OU softball set to see familiar faces vs. Houston this weekend
NORMAN — OU softball coach Patty Gasso’s coaching tree continues to grow.
The newest addition to the group is former Sooners standout Hope Trautwein.
Trautwein will be back in Norman this weekend as Houston’s pitching coach.
The second-ranked Sooners, leading the Big 12, will host the Cougars for a three-game series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Love’s Field.
Trautwein was a star pitcher on OU’s 2022 Women’s College World Series championship team, earning All-Tournament honors that season, going 4-0 with a 2.51 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 22 1⁄ 3 innings.
She spent last season as a graduate assistant for the Sooners before joining Houston’s staff.
Trautwein isn’t the only familiar face on the Cougars’ staff.
Houston head coach Kristin Vesely played for OU from 2003-06.
Vesely finished her Sooners career as the all-time program leader in hits and still stands fourth with 293, though Tiare Jennings is right on her heels.
“There’s pride from my side to see any of those guys go into coaching,” Gasso said. “So I’m excited about that.”
It’s not just the coaching staff where there’s some familiarity for the Sooners.
Junior Turiya Coleman started her career at OU and was a freshman on the Sooners’ 2022 WCWS Championship team before transferring home to Houston after that season.
Coleman is hitting .364 with seven home runs and 39 RBIs, along with a team-high three triples.
The Cougars are sixth in the league in offense, hitting .311 with 293 runs — third in the league behind only OU and Texas.
“They can swing,” Gasso said. “They’ve been trained very well. They beat Texas and beat them legitimately. They’ve had a little bit of injury in their pitching department, so that’s where a little bit of their struggle is right now. But they’re capable, like any team in the Big 12.”
The Cougars (23-20, 3-15 Big 12) beat the Longhorns 12-10 on March 8 in Houston.
OU (39-4, 15-3) enters the weekend a game up on Texas and two ahead of Oklahoma State for the Big 12’s lead.