OU Softball: Oklahoma Walks Off Tennessee in Clutch WCWS Thriller

OKLAHOMA CITY — Thursday was a classic pitcher’s duel at at Devon Park.

For most of the day, Tennessee’s first-team All-American outdueled Oklahoma’s second-team All-American.

But then Ella Parker turned on her clutchness and produced the latest version of Sooner Magic.

Parker hit two home runs against Vols ace Karlyn Pickens in their Women’s College World Series classic, including a walk-off, game-winning, three-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh, to push the Sooners to a 4-3 thriller. 

"I wasn't trying to make any moment too big," Parker said. "I just stuck with it, ran with it, and we kept the faith until the end."

No. 2 seed Oklahoma took down No. 7 Tennessee and advances to Saturday’s bracket semifinal against rival Texas.

The Vols got a masterful pitching performance from Pickens, which was almost enough to top the efforts of OU ace Sam Landry.

Almost.

Tennessee fell to 45-16, while OU improved to  51-7.

It was nearly the Sooners’ first opening-round loss at the WCWS since 2021, when OU lost 4-3 to James Madison. That was also Oklahoma’s last WCWS loss outside of the bracket finals, where the Sooners suffered losses to UCLA in 2022 and Florida in 2024.

OU also almost became the first defending champion to lose a first-round game since 2018 — when the Sooners dropped their opener 2-0 to Washington.

Instead, Patty Gasso’s squad lived up to the term she coined just last week: clutchness.

Pickens (24-10), who set an all-time record just last week against Nebraska by throwing a pitch 79.4 miles per hour — the fastest ever recorded — was exceptional as expected, living between 72-74 with her fastball and staying in the strike zone with her off-speed pitches.

Landry (24-5) avoided her third loss to the Vols in 2025 because she was nearly just as brilliant as her counterpart, touching 70 mph with her fastball and pitching out of occasional trouble while getting big plays from her defense.

In its first year in the SEC, Oklahoma won the Southeastern Conference regular-season title and shared the league tournament trophy. But the season was not without setbacks, as OU lost three league series.

Back in late March, Tennessee won two of three from the Sooners at Love’s Field in Norman. Pickens outdueled Landry and got the win in both games, throwing 5 2/3 innings of one-run relief (six strikeouts, no walks) in a 5-2 victory in eight innings in the opener, and then going the distance in a 5-3 win in which she allowed three runs on four hits (six strikeouts, three walks).

That first game ended up being Landry’s first loss of the regular season after starting 10-0, and the second game was her second loss. Landry threw a complete game against the Volunteers in both regular-season meetings.

This time, the Vols wasted no time getting to Landry and the OU defense with a couple of unearned runs in the first inning.

Gabby Leach led off with a single to center field and took third on Taylor Pannell’s double to right. Leach came home on Isabela Emerling’s passed ball, and after Landry logged her first strikeout, former Sooner Sophia Nugent hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Pannell for a 2-0 Tennessee lead.

OU got half of that back in the bottom of the first when Ella Parker deposited a fastball from Pickens into the first row beyond the right field wall to make it 2-1. It was her 14th home run of the season.

Landry got into trouble again in the top of the second, but got out of it with some good defense behind her.

Laura Mealer led off with a single to left, and after a line drive out at second base, Mealer took third on Emma Clarke’s double to right-center to put runners at second and third with one out.

That’s when first baseman Cydney Sanders scooped up Saviya Morgan’s ground ball and threw home to Emerling and caught Mealer in a rundown. Mealer turned back to third, where Emerling threw to Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, and then tried to make it home. But McEnroe-Marinos fired to Sanders at the plate, and Sanders tagged her out. Clarke was then stranded at third when Gabby Garcia charged to field a tricky hop and threw out Leach to end the threat.

Sydney Barker led off the second with a single into the right field corner, but she was stranded when Pickens struck out Sanders and Emerling and got Ailana Agbayani to ground out.

Tennessee made it 3-1 in the third when Ella Dodge drew a one-out walk and McKenna Gibson singled off left fielder Kasidi Pickering’s glove. The ball caromed to center fielder Abby Dayton, who quickly fired to Garcia. Dodge’s slide arrived a split second ahead of Garcia’s relay home, and Emerling’s tag was just inches behind Dodge’s left hand crossing home plate.

As Pickens continued to cruise, OU put the tying run on base with two out in the fourth when McEnroe-Marinas and Sanders walked, but Agbayani grounded out to quell that rally.

The Sooner defense added some drama in the fifth.

After Pannell beat out an infield single, Dodge hit a sharp line drive to Hannah Coor in center field. Coor came in to make the catch, then fired back to first base to catch Pannell for an 8-3 double play.

Pickens also walked Emerling to start the bottom of the fifth — Tia Milloy came in to pinch-run — but Dayton grounded Milloy into a force out and Pickering and Parker couldn’t keep it alive.

OU threatened again in the sixth. McEnroe-Marinas led off by taking a called third strike that she thought was low for ball four. Garcia then rocketed a line drive off Pickens’ leg for an infield single — the Sooners’ first hit since the second inning — but Barker flied out to left and Sanders hit a one-hopper to Pickens, who threw to first for the third out.

Tennessee loaded the bases with one out against Landry, but Garcia got her out it with a slick double play, scooping Nugent’s ground ball up the middle and flipping to Agbayani for the relay to Sanders. 

Agbayani then opened the bottom of the seventh by drawing a walk — Pickens’ fourth — but Pickens struck out Emerling and got Dayton to pop up before Pickering slapped a single past second base to put runners on the corners with two out.

That brought up Parker, who took a strike from Pickens before blasting her 15th homer of the season deep into the center field seats.

The Sooners now jump ahead to Saturday’s 3 p.m. bracket semifinal against No. 6 seed Texas, while the Vols return to Devon Park on Friday for a 7 p.m. elimination game against Florida. 

The Longhorns beat the Gators 3-0 in Thursday’s opener.