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OU softball controls its destiny for SEC regular season championship

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•04/29/25•

BPrzybylo

Ailana Agbayani8
OU 2B Ailana Agbayani. (Nathan J. Fish - Imagn Images)

OU softball is in a familiar position in a new place. After being squeezed together with the rest of the SEC in a logjam, surprise, the Sooners have taken off.

Back-to-back sweeps combined with other schools stumbling, and OU is now the heavy favorite to win the SEC regular season championship.

The Sooners need to win two of three games at Florida to guarantee it. Realistically, OU could probably win just one, and it would be enough.

Because the biggest threats, Tennessee and Texas A&M, are playing each other. Nobody is expecting a three-game sweep either way, although we learned it can happen with the elite with OU taking all three against Texas.

After all that, OU is primed to keep its dominant ways going.

The Top 4

OU (16-5, 42-5) – at Florida
Texas A&M (14-6, 41-8) – at Tennessee
Tennessee (14-7, 39-11) – vs. Texas A&M
Texas (13-8, 42-9) – vs. Kentucky

The Gators are coming off losing two of three at LSU. Florida and Arkansas are next in line at 12-9, but do not have a chance to win the regular season title.

Parker rounding into form

Sophomore Ella Parker is starting to become that player again. Back-to-back games with towering home runs against Texas.

They marked her first home runs in SEC play and that 4-for-38 slump is starting to feel like a thing of the past.

“Big, and I was watching some of the game yesterday — her swing is just so wonderful to watch,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “I mean, it’s just — it’s made so almost perfectly, the way she swings the bat. Power and range around the strike zone. But we have a really good eye. Our team walks a lot, and those turn into runs. And when we see Ella, when I see Ella at the plate, I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’ I mean, I always feel that, like she’s going to hit something hard. I always, always feel that way.”

Garcia thriving in two-hole

Gasso has not been shy to tinker with the lineup. This last weekend? It was moving freshman Gabbie Garcia from the cleanup spot to the two-hole.

Garcia responded in a huge way, with a couple of home runs and nearly the dagger shot that was the three-run homer Sunday after a 12-pitch plate appearance.

“I love it. She’s really, really become a very outstanding freshman player,” Gasso said. “Clutch for us, big RBIs. You look at her size and you think, oh, like, aw. Like, oh, her in the second spot. Good eye, good battle. But when she connects, she hits it hard. And she doesn’t want you to look at her. She doesn’t want the praise. She’s almost embarrassed sometimes by it. But she’s a baller. She’s a gamer. And I see that in her.” 

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