It was inevitable I suppose, OU loses to Louisiana

[SoonerGirl1201]

I'm not even super upset. It was totally unrealistic to expect that this team would go the whole season without losing. I think there probably is some relief in it to be honest.

Here are my initial thoughts. I don't think Tiare should play SS - I think Avery Hodge is the best player we have a short. Tiare belongs at 2nd, and Brito belongs at 3rd. I'm not super confident we have a shut-down pitcher but I do think we have enough to get the job done. Really hoping we would have someone step up and lead that room, I think at times they all have shown good things and bad things. Really want to see someone play that shut down role.

Defense is normally super solid - I think the girls just had a let down and again, that is inevitable to some degree. The fact they tied it up to take it to extra innings was awesome. Not sure why we didn't pull Keeney after the first hit of the 8th and put Deal or SJ in. Oh well, on to the next with hopefully a lot of teachable moments.

As for our hitting - it is there - but it seems that there is still is not a good flow. I know Patty plays with the lineup early in the season, hoping we can start narrowing down into a more fluid lineup.

Also hoping now that we see some joy return to the players. I didn't get to watch the whole game, but what I saw was not a team having fun and enjoying it. Hoping that joy/fun returns and they play loose and get back that edge.

[EMan]

It was the worst played game I've seen them play as far back as I can remember. Multiple base running mistakes, multiple errors... just a bad game all the way around. Off the top of my head, I remember Coleman left second early which killed a rally, Hansen got picked off second to put the brakes on a rally, Sanders didn't touch first base on a throw that pulled the first baseman off the bag... Hansen dropped a ball right in her glove when a runner was trying to score from third on a grounder to third. The runner would've been out by 10' but Hansen dropped the ball (and I don't mean she dropped it on the tag, she dropped it long before the runner got to the plate) and the runner scored. There were back-to-back errors in the 8th with the game tied that loaded the bases with no outs. Instead of getting out of the inning with no damage, 3 runs scored.

I really can't imagine the Sooners playing a worse game. So now the pressure of the streak is off. Time to go back to work and play softball.

[raven15]

The Cajuns played a great game. They had us on our heels the whole game with how aggressive they were on the base paths and they made some outstanding defensive plays. Their pitcher did a great job with a complete game. We do miss Lyons a lot and we had too many mental errors today. Hopefully getting more practice in the stadium this week will help us.

[1KCSoonerFan]

Nice take, SG!

If that monkey was too heavy to keep carrying, I'm glad it is off our back now.

OU has lots to work on in every category after this game. Patty will approach practice with a full notebook this week. Or, knowing her, she will ask the team, "What do you think we need to work on? And what are you going to do about it?"

Honestly, we had more than our fair share of chances to win that game. When the 4th inning rolled around, I started to get the feeling that this could just be one of those days.

Let's see how OU bounces back on Wednesday.

[TN Sooner]

Secretly, Patty is smiling. She hated “the streak”. I’m positive she’s happy it’s over.

[SoonerMike]

The pressure to keep the consecutive game winning streak may have been a contributing factor to our team not playing with their usual poise and error free game we are used to. We're in the record books, now we can focus on getting better, figuring out our bat and pitch rotation, and try to reach our peak in OKC next May/June. It is really difficult to be perfect in softball, so we may be better off with that out of our mind.

[soonershok]

Agree that Jennings needs to go back to second. Her arm just isn't good enough and she's made more errors this season that usual. Who plays SS??? Torres or Hodge I suppose. The errors aren't good. We look sloppy. We look like a team that looks like they can just show up and win. Most of the time that is true but not today and probably not against the good teams. Our pitching seems suspect as well. We are constantly nipping at the edges (I know all pitchers do) but then we put one right in their wheelhouse. What is up with us never swinging at the first strike. We don't seem to ever look to swing until we get a strike called on us. Lastly, can someone get Torres to hit line drives...I swear if she hit line drives half of the fly balls she hits would be home runs. What a nasty ugly game today was.

[waddy's ghost]

I agree that the STREAK put enormous pressure on this team ,however I would say it became a 600 pound gorilla on OUr backs not a monkey . We pressing too hard at the plate and in field today BUT I would add that we have seen shades of this all season long .

How many times did we have one of OUr stalwart batters at the plate( I do not wish to single any one player OUt ) and they failed to produce ,the next batter would then fail to make a play and the rally would die . IMHO this game was a microcosm of OUr season. When thing started to go bad the pressue mounted and the bottom fell OUt. Does PG need to make changes ? Hell I don't know . I There were a bunch of mistakes by a bunch of players . The error total I saw was three but I swear I saw at least six . The good news is we still have about 40 games to turn it around and IN PATTY I TRUST .

[SwampSooner]

I agree that the STREAK put enormous pressure on this team ,however I would say it became a 600 pound gorilla on OUr backs not a monkey .

I believe I read it in "Presidents Can't Punt," The weight of the football winning streak was getting to the 1957 team and after the loss the team played much more relaxed.

Think about it this way, if the Sooners had won in 1957 and the rest of the games played out as they did, the streak would have been broken by UT in 1958. Just like in 1957,the loss will be a blessing in disguise in that this was not a conference game and will not keep us out of the post-season. I expect coach will use this to her advantage while shaping this team.

[AustinTXSooner]

There was not one single thing that caused us to lose. It was a bunch of things. So the blame belongs to everyone...if you're into blame. It did however bring some things to light.

Tiare is my favorite player on the team. She was probably the best shortstop in the tournament. But we're used to better shortstop play. Yes, we're spoiled. It's hard to quantify how much fielding is worth compared to hitting. But Hodge is the kind of fielder that we've grown accustomed to at short. If she can give us a .350+ OBP or .800+ OPS, that's a bonus. That's really just another way of saying that she doesn't have to be one of our nine best hitters for her impact to be felt. I don't remember Jessica Vest or Kelsey Arnold being world-beaters at the plate.

I love our aggressiveness on the base paths. But clearly we need to rethink our approach on second base. Whoever scouts the opposition for Louisiana did a damn good job. They deserve a lot of credit for taking advantage of it.

Our pitching staff gave up way too many walks over the weekend, well, except against Liberty. In a 7 inning game, we should only give up 2 or 3 walks+HBP. We gave up 8, 3 (5 innings), and 4. I realize the strike zone wasn't ideal in some of those games, but we have to be able to adjust to that.

I'm not sure that I'm willing to chalk anything up as unfamiliarity with the field.

BTW, "Presidents Can't Punt" is an outstanding book and should be required reading for any OU fan.

[Bricklayer]

Don’t mind the streak being over at all. Fun while it lasted, but I think the streak was taking on a life of its own.

I’m not gonna read too much into the loss, as much of it has been broken down on this thread already and it’s just one loss. I think it’s obvious this team is more sloppy than PG is used to at this point in the season.

Just looking forward to this team getting better and peaking at the right time…and I will continue to tune in to every game and cheer them on.

#BOOMER

[SoonerGirl1201]

Agreed with everyone's thoughts so far for the most part. It is good that the streak is over, the team played uncharacteristically bad. Chances of that happening again in a game that matters - historically not so much.

Lastly, as much I get chagrinned at how Patty throws lines-ups, pitchers up against the wall early in the season to see what sticks - she ALWAYS ends up finding the right match.

The one thing I have confidence in - and why Patty is the GOAT - she is like Saban at Bama. She will bench the star player if they are not playing well at a position and play someone else. Ultimately what makes her great and keeps her in contention for NCs is that she is not a coach who will play a player out of loyalty (see transfers). She wants to win and will make the tough decisions to get those wins (see transfers). She will make the right decision to switch a player out of a position, move them in the batting order, or pull them from pitching and replace them with someone else, period.

I'm going to look for getting my excitement for this season from seeing who all ends up where as I do think there are some interesting developments from trying a few different players at SS and 2nd, outfield, etc in particular - as well as the pitching rotation and batting lineup. At the end of the day, I do trust Patty to make the right decisions for this team to have its best chance to repeat and make it 4 in a row! She is the best at it. We have won NCs with less talented teams because Patty knows how to use her players and put them in the best position to win the games we need to.

[waddy's ghost]

As several have mentioned the pressure of THE STREAK (including me) I was reminded of a olayer talking last year about the pressure of the winning streak , that player Was Bahl . I think she cited it as one of the factors in her transferring to The Land of Corn .