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It's been a pretty good couple of weeks for OU's Katie Norris
Published: 6/3/2012 10:44 PM
Last Modified: 6/3/2012 10:44 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY -- You know how you sometimes get the feeling it's just going to be your day. Oklahoma softball player Katie Norris can relate.

These days Norris, a senior from Stillwater, can do no wrong. And with her help, the Sooners are right where they want to be -- two wins away from a softball national championship.

Norris hit her third home run of the postseason Sunday to get OU on the board, and her third-inning pop up that was dropped by Arizona State third baseman Haley Steele resulted in the final run of a 5-3 win over the Sun Devils.

The victory advances OU to the best-of-three championship series of the Women's College World Series at 7 p.m. Monday against Alabama.

"I think a lot of it is confidence," Norris said of her postseason prowess. "I'm making my pitch selection better than I used to. I would chase. I'm looking more for my pitch."

Norris' newfound power means you can't look past anyone in OU's potent lineup -- one that features Lauren Chamberlain's 26 home runs, Jessica Shults' 19 and Keilani Ricketts' 16.

Norris hit just two home runs in the regular season -- or one less than she has in eight postseason games. And no matter her regular season, it would be easy to get lost in the shadows of the Sooners' California trio (there are 10 Californians total on the Sooners roster).

But in the last two weeks, it's been Norris who has helped keep the Oklahoma in OU softball.

"I've been coming forever," said Norris of her WCWS experiences growing up in Stillwater. "My grandparents had tickets, and we would come watch. For me to finally be here (as a player), is just amazing."

Norris was part of OU's WCWS team last year, but so far the 2012 journey has been a little more rewarding.

In Sunday's lineup, Norris moved up from eighth to sixth so she could bolster the Chamberlain-Ricketts-Shults murder's row.

"Katie has really been swinging well and feeling very confident," OU coach Patty Gasso said of the lineup switch. "...It's just a risk you take, and it worked out pretty good."

Kind of the way everything has lately for Norris, who is 7-for-18 with nine RBIs in NCAA play all as OU's designated player.

With Arizona State getting two runs in the first and Chamberlain, Ricketts and Shults failing to get a hit in their first at bats, Norris' second-inning home run to center field allowed OU to regain the momentum.

"I honestly was just looking for a ball up in the zone and she laid it there," Norris said.

Norris' contribution to the Sooners' decisive four-run third was more omen than offense. After Ricketts had an RBI single and Shults had a two-RBI double, Norris' pop up on the infield should have ended the inning. Instead, it provided a needed insurance run.

"It kind of does," said Norris when asked about her good fortune snowballing. "Sometimes you hit a line drive and it's an out, then a bloop finds the ground.

"It's not fun to play a ball in the sun."

But it's been a fun run for Norris -- one her and her Sooners teammates hope has at least two games left.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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