The day before Sunday’s game against Oregon, OU softball coach Patty Gasso said Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi was “like a sister” to her and called Sydney Romero, a Lombardi assistant and another former OU star, “one of my all-time favorites.”
At the pregame lineup exchange, Gasso and Lombardi shared an extended hug.
Then Gasso and the Sooners went out and beat the Ducks 4-1 to end Oregon’s season and extend their own.
Gasso called the win “bittersweet.”
“Because those are my people on the other side, and it’s hard to play on such a big platform that means so much and is going to end somebody’s season,” Gasso said. “It was hard, but super proud of that staff and all that they’ve done.”
Lombardi’s contract is up after this season.
“If you aren’t investing in Melyssa Lombardi, then you’re not paying attention,” Gasso said. “Not only is she a great coach and very organized and a hustling, hustling staff that recruits very well. But she’s an extreme professional and does it the right way, treats her players the right way, expects hard work on the field. …
“She just does it the right way. She is turning girls into women and that’s what we’ve done at OU. That’s what she was when she came to OU, was a girl that turned into a woman. and now she’s going the same thing. She’s one of the best out there. There’s no question about that.”
Lombardi had been to the WCWS plenty with OU but this was her first time in the event as a head coach.
That experience in Norman helped make this moment happen, Lombardi said.
“I can remember sitting in my office, sitting there with Kai and Kedre (Luschar) and Paige (Sinicki) and having conversations of what we have done well to this point but what needs to change for us to elevate and go to another level,” Lombardi said. “And it was the most uncomfortable meeting of my life because we sat down and we got real with each other. I got real with them, and they got real with me. And we needed that.”From that moment on, we did not look back. I’m not a coach that’s going to sit at the top of the mountain and tell them what to do. I’m about being in the trenches with these guys, and I have been in the trenches with them all year.”
That approach came from Gasso.
“She believed in who I was as a player, and she believed in me as a coach,” Lombardi said. “I think of the 20-plus years we spent together, it was unbelievable. …
“I think about the opportunity I have to go be a Duck, and I love that I’m a Duck — University of Oregon is unbelievable — but I think about all the life lessons on and off the field, and I’m thankful for her giving me the opportunity. I don’t think, you know, I would be here without her. So I love her.”After games, OU often gathers in a prayer circle with their opponents.
Sunday night, they did that once again with Lombardi and the Ducks.
“It means a lot,” Lombardi said of the continued connection with Gasso and the Sooners.
After Sunday’s win, Gasso is now 64-3 all-time against her former assistants.
Florida’s Tim Walton is the only former Gasso assistant to beat the legendary OU coach.
