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Kierston Deal leads No. 5 Oklahoma to series win over No. 3 Texas

by:Jason Rhea•about 18 hours
Screenshot 2025-04-26 at 7.28.28 PM
Photo courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics

The Sooners got the pitching performance that they needed as Kierston Deal was dynamite, and the Oklahoma bats stayed hot in a 7-2 win for the Sooners.

Deal went the distance for the complete game, allowing just four hits and two earned runs in the contest. Perhaps more importantly, with the win and the loss by Texas A&M, the Sooners now own a 1.5 game lead in the SEC Standings with just four games remaining.

“Mixing speeds and just keeping them off balance was the main thing. Not staying in the same area and mixing up the at-bats,” Kierston Deal said, on what allowed her to be effective tonight in the circle.

Patty Gasso talked about why Deal was the right choice to get the ball Saturday.

“Experience, she was the right choice for that,” she said. “Lefty, she was the right choice for that. Just waiting patiently for the right opportunity.”

The bats reigned supreme in Friday night’s contest as Oklahoma and Texas scored 17 runs. But Deal and Citlaly Gutierrez set the tone early in game two. Both pitchers combined to allow only one hit for the first 2.5 innings. However, Oklahoma was able to start the scoring in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Ella Parker hit a towering solo home run in the right field stand to give the Sooners a 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma continued the momentum into the fourth inning at the plate. After a 3-for-3 night last night at the plate, Ailana Agbayani singled up the middle to get the Sooners started. Immediately following, Abigale Dayton delivered a double into the right-center gap, scoring Agbayani.

The play was challenged by Texas coach Mike White but was ultimately upheld. After a base hit by Hannah Coor, Kasidi Pickering scored another Dayton on a sacrifice fly to extend the Oklahoma advantage to 3-0.

As they have done for the balance of the first two games, Oklahoma continued to be relentless in applying pressure at the plate. But, not without some interesting plays. An inning where the Sooners hit two infield flies was also the inning in which they got two more insurance runs. After loading the bases, Dayton delivered another hit. This one was a single up the middle that scored two more Sooners. The second hit of the game gave Oklahoma a 5-0 lead going into the sixth inning.

“They’ve been picking me up the last few games, so I just wanted to produce for them,” said Dayton on what was clicking for her in her 2-3, three RBI night for the Sooners.

Oklahoma scored in a fourth straight inning as they brought across two more runs in the sixth inning. Pickering led off the inning with a double in the right-center gap. Nelly McEnroe-Marinas joined the party. She turned on a Mac Morgan pitch for a home run in the left field stands. It was her team-leading 14th round tripper of the season to extend the Sooners’ lead to 7-0.

Texas did not go down without a fight in the 7th inning. With two outs, Katie Stewart hit a laser off the wall in left field. Victoria Hunter followed up with a two-run home run to cut the Sooners’ lead to 7-2. Vanessa Quiroga followed suit with a double of her own to apply more pressure to the Sooners. However, Deal was able to get Leighann Goode to fly out to end the game.

The Longhorns will be looking to salvage game three of the series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 PM local time.

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