Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso hasn't been in Omaha yet, but she's still keeping an eye on what the Sooners' baseball team is accomplishing during their improbable run to the Men's College World Series final.
Just a week after the softball team finished a rare season that didn't end in the Women's College World Series, Skip Johnson's squad started its unbelievable run to its own World Series with no expectations at all to get there. Sooner Nation has showed up to Omaha to support the team, including other OU coaches and Brent Venables even sharing a locker room speech, but Gasso told Tulsa World's Eric Bailey this week that she hasn't been able to make the trip yet because she's back in Norman recruiting to make sure her team is also competing for a national title next year.
Oklahoma's improbable CWS run has turned Patty Gasso into a believer
Even though Gasso's team fell short in Super Regionals this season, she still knows better than any other coach in Oklahoma what it takes to be a national champion with eight titles on her resume. She sees all those qualities from these Sooners, while also admittedly being a little envious that she's not enjoying this experience firsthand again.
"You know when you see a team play with so much joy and so much freedom and not afraid of the moment - and that's what I'm witnessing," Gasso told Bailey. "I wish our team had finished the way they are right now. But I'm on the other side watching it, and it's an elite level of focus yet freedom. And that's the key to win championships."
How proud is Patty Gasso about the #Sooners run at the College World Series in Omaha? pic.twitter.com/se4vP30lDp
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) June 16, 2026
That freedom for the baseball team likely comes from having absolutely nothing to lose while at the same time playing out of their minds. After losing seven of their last 10 games before the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners weren't even expected to get out of the Atlanta Regional, especially with No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech in their way. Every single win was an unforeseen bonus. The rest is now history as they'll play No. 5 North Carolina in the best-of-three championship series this weekend. Two more unexpected wins, and the Sooners will feel as free as ever hoisting a trophy.
Read more: Oklahoma couldn't be set up any prettier to finish CWS with a national title
Gasso's program, though, after nine trips in a row to the WCWS and at one point four straight national championships, is expected to be title contenders every single season. The Sooners once again entered this past NCAA Tournament as the favorites to win it all, and not playing in Oklahoma City seemed almost as unthinkable as the baseball team getting to Omaha.
This moment is for Skip Johnson's program, though. And Gasso believes it can be the same type of moment she's experienced eight times before.
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