Patty Gasso's urgent call brought Karlie Keeney back as OU softball interim pitching coach
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NORMAN — It was Saturday night before Oklahoma softball’s season opener and Patty Gasso wasn’t thinking about matchups or lineups. She was looking for someone.
Most of the Sooners’ recent alumni were hours away in Dallas, celebrating former catcher Kinzie Hansen’s wedding. Gasso needed one of them to help her track down Karlie Keeney. Immediately.
So she called Tiare Jennings.
“Do you see Karlie Keeney?” Gasso asked. “Get her to come to Norman.”
What Gasso didn’t say over the phone was why the urgency mattered so much. Five days before the season, OU pitching coach Jennifer Rocha — one of the most influential figures in the sport — needed to step away from the program because of serious health issues.
Rocha had already returned once sooner than expected after a medical procedure was supposed to sideline her for six weeks. A second procedure extended that timeline again, leaving the Sooners without their pitching anchor on the eve of opening day.
Gasso and Rocha didn’t debate options for long. The answer was Keeney, a former OU pitcher on the 2024 national championship team and a student assistant under Rocha last season.
“She is a student, a disciple, of Coach Rocha,” Gasso said Tuesday. “She knows the system. She knows how to call like her. She understands how to set up hitters like Jen Rocha. So that's the closest thing I could get to her in this pinch.”
Jennings convinced Keeney to scrap her plans and drive back to Norman instead of returning home to Kentucky, where she’d been finishing school, helping with family and giving pitching lessons on the side.
Gasso wanted to tell her in person.
“I wanted to look at her face to face and share the news and tell her Coach Rocha's wishes,” Gasso said. “And without question she was, 'Absolutely I'm all in for you, for the program.’”
The next week blurred together. Keeney drove back to Kentucky to pack, flew to Arizona to join the team for opening weekend, flew back to Kentucky, then drove to Norman again late Monday night.
Keeney helped the Sooners open the season 3-1, beating Arizona twice and Arizona State once, with pitchers settling quickly into a familiar rhythm.
Sophomore Audrey Lowry, who allowed only one earned run in 14 innings over the weekend, felt it immediately.
“I was with Karlie last year, so I have more of a personal connection with her and she's great,” Lowry said. “She knows her stuff, especially working behind coach Rocha last year. So it's awesome to have her back.”
Lowry said Keeney understands the mental demands of the position.
“(Keeney learned) how to work with us mentally (last season),” Lowry said. “Because being a pitcher, it’s mentally challenging, so you have to be strong in that space.”
That understanding traces directly back to Rocha. Since returning to Norman in 2018, Rocha has helped guide OU to six straight Women’s College World Series appearances, which included four consecutive national championships from 2021-24. Her pitching staffs at OU own a 1.74 ERA.
“The toughest thing is (Keeney’s) not Jennifer Rocha, and everybody's so used to that,” Gasso said. “(Rocha) always keeps our feet on the ground, keeps us in check. She's one of the greatest people I've ever met. I love working next to her. It's very hard to look to my left and not see her there.”
Five days before the season, OU needed stability. Gasso found it during a Saturday night phone call.
“A familiar face is always helpful,” Gasso said. “Karlie Keeney has stepped in graciously and really did a great job for us as our opening weekend began."
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Patty Gasso's urgent call brought Karlie Keeney back to OU softball
