NORMAN — The softball hung up in the Oklahoma sky for what seemed like an eternity.

The afternoon sun and the swirling wind conspired to let the ball fall to the outfield grass at Love’s Field on Saturday as a trio of runners came around to score.

“That was perfect,” Cydney Sanders, who benefitted from the three-run double against Liberty, said with a laugh.

The week before, Sanders couldn’t buy a bit, with several balls hit hard but right at fielders as she went hitless in Southern California as the rest of her OU softball teammates’ bats came alive at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

But Sooners coach Patty Gasso said then that she wasn’t concerned with Sanders’ scuffling at the plate, that she was confident the junior first baseman would snap out of it.

Sanders appears to be emerging from that downturn, going 5 for 10 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over her last six games.

Sanders will look to continue that momentum when the Sooners (19-1) open a three-game series against Iowa State with a doubleheader Saturday at Love’s Field.

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There were a few reasons why Gasso wasn’t too concerned about Sanders’ scuffles in California.

First, she’d been through it last season.

Sanders struggled at the plate through a large stretch of the season before coming on strong late, including hitting a game-tying home run in Game 2 of the Women’s College World Series Championship Series against Florida State, which followed Sanders hitting a home run in three consecutive games earlier in the postseason.

Secondly, even when hits weren’t falling for her, Sanders continued to put in good at-bats, working counts deep and drawing walks.

“She’s had some good at-bats where she’s turned tough at-bats into walks,” Gasso said. “And I don’t think people really notice that because everybody really likes the long ball, right? But she has really been hitting the ball hard. Part of it is because she is that good and part of it is she doesn’t like when she’s not in the starting lineup.”

While Sanders is the Sooners’ regular first baseman, Riley Ludlam and Alynah Torres have also recently started games as first as Gasso juggles her lineup.

“Our team is starting to understand that certain hitters work well for certain pitchers,” Gasso said. “But what she wants to show is that she can hit any pitcher, and so that’s really the battle that she’s facing and the battle that she’s trying to win.”

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Sanders is tied for the team lead with 10 walks.

“I feel like I try to have a really good eye at the plate, just getting on base whenever I can for my team,” Sanders said. “I was finally able to hit the ball this weekend, so it was fun.

“It was like a different story from the previous weeks, but I like walks, too.”

While there might’ve been a little tightness early in the season, Sanders said, that went away with the Love’s Field opener.

“Just playing free, honestly,” Sanders said. “I felt myself a little this weekend like not really thinking about anything and just going for it. I feel like that’s when I play at my best. So I think that’s something I should be doing going forward and I think we’ll see a big difference.”

While the Sooners’ depth can for players to press sometimes, it can also help push them forward.

“If you swing, good things will happen,” Sanders said. “And I think that’s what everyone here does when they come off the bench, they just go out there and hit.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma softball's Cydney Sanders emerges from slump to lead Sooners