Inspired by Olympian, Lowary shows transformation at OU
NORMAN — Just before Big 12 play last year, Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso showed the Sooners a 60 Minutes Sports interview with Lindsey Vonn.
Then-junior pitcher Paige Lowary, who had arrived at OU just a couple months earlier as a transfer from Missouri, was captivated from the minute Vonn showed up on the screen.
Not only did the two look alike with blonde hair, bright smiles and a similar bone structure, they also shared a similar story.
Like Lowary, Vonn had to overcome depression and injuries en route to rebuilding her career.
Now, a year removed from watching the interview with the Olympic gold medal-winning skier, Lowary is thriving with the Sooners. She enters Friday’s Big 12 opener against Texas Tech with a 0.59 ERA — good for seventh-best in the nation.
“Her story resonated with Paige like they were related,” Gasso said. “It really helped change her world. I felt like after she
saw that and it really hit home and opened her eyes I felt her start to change.”
When Lowary arrived in Norman in the summer of 2016, she was a shell of a person — a far cry from the bubbly woman who laughed as she wriggled into a small, pink promotional T-shirt for a quick photo shoot after Thursday’s softball practice. Two years spent in a harsh environment in Missouri made her timid and scared.
When Lowary left the Tigers after her sophomore year, Missouri head coach Ehren Earleywine was in the midst of a Title IX investigation triggered by complaints of harsh player treatment.
He was eventually fired in January for what Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk called “a culmination of leadership concerns.”
In February 2016, she was also hit in the face by a line drive and re-entered the game after just a couple of minutes.
“It’s was just a bad environment all around,” Lowary said. “I’m really far past it, so I don’t like to look back at it necessarily. But I would say from a mental health standpoint, I was depressed and just kind of sad all the time and didn’t believe in myself, didn’t trust others, just was very closed off.”
Gasso recognized that when she met Lowary in 2016 and began the process of rebuilding Lowary’s body and soul. Midway through the season, Gasso showed the video of Vonn to help inspire her entire team, but Vonn’s message especially helped Lowary.
“I think it was mostly about the fact that she’s beautiful, successful, is a gold medalist, all these crazy things, but then she struggles with mental health as well, which I struggled with,” Lowary said. “(Gasso) told me to watch and put myself in her shoes. I think it was someone that I could relate to that was world-known and successful.”
The coaching staff started out by easing Lowary into the Sooners’ rotation, inserting her at the end of games to get outs and build her confidence. Eventually, Gasso and pitching coach Melyssa Lombardi planned to use Lowary a starter, but she flourished as a closer.
The role stuck, and it helped OU win last year’s Women’s College World Series. Now, she’s OU’s alltime leader in saves with 14.
“By the fourth inning, we know if we need her, we can bring her in,” Gasso said. “Probably not before that, but in our sport, that’s half the game. She really has worked her way into that position.”
As Lowary took cues from Vonn and found her groove on the field, she began to thrive off of it. She let loose and showed off her goofy side, endearing herself to her coaches and her teammates.
“She was quiet and reserved and still just kind of broken and uncomfortable with letting her guard down,” Gasso said. “Once she finally did, she is the funniest, most ridiculous. She needs to be on television somehow, some way.”
On Friday, the Sooners will begin individually honoring the seniors. Each senior gets her own game, and Lowary is up first.
A year ago, Lowary might’ve shied away from the spotlight. But now?
“She is going to bask in the glory and eat it up,” Gasso said.