hit the transfer portal in a massive way to pick up former Texas A&M star Haley Lee and one of the best freshmen last season in Cydney Sanders (Arizona State).

It’s going to be about putting all the pieces together, making them fit just right.

“It's good. It's solid,” Gasso said. “The swings will wow you and it's throughout. And it's sitting on the bench, and it's waiting for me to call on them. That's my biggest issue is we have such a deep bench. How do I make all these athletes feel part of it and engaged and that's going to be probably the hardest job I have.

“So did we replace Jocelyn Alo? No. It's impossible, but it's going to take more than one person to fill those shoes. And that's really what's more the mentality is we need more power throughout the lineup just to pick up her numbers.”

There are a number of reasons winning three in a row is so hard. The target remains on your back for another season. Other teams try to make that leap to take you off the throne.

And then it becomes an internal battle. You’ve been to the mountaintop. You know what that feels like. How to create that sense of hunger, keep that motivation high is going to be a very intriguing storyline to follow throughout the season.

“I think that's just their expectations. They understand that they're good,” said Gasso when asked by SoonerScoop.com “They know they're good. So I think they want to be more than good. I think they want to be great.

“It's just more of when you put all them together, there's power. You can feel it. It is a very powerful feeling of confidence, athleticism. And I think they're a team that wants to be known like that, maybe make history. And they just want to be known as the best. And that expectation is always there throughout practice.”

Now that’s a rotation

Even Gasso can evolve her way of thinking. She certainly has when it comes to pitching and creating a pitching staff.

There isn’t going to be one star pitcher for the Sooners. No, instead, Gasso is going to be confident with any of four pitchers in any given role.

It’ll begin with sophomore Jordy Bahl. After living up to the hype and then some as a freshman, she is healthy from the late-season forearm issues.

“Just the summer, the idea was to leave the ball in the bag and don't pick it up,” Gasson said. “No need to. So just let it rest and let's heal and so, I mean, it's hard to keep her grounded because she wants to go, go, go, go, go. We haven't had any kind of problems with the forearm. Seems like she's feeling completely fine. So excited to get her opportunities back on the mound healthy.”

OU is also returning junior Nicole May, who Gasso believes is on track for her best year yet. The other two faces are new and at different stages of their career.

OU is bringing in Kierston Deal, the No. 1-ranked pitcher and player for the 2022 class and will be a big asset being a left-handed pitcher.

Then there’s Alex Storako. After four seasons as the workhorse for Michigan, she’s closing her career out in Norman.

The idea being nobody is going to be asked to do the carrying.

“The days of – hopefully – the days of Paige Parker and leaning on Paige Parker is over forever for this program because I hit a point where I was so uncomfortable with what we were doing with her physically,” Gasso said. “I promised myself we were never going to do that again.”

Starting with a bang

Gasso and the team couldn’t stop talking about the excitement of playing somebody else, and the OU schedule is stacked this season.

It starts with the Mark Campbell Invitational all this weekend in Irvine, Calif. OU, ranked No. 1 in all the polls, will play three top-20 teams this weekend with Duke (Thursday), Stanford (Friday) and Washington (Saturday).

OU might still run-rule opponents, but it’s a much more competitive schedule that should push the Sooners a bit more than years past.

“I think the competitive advantage is what we're looking for,” Gasso said. “I don't know that we get better with run rules. They don't make us better. It's those 2-1 ball games. Or those tight, hard-fought extra innings.

“Those are when you really find gold, you find who is clutch. You find who loves those big moments and it's always been to me, those close games are where your best memories are. It's where you grow the most as a team. So that's what we're looking for. That's why it was scheduled that way.”