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It was a game that will be discussed forever.
On a Sunday afternoon at the newly opened Love’s Field in Norman, a stadium that Louisiana Ragin Cajuns head coach Gerry Glasco referred to as “an amphitheater for college softball”, the Cajuns dug down deep and responded to every punch Oklahoma threw. In the end, Glasco’s team ended the 71-game win streak of the three-time defending national champs and sent the softball world into a tailspin.
After a weekend that included dropping games to Miami of Ohio, Liberty, and a five-inning run-rule at the hands of the Sooners, the Cajuns knew that something had to go their way to salvage something from the trip. After a team meeting following the loss earlier in the day, Louisiana came out firing in the Sunday finale against the top-ranked team in the country.
Jourdyn Campbell opened the game with a home run that kicked off a three-run stretch for the Cajuns through the first four innings. But then Oklahoma answered with two of their own before Louisiana added insurance in the seventh with a Sam Roe fielder’s choice that allowed Mihyia Davis to score on an error. But again, the top team in the country responded and tied the game with two outs in the seventh.
In extra innings, the Cajuns had timely hitting mixed with uncharacteristic errors from Patty Gasso’s Oklahoma squad led to a three-run lead and the Sooners couldn’t catch up. For the first time in 71 games, Oklahoma had lost.
Could this be the biggest regular season victory in Ragin Cajuns’ sports history? Gerry Glasco said he isn’t focused on that.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to beat Miami (Ohio) and Liberty and be the best coach I can be for my girls and get my girls in the best position to win a regional,” Glasco said during his weekly media availability. UL sports, UL softball is so much bigger than anything I know. I mean, you got Yvette Girouard and coach (Michael) Lotief. You got a lot of great coaches you can ask about that. I really don’t know. I mean, it was a good win for us and it was a huge win for our players. But my mind’s on my team and not everywhere else.”
When people think of the biggest wins at Louisiana, many say the 1996 Football win over Texas A&M or even the 2020 road win over Iowa State in football, but I would argue that this win over Oklahoma for softball may just top those.
One of the biggest reasons for that thought is the fact that the Sooners were the top-ranked team and the three-time defending national champs. Then you tie in the fact that Louisiana got run-ruled by Oklahoma 24 hours before and it just makes for a legendary underdog story.
“I kept telling the team before the game that when you punch them they’re gonna punch back,” Glasco said. “If you bloody their nose, they’re gonna give you a bloody lip. I tried to use that example that we got to learn how to fight and that’s that’s what we have to do. We have to learn how to fight in a softball game and continue to get to that point where we can win at the end of the year, which is where we were last year. Coach Gasso has done such an amazing job with that (Oklahoma) program, it’s like ingrained in them, they believe they’re gonna win at all points and I thought that our team yesterday believed they were going to win the game at all points. where that’s what we failed against Miami and that’s what we failed against Liberty is we have that moment of doubt.”
“This is what you live for,” Glasco continued. “This crowd I mean, I gotme goosebumps. I love those games. I’m not worried about losing. I’m just thrilled to compete as a coach and as a person. And I want my team to reflect that and I thought they grasped that in the game, and I just kept going out every time I went to the mountain. That’s what my message was. I live in the moment like, How fortunate Are you? High level softball talent, you get to be on this field to challenge Oklahoma in this moment. They bought into that.”
It’s truly too early to say that this is the greatest single win in the history of Louisiana Athletics because you have to see how this softball team will use this performance to motivate them. But if the Cajuns can use this to make a run at another Super Regional appearance or beyond, it’s very possible that this win could be the greatest by any Cajuns team in history.
Matt Miguez is the host of the Miguez Mindset Podcast on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles’ YouTube channel. He is a digital contributor for ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.