Patty Gasso laments 'missed opportunities' as Oklahoma trails Florida in late innings

After taking a 2-0 lead over Florida, Oklahoma found itself trailing in the third inning. A hit batter and an error helped set up a three-run inning for the Gators, and the Sooners failed to cross home plate in the top of the fourth.

Patty Gasso pointed out those “missed opportunities” during her in-game interview, but pointed out the hard contact OU got at the plate in the early going. That was a positive takeaway through the first four innings.

Oklahoma gave up three runs in the bottom of the third inning, including one on an error and another on a wild pitch. That meant two of them were unearned, and as the Sooners tried to get a spark with a rundown play in the next inning, the Florida defense made the play to keep it at 3-2.

Gasso acknowledged those mistakes, but said she sees good things from the approach at the plate. From there, it was about capitalizing down the stretch.

“We had a few miscues,” Gasso said on the SEC Network broadcast. “That’s on me, that’s on us. But we’re swinging hard. We’re hitting balls hard. So I feel good about that. Just missed opportunities.”

Oklahoma got on the board first in the second inning on a double by Abigale Dayton, and Kassidi Pickering made it a 2-0 Sooners lead with a solo home run in the top of the third inning. But Florida didn’t back down and was able to capitalize on some OU defensive mistakes in the bottom half.

Taylor Shumaker got hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a single. Jocelyn Erickson then hit a ground ball to first base, and Sydney Barker’s throw wound up in left-center field, which allowed Shumaker to score Florida’s first run of the game. After Reagan Walsh’s RBI single tied things up, Erickson came around to score on a wild pitch after advancing to third base on the previous at-bat.

That made it a 3-2 Florida lead as the Gators sought their first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team. Oklahoma entered Wednesday with a 42-5 overall record, including a 16-5 mark in SEC play. UF, meanwhile, is 41-12 and 12-9 in league action as the final weekend of the season gets underway.

Thursday’s game kicks off a three-game set between Florida and Oklahoma at Pressly Stadium. From there, the SEC Tournament awaits May 6-10 in Athens, Ga.