Karen Weekly takes subtle shot at Oklahoma, WCWS after loss in Oklahoma City

Tennessee was one out away from pulling off an upset to begin its Women’s College World Series campaign. Instead, Oklahoma hit a walk-off three-run home run to put them in the winner’s bracket. A tough pill to swallow for the Lady Vols, they are now one loss away from elimination.

Following the game, Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly brought up some of the challenges facing off against Oklahoma, specifically in the WCWS. It’s no secret of the homefield advantage the Sooners gets in the biggest games of the season. And Weekly pointed out as such during her postgame press conference, talking about the tough environment.

“They have some of the absolute best players in the country,” Weekly said via Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World. “… You don’t win that many national championships without being an exceptional coach. You also have 9,900 people on your side. It’s an environment you have to fight through.”

Devon Park hosts the Women’s College World Series from Oklahoma City. The venue has done so every year since 1997 after getting its first shot in 1990. If not for Columbus, GA, being the site back in 1996, the streak for OKC would be at 35 years.

Oklahoma did not make its first WCWS until 2000 but the total appearances are now up to 18, including nine years. A lot of those have resulted in national championships, all of which have been under Gasso’s watch.

This was a topic during last year as well, where Gasso gave her thoughts on the matter. She admitted Oklahoma can take advantage of being close to home, less than 30 miles from their own stadium in Norman.

“It’s no doubt that Sooners fans come out,” Gasso said during Wednesday’s press conference. “If you have it in Omaha, Nebraska fans are going to come out. Where are you going to take it? Who has a 15,000-plus stadium to have it? There’s nothing we can do. It’s not our fault. It’s no one’s fault. It’s the people of Oklahoma City that put in the money to make this happen. It’s a celebration of that.

“You can look at it any way you want. Someone’s going to have to put up big bucks to try to get it somewhere else. I know this is a long-term contract, as well. I don’t know. Everybody has their opinions. As long as it’s here, we’re going to take advantage of it, just like anybody else would.”

Texas will now have to deal with the same environment Tennessee did on Friday, if not with a little extra juice in the stadium. Mike White’s team is more than aware of what comes with facing Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, playing them in the championship series last year.