OU softball 'never done,' Ella Parker blasts three-run walk-off HR in WCWS

OKLAHOMA CITY – As long as OU softball has one swing left, the Sooners are never out of it. That’s how head coach Patty Gasso opened the postgame press conference.

It sounds cliché, very much like what a coach is supposed to say. But for OU? It’s the absolute truth. If there’s one swing or one out still left to make, you cannot count the Sooners, the four-time defending national champions, out.

That one swing belonged to Ella Parker as Tennessee failed to get that 21^st out. Parker launched a three-run home run to deep center to walk it off and send Sooner Nation into a frenzy.

Parker’s heroics gave OU an improbable 4-3 victory against the Vols on Thursday afternoon to begin the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park.

“The one thing that we noticed, and I’m just going to be really honest, is I was watching people leave the game, and it was in the seventh,” Gasso said. “And I shared that with the team, not that that had anything to do with anything, but people thought we were done.

“If you’re watching us through the season, we’re never done. You give us one extra strike or one extra pitch and we’re going to find something out of it. Usually, Ella’s on the end of that. So been really proud of her and those big moments of really locking it down, locking in. As long as we have one swing left, we have life.”

Parker was down 0-1 in the count against Tennessee star pitcher Karlyn Pickens. Took a deep breath and made it count.

OU trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, unable to solve Pickens for most of the afternoon. At least unable to make solid contact through most of the game. What did work was the patience.

In three of the last four innings, Pickens walked the leadoff batter. It didn’t mean anything in the fourth or fifth. But when it happened in the seventh with Ailana Agbayani, it felt a little different.

Pickens was able to get the next two batters before Kasidi Pickering kept the game alive with a two-out single.

And then that led to Parker, smashing her second home run of the day.

“I just remember rounding the bases with my team’s arms wide open and starting to get really teary-eyed and really emotional,” Parker said. “And it was really, really cool to have them with us this whole time. And we never got out of it. We kept the faith until the end. And just being able to run into them was, like, really, really, really awesome.”

Pickens threw the 6.2 innings, allowing five hits, four runs with four walks and eight strikeouts. She thew 129 pitches.

Parker had a solo home run in the first inning, becoming just the seventh player to hit a round-tripper against Pickens this season.

OU defense kept the game in striking distance

The Sooners were down 3-1, but it could have been a lot worse. Maybe should have been a much bigger deficit.

OU turned three double plays during the course of the game. Nothing was bigger than a 6-4-3 with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh.

Sophia Nugent crushed one foul earlier in the plate appearance, but hit a weak grounder to Gabbie Garcia-to-Ailana Agbayani-to-Cydney Sanders.

“It’s amazing, we work on double plays all the time,” pitcher Sam Landry said. “So they’re fun to turn in a game. They’re definitely a momentum changer. So having them there to change the momentum, keep it on our side. Basically, the whole game was kind of on their side. So when we could take those moments and get it back in our dugout, it was a win.”

Landry gritty in the circle

That wasn’t one of the best performances from OU ace Sam Landry. But she kept battling, kept the game at a workable margin.

Landry threw the complete game, allowing eight hits, one earned run with four walks and just two strikeouts. It took 139 pitches, but it was well worth it.

Her performance down the stretch made sure no pitching change was going to be necessary.

“She kept getting outs and started to get more ground ball outs for us later in the game. So we stayed with that,” Landry said. “And just conversations with her is just: Steady, steady. Stay with it. How are you feeling? ‘Oh, I get so mad, I get mad at myself.’ Okay. Bring it back. Bring it back.

“Again, pitchers don’t want to let down their team. It’s emotions pitchers deal with a lot. They deal a lot with that emotions, highs and lows. And she gutted it out today.”

Vols never thought about walking Parker

It would have been a gamble. Hindsight says perhaps Tennessee should have walked Parker. That would have loaded the bases with two outs for captain Nelly McEnroe-Marinas.

No matter what, it was going to be a tough hole dig out of with OU’s big hitters once again coming back around to face Pickens a fourth time.

“Not really because it’s 3-1,” said head coach Karen Weekly about walking Parker. “You have two runners on, and if you walk her, that means you put the winning run on base. So you have to make a decision there.

“The key thing in that inning was Agbayani drawing a walk. You look at that, and strategy-wise you’re like, okay, we can get through this inning and get out of here without ever rolling the order back around at the top. When you walk her, you know you’re going to face Pickering and Parker again.”

Up next

A day to catch your breath and then back to it. OU (51-7) takes on No. 6 Texas in a winner’s bracket battle 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC. The Sooners swept the Longhorns at Love’s Field earlier this season. And, of course, it was OU who took down Texas in the championship series of the WCWS in 2022 and 2024. Texas defeated No. 3 Florida 3-0 to begin Thursday.