Senior Reflections: Michelle Gascoigne

May 6, 2013

With Senior Day scheduled for this Saturday, SoonerSports.com is sitting down with each member of the 2013 Oklahoma softball senior class to reflect back on their respective career. First up, pitcher Michelle Gascoigne.

Running through the World Series, there is about a month left in the season, has it sunk in yet that your time is almost done here?
"No. I'm trying not to let it, honestly."

With a month left in the season, what do you hope to accomplish?
"Well, I want to win a national championship. Not a lot of athletes, or seniors, can say they ended their career on a win. So, that would obviously be the ultimate goal. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and not look ahead. I really don't want to get to that point where I'm on a countdown because I want to take every day as it comes and spend the time with my teammates that I have left."

What areas do you think you have grown the most in your time here?
"A lot of areas, for me, just maturity-wise, and in my mental approach on the mound, but, also in other things. Becoming a tougher person and also as an athlete would be my biggest change."

Are there any particular games or plays that really stand out to you in your career here?
"I really remember the NCAA Regional my sophomore year. We ended up losing an extra-inning game to Tulsa, so we had to play them right after. Keilani [Ricketts] had already thrown that whole game and me, not usually getting time in the postseason or a start, I had to go for us to go to Super Regionals.

That was a really big test for me and it was really exciting. It was one of those moments at the end like I had in Texas this year when Keilani was like, `Thank you!' So yeah, that one kind of stands out to me. It gave me a lot of confidence for playing in the postseason and in big games."

Are there any personal accomplishments that you are most proud of?
"I was really proud this fall when I got the Sooner Oath Award, because that encompasses everything I try to be, which is a good student, good athlete and a good member of the community. It was kind of everything I try to do in one and what it means to be a Sooner. I really was proud of that one and everything we have done this season. We have had a lot of firsts this season and it has been fun. They have been on my goals list for a while, so to just check them off is really exciting for me."

Are there any other memories with the team that happened off the field that stick out to you?
"There are so many! About every talent show with my class has been really special because we're just awesome, and we probably should have won four years in a row, and we finally won this year. I always had fun going to California just because my family is always able to come out and watch.

I do love my freshman year; it was sad that we did not get to host in the postseason but it was actually really fun because we got to go to Washington D.C. and I had never been there before. We had a really fun time, and that was the only time we have ever gotten to take a charter flight, so that started it. Then we took literally the quickest tour of every monument and everything. We were just walking around and taking all these funny pictures and then she had dropped us off in front of the Lincoln Memorial and she said, `You can go wherever, just be back in 30 minutes.' It was a cool thing to do with the team, and I feel like we have a lot of cool pictures from that trip."

Knowing all that you know now, if you could go back and give advice to yourself during your freshman year, what would it be?
"Have thicker skin. That would probably be the biggest thing. And to just be more precise with everything I do as well as the pitching. Never take a pitch off, I got burned a couple times..."

What does it mean to you to be graduating with your fellow seniors?
"It means so much because this group has been really special for four years. All of us coming in together and finishing together is really exciting for us. Throughout the years we have had so many great memories and our class has just really been close. I don't want to say we're closer than other classes in the past, but, we're extremely close, especially with the coaches. We just have a lot of fun. So, I am really excited about it."

What do you think you are going to miss the most?
"The jokes. I feel like our team gets hooked on one phrase, or a couple phrases at a time, and if I am not part of that I am going to be really sad. I know that just missing certain things that happen in the locker room that you really can't explain unless you're there, I'll miss that.

And then just competing, because it is that feeling you get when you run out onto that field and `Boomer Sooner' is playing and everything, obviously that is going to be hard."

What do you hope your legacy is here when you leave?
"I hope my legacy is something as a good teammate. I'm someone that I feel like my teammates are always comfortable going to me and also trust me on the field. I want people to remember me as somebody that worked hard."