Lowary, Parker pitch Oklahoma to Game 1 victory
As the sun was setting in Oklahoma City on Monday night, Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso called the first curveball in the Women’s College World Series best-of-three championship series. The curveball was Paige Lowary and it was a strike.
“Well, I think it was probably a surprise to some that we started Paige Lowary, but it was a team decision. It was a pitching staff, coaching staff decision,” said Gasso. “These two were right with us when we talked about it, and then we presented it to the team and they were all for it.”
Lowary made her first start since April 28 on the biggest stage, in the biggest game of her career to this point and did it with confidence and fire. Her first pitch was clocked at 74 m.p.h.
“As crazy as it sounds, I try to keep the same mindset every time I go out on the field because if I make it too big, it just gets out of control, so I just tried to focus on the pitch that I was throwing,” said Lowary.
With Oklahoma up 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Gasso went with Paige Parker to close the game. She got through the inning with two strikeouts and a groundout but the Florida Gators tied things up in the seventh with two outs and down to their last strike.
For the next 10 innings, “the Paige’s” painted a masterpiece and the Sooners came away with a 7-5 victory. Parker pitched 6.2 innings of relief, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out seven. Lowary re-entered the game in the 12th and gave up a game-tying two-RBI double to Amanda Lorenz. The 13th through 16th innings were scoreless and she sealed the victory with a strikeout of Kayli Kvistad with the tying run on base.
“I loved what she (Lowary) did, and I loved what Paige (Parker) did, and I loved what Paige Lowary did to come back in, and you saw Florida doing the same exact thing,” said Gasso. “We were almost mirroring each other in what our strategies were. It was an emotional roller coaster for both of them. They came in and I felt like, I could have shut that down. It was highs and lows, and for Paige Lowary especially to finish on the note that she did, it was to me the highlight of our season.”
The difference in this game wasn’t just Shay Knighten’s three-run home run in the top of the 17th. It was the special relationship between two very different pitchers who have developed their own way of communication nobody else has.
“I think it’s just staying locked in no matter where you are in the game, if you’re in the circle or if you’re in the dugout,” said Parker. “I wanted to stay with Paige (Lowary) every single pitch. Whenever I was in the dugout, and I could feel her with me every single pitch whenever I was on the mound.”
That bond could be what pushes Oklahoma past Florida in the series, they are only one win away. There’s only one way to find out. Game two is set for Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.
