Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso loves to teach through adversity.

The Sooners aren’t exactly struggling. But Gasso never misses an opportunity.

OU suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday at Missouri, and on Tuesday the Sooners had fallen — ever so slightly — in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25.

So Wednesday, Gasso’s No. 2-ranked squad came out and batted around in the first inning, then survived a rare slugfest on their way to a 19-16 victory over Wichita State at WSU’s Wilkins Stadium.

The Sooners scored a season-high in runs to improve to 30-1, while WSU fell to 16-16.

In this week’s NFCS poll, OU fell from No. 1 to No. 2, behind Texas, who got 16 first-place votes to OU’s 14. The Longhorns (31-2) are in front by the slimmest of margins, 757 poll points to OU’s 756. In last week’s poll, the Sooners received 23 first-place votes to UT’s eight.

But with the rest of the SEC schedule looming, Gasso has more important things to worry about than softball polls — like pitching and defense.

After the Sooners beat the Shockers 8-1 in Norman back on Feb. 23, OU’s latest midweek triumph looked like a laugher after that decisive first inning.

Instead, this one came with its own adversity.

Sooner pitchers gave up the most runs an OU team has allowed since losing 16-3 to UCLA in the WCWS Championship Series in 2019.

Left-hander Kierston Deal, the Sooners’ most experienced returning pitcher this season, was rocked by the hard-hitting Shockers, giving up six runs on six hits, one walk and a wild pitch.

Half of Deal’s hits were home runs, raising her season earned run average to 2.98. She’s now allowed 10 doubles and six home runs on the season, with four hit batters and four wild pitches.

Paytn Monticelli relieved Deal as the Sooners led 14-6 with one out in the bottom of the third, but Monticelli quickly yielded a walk, a single and a three-run home run that cut it to 14-9.

Versatile ace Sam Landry, the reigning, two-time SEC pitcher of the week, also struggled

The way Oklahoma swung the bats, and with the wind blowing out to left field early on, it almost didn’t matter who was in the circle for the Sooners.

Nelly McEnroe-Marina, Gabbie Garcia and Maya Bland each had three hits, Garcia had four RBIs, and Garcia, Kasidi Pickering and Isabella Emerling hit home runs for the Sooners. Eight of the nine starters had hits, and six had multiple hits.

Abby Dayton’s leadoff walk got the Sooners started, and  McEnroe-Marinas moved her to third on a single through the right side. After Pickering walked to load the bases, Gabbie Garcia singled to right to bring home Dayton.

Ella Parker’s groundout scored McEnroe-Marinas for a 2-0 lead, and Ailana Agbayani singled kept it going with a bunt single down the third base line.

Isabella Emerling smashed a hard shot on the dirt to shortstop to score Pickering for a 3-0 lead, and Maya Bland’s two-run single through the right side sent Agbayani and Garcia home for a 5-0 lead.

Dayton came up again and tripled into the gap in right-center field to score Bland and Emerling as OU led 7-0, and Dayton eventually came around on a wild pitch to make it 8-0 after the top of the first.

Ellee Eck needed just two pitches from Deal to put the Shockers on the scoreboard with a home run to left-center. Taylor Sedalcek followed with a two-out blast to left to make it 8-2.

OU scored twice in the top of the second after Pickering drew a leadoff walk and came home on Garcia’s opposite field home run to left off the scoreboard, putting the Sooners up 10-2.

Wichita State got a run back off Deal as Jodie Epperson led off the second with a double, took third on a groundout and came home on a single by Krystin Nelson that made it 10-3.

Emerling hit a 3-1 offering into the seats in right center field to lead off the third and give the Sooners an 11-3 lead.

Bland beat out a bunt single and took second on a wild pitch, then took third on a fly ball by Dayton. McEnroe-Marinas crushed a line drive off the center fielder’s glove for an RBI triple that put OU up 12-3, and Pickering smashed a two-run bomb over the scoreboard and into street traffic to score McEnroe-Marinas and swell the Sooners’ lead to 14-3.

Deal gave up a walk to start the bottom of the third, then fired a wild pitch. Sedlacek’s RBI single  made it 14-4. Camryn Compton then blasted a two-run home run to cut OU’s lead to 14-6.

Monticelli got two outs to end the rally, but not before allowing a single, a walk and a three-run home run that made it 14-9.

After Monticelli walked two batters to start the fourth, ace Landry replaced her — and also couldn’t get anybody out.

A Landry wild pitch moved both runners up, and Sedlacek loaded the bases when her swing tipped Emerling’s glove. Epperson then slapped a single to right-center for two RBIs that cut it to 14-11. Gabby Scott’s groundout to third base scored Sedlacek to make it 14-12 before Landry struck out Sami Hood to end the rally.

OU’s bats roared back to life in the top of the fifth as Dayton led off with an infield single and McEnroe-Marinas brought her home with a double to the gap in right-center to make it 15-12.

Pickering walked, and after a wild pitch sent runners to second and third, Garcia crushed an infield single back to the pitcher to score McEnroe-Marinas. The throw to first base on Garcia’s grounder went wild, advancing her to second and bringing home Pickering for a 17-12 lead.

After a pitching change, Parker whacked a single up the middle to plate Garcia and push the Sooners’ lead to 18-12. The Sooners loaded the bases with a walk to Emerling and a single from Bland, and pinch-runner Chaney Helton came home from third when Dayton reached on a throwing error, giving Oklahoma a 19-12 lead in the fifth.

The Shockers wouldn’t quit however.

Landry issued a four-pitch walk to Nelson to start the inning, and after a strikeout, Lauren Lucas singled to put runners at first and second. Landry got another strikeout, but Sedlacek sent Landry’s next pitch into the Wichita night, deep over the center field wall, to cut the Sooners’ lead to 19-15.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Shockers rallied again, this time with a leadoff single by Epperson (she had four hits on the night) and a single to right by Scott that was booted by Bland.

Emerling cleanly fielded a squeeze bunt behind the plate, but her throw down the line skipped into left field — Emerling’s second error of the night — and allowed Epperson to come home for an unearned run that made it 19-16.

Landry gave up another four-pitch walk in between a couple of strikeouts, then finally got some elite defense when Garcia ranged to her right for a ground ball and ended the Shocker rally with a sharp throw to cut down Scott at third base.

Agbayani beat out a single back to the circle to start the seventh, but the insurance run was stranded at third.

Landry came back out for bottom of the seventh and quickly recorded two outs before a single by Compton — the Shockers’ 14th hit of the night.

Epperson, however, couldn’t record her fifth hit as she grounded out up the middle to Agbayani, who shoveled to Garcia at second for the final out.

With plenty to work on this week, OU returns to Love’s Field for a three-game series against No. 9-ranked Tennessee. Friday’s game is set for 6 p.m., while both weekend tilts are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.