Sam Landry, Cydney Sanders pave OU softball to victory in SEC Tournament quarterfinal
As good as OU softball ace Sam Landry had been in the first five innings, all it was going to take was one big hit.
The Sooners were starting to find their groove offensively. One mammoth shot could give the insurance necessary in their first SEC Tournament.
Senior Cydney Sanders was ready to do just that. Two outs, two strikes, and Sanders blasted a two-run home run in a 4-1 victory against LSU on Thursday in Athens, Ga.
OU led 2-0 at that point but hadn’t really made solid contact in the initial four innings. It just never mattered because Landry was as good as she’s been. And definitely her finest moment in a long time.
This is why head coach Patty Gasso wanted Landry in the circle. Needs Landry to continue to experience those kind of moments. Came through with another complete game.
The OU patient approach paid off in the first inning. Three walks and a hit-by-pitch for Sanders brought in the first run.
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OU didn’t get its first hit until the bottom of the fourth, as Sydney Barker drove in Sanders on an RBI single.
Ella Parker led off the fifth with the best contact of the day on a double off the wall. But after back-to-back outs, looked like LSU would survive. But one swing by Sanders on a changeup, and the whole game changed.
Landry ran into trouble in the sixth, bases loaded and one out. But all LSU could muster was a sacrifice fly. Landry is now 19-4 this season. She didn’t allow a hit in her first 5.1 innings pitched.
Landry allowed just the one hit, walked four and struck out seven.
It was the first time OU had played a postseason game not in the state of Oklahoma since 2017.
Up next
A rematch of some sort. No. 1 OU (44-7) is going to take on either No. 5 Arkansas or No. 4 Tennessee. The Sooners swept Arkansas earlier this season in Fayetteville. The Vols took two of three in Norman less than two months ago. OU will meet the winner in the first semifinal 3 p.m. Friday on ESPN2.
