No. 2 Oklahoma (35-3) overcame a shaky start to deliver a resounding 11-3 run-rule win over No. 17 Oklahoma State (32-9) on Wednesday night, backed by an explosive offensive effort and a record-setting crowd at Devon Park.
A crowd of 9,259 — the largest to ever attend a regular-season NCAA softball game — witnessed the Sooners shake off a sluggish start with an explosive, offensive outburst and timely defensive brilliance in potentially a defining moment of Oklahoma’s season.
“This was a big-time win for us,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “I’m really excited to see where we go with this.”
The Cowgirls appeared poised to retake control in the top of the fourth. Leading 3-2 and having just weathered a two-run Oklahoma rally, Oklahoma State loaded the bases with no outs and the top of its lineup due up.
That’s when junior second baseman Ailana Agbayani delivered considerably the play of the game — and perhaps the season. OSU junior Tallen Edwards hit a line drive toward the right-center gap, a sure extra-base hit, until Agbayani made a fully-extended diving grab. The catch saved at least two runs and deflated the Cowgirls’ rally before senior right-handed pitcher Sam Landry retired the next two hitters to keep the deficit at one.
“It’s big. It’s huge,” Gasso said. “But we get used to it because she’s doing that at practice. She wants that pressure. She thrives on it.”
Landry, still adjusting to the intensity of the environment, had to fight through early nerves. OSU scored twice off her in the first and added another run in the third. After the fourth inning, Landry allowed just one hit the rest of the way, keeping Oklahoma State scoreless and preserving the Sooners’ lead. She finished the game throwing all five innings, allowing five hits, two walks and striking out four. Landry’s performance improved her to 12-2 on the season, continuing her strong campaign.
“I was trying to fight the nerves and anxiety,” Landry said. “But I think after the first few innings, I kind of figured out how to take it in and lock in.”
Agbayani and Landry’s sequences opened the floodgates for the Sooners, who erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth and four more in the fifth to enforce the run rule.
Sophomore outfielder Kasidi Pickering, a staple in the heart of Oklahoma’s lineup, also jumpstarted the comeback with a towering two-run home run in the third and nearly a second homer in the fifth as well, settling for an RBI double off the top of the left-field wall.
On the season, Pickering is now hitting .448 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs, a testament to her power and ability to come through in clutch situations.
Outfielder Maya Bland, making just her sixth start of the year, delivered the decisive blow. The sophomore launched a go-ahead three-run home run to left-center in the fourth inning — her first long ball since March 1 — and ignited a five-run frame that flipped the game entirely.
“At practice, she’s showing out,” Gasso said of Bland. “She’s always all in. She’s a good matchup for some of these pitchers, and it shows.
