Just now: CONGRATULATION:Patty Gasso ou sooners softball Quarterback and wife welcomed a coach new bab.
NORMAN — OU softball is settling in nicely to its new Love’s Field home.
A day after opening with a nail-biter, the Sooners didn’t have much of a cause for concern Saturday, with a pair of five-inning wins — 8-0 over Louisiana in the opener and 15-3 over Liberty in the second game.
After a sluggish start to the season, the Sooners’ bats continued to surge.
Alyssa Brito went 4 for 5 with five runs and four RBIs in the doubleheader. In the opener, she had three doubles, driving in two and scoring thrice.
“For me as a hitter, I just need to know a speed and a tendency and that’s kind of what I go off of,” Brito said. “Just kind of settling in. I love the crowd noise. I love getting amped and kind of feeling from the other girls in the dugout, too.”
Brito said the feeling with not only her but the rest of the team was much more comfortable Saturday than it was Friday.
I felt like yesterday it kind of, since it was the first time we’ve been on there, it felt like a new home,” Brito said. “Kind of just like a visiting team in a way. But now we kind of got a feel for it and got a feel for the crowd too.”
Here are three other takeaways from the Sooners’ win:
After struggling through her outings in the opening weekend, sophomore Kierston Deal has been a force for the Sooners in the circle.
Deal continued that momentum Saturday, throwing four scoreless innings in the win over Louisiana.
Over her last three outings, Deal (3-0) has pitched 16 shutout innings, allowing seven hits and four walks with 18 strikeouts.
There was a lot of confidence there,” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said. “It’s been really fun to watch her — well, it wasn’t fun to watch her first appearance, but to see her response to it has been really incredible. It’s a good testimony to just believing in yourself. She got that back and she didn’t let it lay it all out on that first weekend. So I’ve been really happy with her performance.”
The only blip on OU’s day pitching-wise came in the fifth inning against Liberty, when Kelly Maxwell was touched up for a pair of home runs.
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