OU Softball: Looking Back on Oklahoma's Regular Season Series Against Tennessee

Former Sooner Sophia Nugent’s two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning was the difference in the series opener. 

Sage Mardjetko got the start in the circle for the Volunteers, and she pitched just 2 1/3 innings before Karen Weekly handed the ball over to Pickens. 

OU ace Sam Landry got out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning after she surrendered a two-out single and a pair of two-out walks, then it was Oklahoma’s turn to strand baserunners when an inning ending double play left two Sooners aboard. 

Amayah Doyle’s homer in the second got the Volunteers on the board, and it was made a two-run shot after Landry allowed a leadoff runner by hitting Ella Dodge. 

OU responded by loading the bases with a pair of walks and a single in the third, which saw Pickens enter the game. Gabbie Garcia’s sacrifice fly got one run back, but Ella Parker was unable to add another run. 

From there, Landry settled in. She retired the side in both the fourth and fifth innings, allowing the offense to tie the game with a solo shot from Abby Dayton in the bottom of the fifth. 

Oklahoma strung together a trio of singles in the bottom of the seventh, but had Hannah Coor gunned down at home thanks to a perfect throw to the plate from Tennessee right fielder Gabby Leach. 

The Vols added three runs in the top of the eighth, and Pickens ended the game with a pair of strikeouts shortly after. 

Game 2: Oklahoma 4, Tennessee 1 

The second contest of the series was Kierston Deal’s best start of the season, until she nearly blanked Texas at the end of April. 

In a complete seven inning showing, she allowed one run on four hits and surrendered just one walk while striking out five Tennessee batters. 

Garcia’s first inning triple meant the Sooners played with the lead the entire day, and Cydney Sanders’ three-run shot in the third gave Deal all the run support she’d need. 

Tennessee stranded a pair of runners in the first, but Deal only let three more batters reach base over the final six innings. 

Taylor Pannell did hit Deal for a solo shot in the fourth, but otherwise the OU junior was in full command. 

Oklahoma could have added more in the fifth, as the Sooners loaded the bases with two outs, but all the offense came off Mardjetko and reliever Erin Nuwer, not Pickens. 

Game 3: Tennessee 5, Oklahoma 3

Pickens and Landry were both trotted back out to the circle with the series on the line. 

OU stranded a runner in the first and second inning before finally taking the lead in the bottom of the third. 

Kasidi Pickering delivered a bases-clearing double to put the Sooners up 3-0, but then the Oklahoma offense went quiet. 

The Sooners only put two runners aboard the rest of the game, which gave Tennessee a chance to get back into the game. 

A two-out double in the top of the fourth barely dropped in fair, as Laura Mealer’s hit came inches shy of dropping into foul territory in the right field corner to score two.

Instead, Dodge hammered a three-run shot to put the Vols up 5-3 one batter later. 

Two of the runs scored in the fourth were courtesy of walks by Landry, as Tennessee was able to make her pay for issuing the free passes. 

In the end, Pickens allowed three runs on four hits and she walked three Sooners while striking out six. 

Landry’s five runs allowed came on four hits, and her only two walks of the contest hurt. Landry also struck out six. 

The Sooners and the Volunteers will meet at Devon Park on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at the WCWS.