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No. 2 Oklahoma outlasts No. 9 South Carolina in Friday slugfest

by:Jason Rhea•03/07/25
Screenshot 2025-03-07 at 8.41.32 PM
Courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics

Uncharacteristically, No. 2 Oklahoma was plagued with three errors, three wild pitches and five walks. However, the Sooners made up for it at the plate as they powered their way to a 10-9 victory over No. 9 South Carolina. Oklahoma slugged three home runs in their first SEC game in 2025 at Loves Field.

In the battle of unbeatens, it was the Sooners that started the scoring. After a pair of walks by Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas knocked in a run with a base hit to left. Sam Gress limited the damage to a single run in the first for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks answered right back in the second inning. First, an infield single and a seeing-eye base hit gave South Carolina runners at first and second with no outs. Lexi Winters singled through the middle for the third straight Gamecock hit to force a tie game. Then, a misplayed ball by Cydney Sanders off the bat of Natalie Heath allowed Winters to score to give South Carolina a 2-1 advantage.

A passed ball got away from Isabela Emerling to allow a third Gamecock to score. An RBI double off the bat of Karley Shelton extended the South Carolina lead to 5-1 in the second inning.

After somewhat of a tough defensive inning for Emerling, she responded as she stepped into the box. Following an Ailana Agbayani double, Emerling hit a towering home run down the left field line to cut the Gamecock lead to 5-3.

Oklahoma got a nice shut down inning from Deal. Then, Oklahoma struck back in the third. Back to back singles from Pickering and McEnroe-Marinas paved the way for a three-run home run from Gabbie Garcia. That would allow the Sooners to reclaim the lead, 6-5.

The inning could have been much worse for the Gamecocks. However, Jori Heard navigated a bases loaded, jam to keep the game at a 6-5 score. The Gamecocks tied the contest at six in the fifth inning. A sacrifice fly from Winters knotted the score. But, just like South Carolina did a couple of innings before Oklahoma reliever Isabella Smith got out of a bases loaded jam to limit the damage to just one run.

Again, in the bottom of the fifth, the pendulum would swing back in the favor of the Sooners. Emerling hit her second home run of the game after an Agbayani walk to give Oklahoma the 8-6 lead. Finally, Oklahoma broke the game open and gave themselves some distance. Hannah Coor laced a double down the right field line to extend Oklahoma’s lead to 10-6.

Comparatively, the Gamecocks did not go down without a fight. Winters hammered a Smith riseball for a three-run home run and trimmed the deficit to 10-9. However, Smith settled down and retired the next three in order as Oklahoma secured the one-run victory. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:30 PM local time.

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