Patty Gasso spoke. The Sooners listened. And on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Norman Regional at beautiful three-years-old Love's Field, the team responded in championship form, delivering an 11-0 run-rule win over the seriously overmatched Binghamton Bearcats.
The Sooners, 49-18 and with the No. 3 overall seed in this year's NCAA Softball Championship, produced 11 runs on 12 hits and scored crooked numbers in all four of their at-bats against Binghamton, which earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the American East Conference championship.
Sooners hammer Binghamton after SEC Tournament disappointment
"I think we all had a conversation and decided to go back to Norman and just practice harder, do things sharper -- like clean up practice instead of going through the motions like we've got it," Gasso said. "Let's really, really press. We’re gonna press you everyday throughout the entire practice to the point of exhaustion. And you should keep asking for more. And more and more and more. Until your hands bleed."
That message appears to have hit home and resonated because Oklahoma came out on fire offensively against Binghamton, sending seven players to the plate in the first inning and scoring four times, and three more times in the second inning, knocking Bearcat starting pitcher Olivia Kennedy out of the game after one out in the second and facing just 11 batters.
After a five-game, 25 at-bat home run drought, OU freshman superstar Kendall Wells unloaded a 289-foot bomb in the fourth inning that cleared two fences in center field and gave her the elusive 37th home run that tied her with Lauren Espinoza of the 1995 Arizona Wildcats for now the second most home runs in a single season in NCAA history.
Oklahoma had hit just five home runs in its last four games, leaving the Sooners stalled at 174 for the season and eight back of UCLA's NCAA record-breaking 182. Wells' fourth-inning blast was one of four home runs hit by the Sooners in Friday's game.
Freshman Kai Minor and Ella Parker hit back-to-back jacks in the three-run second inning, and Kasidi Pickering hit a two-run blast out of the park in the third inning. Oklahoma had hit just five home runs in its last four games. Minor was one of five OU players who had two hits in the game, extending her hitting streak to six games.
Oklahoma's 12 hits in Friday's NCAA Regional opener were double what the Sooners had averaged over the past four games. The Sooners lead the nation with a team batting average of .389 but had averaged just 6.5 hits in the last for games, a team average of .234. On Friday against Binghamton, the Sooners hit .571 (12-for-21), over .300 points higher.
The Sooners will next face Kansas, a 1-0 winner over Michigan in the second game of Friday's Norman Regional, in the winner's bracket at 2 p.m. CT Saturday.
Read more: How to watch every inning of Oklahoma's journey to Women's College World Series
What to know about Kansas
- The Kansas Jayhawks ended the regular season with a 35-19 record and 14-10, and fifth place in the Big 12.
- Oklahoma is 83-44 all-time against its former Big 12 compatriot and 42-10 vs. the Jayhawks in Norman.
- This is Kansas' 13th NCAA Tournament appearance but first since 2015. Senior outfielder Presley Limbaugh leads Kansas in hitting with a .388 batting average and a .475 on-base percentage. Freshman catcher Ella Boyer is one of four Jayhawks with double-digit home runs this season. Her 18 long balls and 57 RBI leads the team, which set a new program record with 81 home runs so far this season.
- Freshman right-hander Lila Partridge has made 13 starts for Kansas and owns a 9-4 record with a 3.95 ERA. She has five complete games to her credit this season, including four in a row from April 19 to May 2. Cloe Barber has a 9-7 record and a 4.18 ERA in 14 starts.
A win over Kansas on Saturday will send the Sooners to the Norman Regional championship series, needing just one win to secure their ninth straight regional championship and eighth in the last nine seasons Oklahoma has served as a host site.
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