Right in the midst of becoming the top team in college softball, the Oklahoma Sooners are staring down a losing streak.
The No. 1 Sooners on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City fell to Bedlam rival Oklahoma State 6-4 just a day after being named the top team in every national ranking. After the game, OU head coach Patty Gasso was blunt with her disappointment in her team, but also made it clear that back-to-back losses to rivals did not derail the Sooners from winning the game they really want to in the Women's College World Series on that same field they just lost on.
"It's unacceptable for the Sooners," Gasso said. "Listen, I'm not taking anything away -- (OSU) absolutely won that game and beat us. We just became the No. 1 team in the country. I know they know. We don't talk about it, but the history of this program is to bow up. And we got bowed up on.
"And that is OK, because we had to see what it looked like and learn how to punch back a little bit better. If it helps us this weekend versus Arkansas, against Georgia, against Texas A&M, then we'll take this, because we got to get that messaging through."
Sooners have same expectation after Bedlam upset to Oklahoma State
The No. 21 Cowgirls struck first with a run in the bottom of the second, but OU immediately answered with two runs in the next frame to take the lead. OSU, though, put across another in its next at-bat, then two more in the fourth, one in the fifth and one in the sixth. In the end, the Cowgirls put at least one run on the board in every inning but the first as the Sooners went through three pitchers, none of which were ace Audrey Lowry.
The Sooners finally responded in the sixth when Abby Dayton doubled in a pair of runs. As things usually go for Gasso's teams, it seemed like that would be the start of a comeback and the Sooners would pull off another thriller, but instead, they went blank in their final at-bat to suffer the upset.
In their last outing, the Sooners showed more fight and sent it to extras, but still fell to Texas thanks to a walk-off homer in the eighth. By that point, though, OU had already clinched the series that propelled it to No. 1 for the first time this season. And the Sooners could still stay on top considering both teams below them, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Texas Tech, just suffered much worse midweek upsets.
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The Sooners do not ever have the expectation to be ranked No. 1 in Week 11 or to be the best in their state with a random midweek win or even to win their conference championship, though. In fact, the last time the Cowgirls beat a top-ranked team was also OU in the 2022 Big 12 Softball Championship. The Sooners lost that Bedlam and was conference runner-up, but still won the last game of the season as national championships.
The recent Bedlam loss would also quickly be forgotten if the Sooners win their series against No. 6 Arkansas this weekend in Norman.
"Two losses in a row is not common for us and it's very uncomfortable, to be honest," Gasso said. "But messaging came through, and response is what we expect."
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