Why OU softball pitcher Audrey Lowry has a chance to be Sooners’ next ace

NORMAN — Audrey Lowry and her parents, April and James, talked about everything but softball with OU coach Patty Gasso at breakfast.

It was the Sunday morning following Audrey’s official visit and time was ticking for the No. 2 pitcher nationally by Extra Inning Softball to choose a school.

The Lowrys had talked about Oklahoma, Audrey’s dream school, since she was in the seventh grade. Receiving an offer to play there was a goal she’d committed to and written down. She’d miss hanging out with friends to travel the country, determined to become great.

Finally, when a moment of silence fell over the table, Gasso made a move.

“So, Audrey,” Gasso said, slamming her fist down, “I’ve wanted you for so long. How would you love to become a Sooner?”

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Audrey’s eyes welled up.

“She was so excited,” April said. “James and I were getting teary-eyed.”

Now, Lowry, one of the top 2024 pitching prospects, could be in for a breakout season during her freshman campaign at OU, which opens with a doubleheader Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against Cal State Northridge and 8 p.m. against San Diego State in San Diego.

The Sooners are searching for their next ace after Women’s College World Series most outstanding player Kelly Maxwell exhausted her eligibility. Gasso even compared Lowry and Maxwell’s demeanors during the fall Battle Series.

Being a top recruit already comes with a lot of weight. But Lowry plays at OU, which expects to win and where the ghost of a recent freshman phenom — Jordy Bahl — still lingers.

“It pushes us harder to work better every day,” Lowry said this fall about OU’s past success. “We’re practicing every day with, for example, Ella Parker and (Kasidi Pickering), so we have a lot to look up to and grind every single day.”

Lowry had a productive fall. She grew the most mentally, adjusting to a minute-by-minute regimented schedule while navigating school and softball.

She faced arguably the toughest lineup she’ll see all season each day during fall ball — her own team.

Lowry is an X’s and O’s pitcher, which is one reason she longed to work with pitching coach Jennifer Rocha.

“They’ve known each other for a long time,” James said. “If Audrey had her choice of where she was going to go or who was going to coach her, it was going to be Jennifer Rocha. She’s always gravitated to her, they’re very similar.”

Those who know Lowry best know she’s been studying and correcting since the fall with Rocha, and she’ll be ready when she’s called to the circle.

“She has settled in quite well,” said Josh Fisher, Lowry’s travel ball coach. “She’s going to have a big year.”

‘Expectations are even higher’ for OU softball

It didn’t take long after Lowry joined the fray for the Maxwell comparisons to begin.

They look alike with their bleach blonde hair and are both lefties. It wasn’t just Gasso. Some of the older players noticed and suggested they might as well call her Kelly.

“It means a lot because Kelly is influential to many people, especially me,” Lowry said. “When I got here, everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re Kelly, you look just like Kelly, you act just like Kelly. You’re Kelly.’”

There’s a lot of pressure being compared to Maxwell, who ended her illustrious career with a 1.69 ERA and 909 strikeouts.

The Lowrys have never worried about what others think. Audrey tends to stay off social media and the family has always focused on what they can control. It’s how they got here.

“Audrey wasn’t worried about what everyone else was doing,” April said. “We never focused on what anyone else was doing. That’s just the way we are as parents, too.

“People forget that these girls are 17-, 18- and 19-year-old young ladies who are human. Just because the last group of girls carried on the tradition and were so on fire, the expectations are even higher this year.”

It’s always been about softball for Lowry. She rarely strayed from it in high school, always traveling for tournaments.

Her father, James, remembers a deep focus and drive to succeed from a young age. The two used to make the six-hour round trip to Chicago every Sunday before Lowry sought a change and joined Fisher’s club, the Tennessee Mojo 18U.

“All those times she and I went to pitching lessons, she would make these little goals,” James said. “She would always achieve those goals, every year.”

It’s one of the many reasons she was attracted to Gasso and the Sooners. The standards and values set by alumni resonated with her since she watched them as a kid.

When she needs an escape from the all-encompassing aspect of the game, Lowry leans on her boyfriend of nearly four years, Dylan, who attends Indiana University over 750 miles away.

While it’s hard to escape the pressure, tending to her 80 plants — 40 at school and 40 at home — is her therapy.

Being away from her family has been an adjustment but Lowry has quickly grown close bonds with her teammates — including Paytn Monticelli, who she knew from the past — and has received advice from former players she’s looked up to for years, including Maxwell.

In the fall, Lowry ran into Maxwell at an OU football game. She shared stories of her teammates comparing the two.

“She just laughed,” Lowry said. “She thought it was hilarious but it’s a great honor to be here and be in the circle here (after her).”

Audrey Lowry is ‘mature beyond her years’

The first time Lowry popped up on OU’s radar was when hitting coach JT Gasso watched her swing a bat from beneath a shaded tree in California.

The Bandits were competing in the premier girls fastpitch tournament and following a game, Gasso approached Lowry’s coach about her hitting abilities.

“Well, you haven’t seen the best of Audrey,” the coach told Gasso.

Lowry is an elite pitcher — No. 3 nationally in the 2024 class by Softball America — and one of the most intriguing young players in college softball with a versatile arsenal and strong command in the circle. She was the 2024 Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year and enjoyed a dominant summer with her travel ball club, tossing 57.1 innings to a 1.27 ERA with 75 strikeouts to just five walks.

Her best pitch is one she invented playing catch with James: a rise ball mixed with a changeup, which she calls a “chiser.”

“It’s mostly affected when it’s about knee high because it’s slower,” James said. “The lower you throw a rise ball, the slower it is, especially at a younger age. She just perfected that thing.”

Lowry launches the pitch with no fingers, palming it on release.

“It’s a screwball rise mix and her spins are tight,” Fisher said. “She commands all her pitches. You will not see her walk many people, and Rocha demands kids to hit their spots. That’s where you’re going to see Audrey excel.”

While Lowry’s techniques are sharp, it’s her attitude Gasso walked away from fall ball enamored with.

The Sooners’ rotation will likely include returner Kierston Deal and experienced transfers Sam Landry and Isabella Smith. But Lowry’s talent and drive offer her a chance to succeed Maxwell as OU’s ace.

“You’ll get to see when she’s out there, if she’s up or down, the demeanor and presence in the circle has been excellent for a long time,” Fisher said. “She’s mature beyond her years. She’s a winner. She wants to win, which fits Oklahoma’s DNA perfectly.”

After being in the program since the fall semester began, Lowry is more comfortable on and off the field. It’s helped that she’s practicing against Ailana Agbayani, Abigale Dayton, Parker and Pickering, who were selected to the USA Softball Player of the Year watchlist.

She’s ready to take up the mantle.

“It’s challenging,” Lowry said. “Especially this fall, going against these batters. You have to work hard, you have to go 100%.

“When you’re on the mound, you don’t feel, you just throw.”

When April and James helped move Audrey onto campus in the fall, less than two years after the memorable breakfast with Gasso, their dreams were realized.

Lowry has long idolized greats like Paige Lowary, Maxwell and Paige Parker, whose accomplishments grace the walls of OU’s new Love’s Field facilities. As they left Norman, the Lowrys knew they were leaving their daughter with a strong foundation.

“She’s grown a lot as an adult,” James said. “We talk to her once or twice a week, she’s been having a great time.

“It was time for her, and she seems like she’s blossoming working with coach Rocha, she’s been looking forward to that for so many years. A lot of dreams have come to fruition.”

It’s Lowry’s time to chase greatness and she knew it, without hesitation and with tears in her eyes, the moment Gasso proposed the question. Lowry knows what comes with being a Sooner and she’s hungry to stamp her mark.

“This is my home,” Lowry told Gasso.