OU sends out softball seniors in style, winning 6-5 thriller vs. UGA

OU softball had already made the statement it was looking to for the weekend. But when it is senior day at Love’s Field, you just want to make that extra push.

You do not want that final regular season memory in Norman to be a loss. And sophomore Gabbie Garcia made sure of it for the five seniors.

In the sixth inning when she was at the plate. And then in the seventh inning to close it all out with a dazzling defensive play.

Add it all up, and it was one more sweep for OU, taking down visiting Georgia 6-5 in a hard-fought battle Sunday afternoon.

With the game tied 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth and two outs, Garcia hit a bomb that proved to be the game-winner.

Then, with UGA having runners on first and second with two outs, Garcia made a diving snag of a ground ball that absolutely would have tied the game. Garcia tagged second base with her glove for the force out, and the victory.

Sending the seniors out in style? Mission accomplished.

“I just think wanting to win for my team was just kind of my mindset going into everything,” Garcia told SoonerScoop. “And then, of course, it’s the seniors’ last official game here at home before postseason. So I just think it was just doing anything I can to win for my team, and then playing for the seniors.”

OU was able to notch that run-rule victory Friday, but the last two games showed how razor thin these margins are. A 3-1 victory and 6-5, UGA was right there.

And the Dawgs took a 3-0 lead Sunday before OU was able to get back on track. Ella Parker came through with a two-run single to narrow the margin to 3-2.

Then it was freshman Kai Minor providing some unexpected power with a two-run home run in a three-run fourth that gave the Sooners a 5-3 lead.

UGA tied it up with a two-run shot of its own in the fifth. That led to Garcia’s heroics and Miali Guachino getting the job done in relief.

She threw the final 2.2 innings, striking out four and going 2-0 this weekend.

“It’s emotional, and you feel it for sure,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “As a teammate and coaches, you really want to win for them. You want them to walk off this field and regular season with a win. It was a battle. It was tough. We were running a little bit low on energy, because I think we all felt the humidity kind of overtake us for the first time. And a hard-fought three game series, and to sweep Georgia is a big, big notch in our belt.

“It’s big. And I love their coaches. They’re very gracious, and they’re very good. They’re a very good team. Tough to beat, and I thought we played some really good softball. There are times when we were just trying to score. The top of our lineup with Gabbie, Kai and Ella, really did a good job of getting us runs up on the board.”

Freshman Kendall Wells did not homer for the first time in the series. She remains at 36 home runs, one shy of tying the single-season NCAA record.

OU honored its five seniors (Abby Dayton, Ailana Agbayani, Isabela Emerling, Sydney Berzon, Kierston Deal) following the game.

Up next

Time for College Station. OU (46-6, 18-3) will enter the series at Texas A&M as the No. 1 team in the country and No. 1 in the SEC. The Alabama loss at Tennessee on Sunday guarantees the Sooners will be at the top of the conference standings.

“We’ve got four sweeps in the SEC, which is a big deal here,” Gasso said. “This will be our toughest challenge, going to Texas A&M because they have something at stake, we have something at stake. There’s other teams that are also playing to win this trophy. So we’re in a battle. We’re in a battle.

“I will tell them that we’re going in as underdogs. You can rank us number one, but when you’re going into Texas A&M, they’re very, good, very well-coached. We’re gonna have our hands full. So we are going in as an underdog, I believe that. So we’re gonna have that mindset.”

That three-game set runs Thursday-Saturday and will conclude the regular season.