NORMAN — Patty Gasso knew this would be a challenging week. Beating Oklahoma State on Wednesday, 11-3, was step one.
The next part? Getting back on track in SEC play this weekend at Alabama.
The Sooners head to Tuscaloosa for a three-game series, as they look to rebound from their previous series loss to Tennessee at home. It's been an up-and-down season for Alabama (28-15, 5-7 SEC) — their lone conference series win came against Georgia, and they've lost their other series to LSU, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.
But winning on the road in the SEC has been tough, and Wednesday was a particularly intense midweek game. Is there any concern about a weekend hangover?
"I'm so fired up about this because I think that's what we needed," Gasso said after the Bedlam win. "This team has got really incredible culture around it... Good culture means you're rooting for each other. This is the best time I've seen them have in a game. And they were determined. And the experience is just phenomenal. The experience is more than anything we could imagine.
"Because I see us going in (this weekend) and saying, let's go. I think this is the best game comeback and just overall game that we played once we started settling down. So I think everybody feels really good about what we did. And I think we'll have that. We're going to bring that. We need to."
Here's a few things to watch this weekend:
SERIES SCHEDULE
Saturday, 3 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
Sunday, 5 p.m. (SEC Network)
Monday, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
OU's pitching staff is finally healthy
The Sooners haven't had their full arsenal of arms since conference play began. Ace pitcher Sam Landry missed the opening weekend against South Carolina. Audrey Lowry missed the next three conference series with a muscle strain.
Now, they'll have their full staff heading into this weekend.
That should prove particularly helpful against an Alabama team that has been fine offensively. In conference play, they're averaging 4.1 runs per game with a batting average of .280. Audrey Vandagriff has been their leader offensively, leading the team in batting average (.432) and on-base percentage (.534). True sophomore Lauren Johnson has emerged the last couple of conference weekends, batting .529 against SEC opponents.
The Sooners should have plenty of answers. But it'll be interesting to see how they deploy them.
Landry will certainly get the start in Game 1. Kierston Deal will likely start Game 2. But will Lowry get the start in Game 3? She made her highly-anticipated return against UCF last week and was fantastic — she didn't surrender a walk, run or hit in 2.1 innings, and she struck out three batters. Will Isabella Smith make an appearance?
"Have they gotten better? How much improved are they?" Gasso said on what she's looking for from the pitching staff. "(OU pitching coach Jennifer Rocha) is really good at knowing when to make that switch and who matches up where and I really like how she creates that. And we’re back to a staff where we can do ...
