Patty Gasso praises Kelly Maxwell's success after coming on in relief vs. UCF

The Oklahoma Sooners and head coach Patty Gasso are trying to sweep the UCF Knights in a Big 12 series late in the season. However, the Knights weren’t going to go down without a fight and came out swinging against the Sooners.

Fairly early in the game, Patty Gasso turned to Kelly Maxwell in the circle, who was able to slow down those UCF bats. Gasso spoke to the ESPNU broadcast in the bottom of the 5th inning with Oklahoma then leading 7-4, where she praised Maxwell’s success in relief.

“She’s really gotten stronger,” Patty Gasso said. “She’s gotten more comfortable, especially as we got into the Big 12, but we need all hands on deck as we go forward to what they’re always looking forward to, postseason, and getting into the end of the season to try and be our best. So, they’re stepping up.”

Kelly Maxwell is a graduate student for the Oklahoma Sooners. A lefty who transferred into the program from rival Oklahoma State, she’s been a great pitcher throughout her career and has been a member of the USA Softball Women’s National Team. This season, she has thrown 96.2 innings for Oklahoma. During that stretch, she has a 1.59 ERA and 106 strikeouts.

Maxwell pitched on Friday against UCF, going 6.1 innings with five strikeouts in that game. She only gave up one run in the Oklahoma win.

On Saturday, Oklahoma was able to beat UCF 2-1 despite only getting two hits on the game. Sunday’s game has been a different story for both teams, though, and Patty Gasso was happy to see her team respond to the multiple home runs that UCF hit early in the game.

“Definitely. Got a little bit of energy,” Gasso said. “What I liked was that we answered their scores back twice. It’s something that you want to feel as you’re going into the end of the season.”

Patty Gasso and Oklahoma are looking to build on this series against UCF as they head down the final stretch and look to win their fourth national championship in a row.

The Oklahoma Sooners currently sit at 44-4 on the season and 20-3 in Big 12 play. The Sooners have also won seven games in a row entering play on Sunday. As of now, the Sooners also sit atop the Big 12 conference standings, but the season isn’t over yet.

Next up, Oklahoma will return home for a three-game series against Oklahoma State.