2025 WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

May 31, 2025

Patty Gasso

Ella Parker

Abigale Dayton

Sam Landry

Oklahoma Sooners

Postgame Press Conference

Texas 4, Oklahoma 2

PATTY GASSO: Tough game for us, but I will say Kavan was throwing really, really well, really well, and had us a little bit off balance. We talked as a group that our offensive mindset was not like it has been, and that made a difference.

But I thought Sam threw well. It's hard to shut down a Texas offense. They're very much like us. And defense played well also. The biggest issue that is circled on the paper is nine runners left on base, and that cannot happen against a good team like Texas.

Q. Ella and Abi, Patty talked about the offensive approach and the game plan today, what did you feel maybe wasn't there today versus Kavan? And what was the biggest difference from when you all faced her in the regular season?

ELLA PARKER: Kavan had a really good game. She's a really good pitcher. I think our in-game adjustments weren't locked in. That's something we needed to work on.

ABIGALE DAYTON: We had to work on making swinging at first pitches that were coming through the plate. There were many balls that we were swinging at that we don't normally swing at. Making in-game adjustments, I think that threw us off.

Q. You guys have beaten Texas so much up here. I'm guessing the confidence level is still pretty high even getting down to the last couple of outs. What was going through your minds just in that last inning?

ELLA PARKER: Just continuing to stay loose. We know how to play this game, so not making any moment too big. And just continue to pass the bat is what we were talking about and what we really focused on.

Q. Sam, talk about your performance today and how you think things went for you today?

SAM LANDRY: I thought defensively the team looked very good. So we were just trying to keep the ball in the park, and it doesn't always go that way. They came up with some timely hits, some good hits, and that helped them a lot. So I'm really proud of the defense. I thought they looked great, another double play today.

Q. Ella, you guys were in the spot a year ago as far as having to come back against Florida. What was the message and everything going into tomorrow?

ELLA PARKER: We're just ready to come out and compete again. We're ready.

Q. Ella, you're one of the few players who played Oregon last year. I realize a lot of players on both teams have changed, but they have one pitcher who was a hold-over. What do you remember of the Norman Regional and playing Sokolsky last year -- I know it's right off the game with Texas, but what do you recall of the match-up against Oregon last year?

ELLA PARKER: I don't remember.

Q. Those two home runs in the fifth and sixth, take me through those at-bats and what was your mindset going into them?

SAM LANDRY: My mindset going into all of them is get the defense a ground ball, a fly ball to work with. And I think both of those pitches were left too much over the heart of the plate or right in their barrel path.

I mean, they got a good hit on it. And we're ready to bounce back tomorrow.

Q. Talk about your defense today. I know it wasn't enough obviously to pull off the win. But still more plays like you had two days ago in the opener. How big was that for you guys going forward?

SAM LANDRY: Like Coach says, defense wins championship. I think the defense looked absolutely amazing. They kept us in it as long as we could. They had a lot of fire, and just ready to bring it back tomorrow.

Q. Patty, Teagan can throw 70. That's always a constant thing. But her ability to throw that change for a strike, which she hasn't always been able to do, but she was able to do it today?

PATTY GASSO: It's part of it. It's hard to be on time for something hard and something that is like a changeup. She was kind of moving the ball up early, and then she started really hammering the zone down and mixing in those change-ups. She was really tough today. I give her 100 percent credit. She was really, really good. And our timing was off and our plans were a little bit uncertain.

Q. You mentioned the nine runners stranded; there being some plays you were able to get runners on but not bring them home. What kept that from happening, and what can you learn from that?

PATTY GASSO: I think movement of runners is really important. We've got to bunt down. We popped the bunt up. I think Ailana hit something hard to the right side to move a runner in scoring position. We're just trying to get runners in scoring position, and I don't know, I don't know what else to say except it's not that they weren't trying. There was a little bit of frustration going on in the offensive side of things, and you could feel it, just a little bit of uncertainty or what should I look for, what should I choose?

But I think the goal is just getting runners in scoring position, and we did have a couple of those opportunities that could have changed, would have, could have, but didn't. And that's the toughness of this game.

Q. To follow up on what Ryan asked Ella. You had teams that have been in this situation before, backs against the wall. How much can you draw on that to help this team get ready for tomorrow?

PATTY GASSO: A lot. They were in the same position. I mean, they literally were in the same position two days ago. So we talked about this is not uncommon right here. We've been here. We know how to come back.

What I need to make sure I understand is all these people up here, with the exception of Ella and everyone in our dugout, is new to this. And I've got to keep them grinding. I've got to keep them not getting caught up in what if or thinking about the outcome. I've got to keep these guys in the moment and make them believe.

When you run into a saw like -- that's what it felt like. She was just chopping us up a bit. But I stood in front of these guys today, and I said: I've been waiting for this moment to see what this team is truly made of.

So that's what we're going to be ready for.

Q. I know this game's fresh on your mind, I'm curious what tomorrow will mean for you facing Melyssa on this stage and the job she's had to get her job here?

PATTY GASSO: I haven't thought about it quite yet. But we'll get ourselves ready for it. It's a celebration. I mean, she has been with me for over 20 years, like a sister to me, an older sister to me.

Syd Romero is one of my all-time favorites. Sam Marder worked with us. We know them very well. It's going to be a battle. We're both fighting for our teams, but at the same time there's absolute mutual respect, which feels good in this game, to feel like you can feel that way against a team that you're playing against.

I already know it's going to be done professionally and the right way. And that means a lot to me. If it's not going to be us, I want it to be them. I'll say that very clearly and out loud because they've lived in our program and their program, I think, might mimic us a little bit by the way she's coaching, but I take that as a complete honor.

Q. You've had pitchers that have become their best selves on this stage before. That might be happening to Teagan Kavan right now. And are there common denominators? What is there mentally between the ears that allows a pitcher to elevate?

PATTY GASSO: I can't speak for her. I'm not in their locker room or anything. I can just tell you that some of the pitchers we've had in the past that have been elite on this stage, to me, it's just the absolute mental focus. Like you've got to get in a zone and you've got to stay in the zone.

And that's really important. That's what I felt out there.

Q. Sort of gets lost, and maybe doesn't matter as much, but right before the home run there in the fifth, Mike challenged, I guess, that defensive shift that you all have done. I know it's a little bit different that time. What was he saying? What did they tell you? And he said that was something that maybe he needed to look into moving forward.

PATTY GASSO: I wasn't talking with them. I had a conversation with the umpire before the game even started knowing that we were going to do that, what do you want me to do? And he said, nothing, just let them in, let them come in.

So I did exactly what I was told. And there's no way -- thank goodness he didn't turn that around on me, but that's what our conversation was, and that's what I understood.

Q. Patty, you guys have certainly had the better of Texas, especially here in the World Series. Mike White said that in some ways it was a mental hurdle for them to overcome. Wondering, from your perspective, have you sensed almost a mental edge that your side has had in this series?

PATTY GASSO: We have a mental edge at home for sure. I can feel that. I think they have it when they're in their environment as well.

They're too good -- their team is too good for us to walk in and think, well, we're just going to shut them down. They're too good. They've proven it. They're that good. They're definitely a team that can win this whole thing, I know that.

But we're not done yet. And that's what's really exciting for me is, I just am really looking forward to seeing our response and rebound with this team.

For me, it is going to mean the world because it's going to take us into the next couple of years. So these young players are feeling this and they'll be able to preach it to the new ones that are coming in. But we're not done yet, but I can't tell you how proud I am of what this group is doing and how they've gotten here, and I just am really anxious to see how they go forward.