Sophomore right-handed pitcher Parker Conrad recored out after out in her first win as a Sooner Sunday, dominating in the circle against Illinois State.

It was a complete 180 from what she had done in her first start of the weekend, just 48 hours earlier. Conrad's Friday start against Indiana didn't go the way she planned. Conrad walked in one run in the second inning and then was pulled in the third inning after giving up a home run that put Oklahoma (19-2) down 2-0.

Stepping back into the circle Sunday for a start against Illinois State (9-16), it was as if Conrad's struggles two days earlier had never happened. She gave up just one hit and one walk in the Sooners' 8-0 six-inning win.

"As a coach, anytime an athlete responds that's really big," associate head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "And I thought for her to get out of her comfort zone and do things, to make some adjustments and do some things out of her comfort zone tells me that she is trusting in what she's doing and that she's ready to compete."

Sunday morning Conrad watched film with coach Lombardi, she said, and they went over what she needed to work on and made a game plan of how to fix it in her start that day. They focused on the speed of the game and went over their game plan every inning.

The effort paid off as Parker was able to record six strikeouts and the win while also throwing her first complete game as a Sooner.

"I think that really helped keep me more relaxed on the mound and able to actually do what I'm capable of doing," Conrad said.

The Missouri transfer was perfect through the first five innings, taking down every batter she faced and ending the fifth inning with back-to-back strike outs. The sixth inning, however, things went differently. Conrad gave up her first hit and walked another batter. Lombardi called a time out and visited Conrad on the mound to calm things down.

"I just said ' I'm taking a time out,'" Lombardi said. "Literally like that, and just told her to reset, that up to that point what she'd been doing — she'd been steady with her pace, doing everything she wanted to do. Just rest and go after it."

Conrad shouldn't have had to pitch in the sixth inning though, at least not in coach Patty Gasso's mind. The team should have been able to put the Redbirds away an inning earlier, she said, but the Sooners got sloppy at the plate. Still, she was excited about the job Conrad was able to do.

"She earned it. She's earned this opportunity," Gasso said. "She's really worked hard, put in extra work and extra conditioning and all the things you're supposed to do. And she didn't have the kind of outing she wanted earlier this weekend but to give her another opportunity and for her to do what she did — more than anything I'm not happy with the team for not finishing the game any inning earlier."

After Friday's game, Gasso said Conrad would get another opportunity during the weekend and that she wasn't worried about her pitcher going home and being "deviated" by her performance. Conrad showed that Sunday afternoon as she looked commanding through her six innings in the circle.

"It felt good," Conrad said. "It felt good to come back after the Indiana one, and I was excited to get the opportunity again. And I was definitely going to take it."