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NORMAN — The Sooners were cruising to a sweep on Sunday. They led 8-0 heading into the fourth inning as the crowd roared at Love's Field.
But in the span of two innings, the Sooners saw that eight-run lead turn into an 8-8 tie heading into the sixth inning. The Longhorns scored eight runs on seven hits as they furiously rallied back into the game.
The pressure cranked up on the Sooners. But fortunately for Patty Gasso's squad, they responded.
The Sooners opened the sixth inning by loading the bases with no outs after two walks and a single. Isabela Emerling stepped to the plate and drilled a sacrifice fly to left field, pushing a base runner home that helped the Sooners regain the lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, ace pitcher Sam Landry delivered like she has all season. She worked around a walk and ended the frame with a strikeout and a ground out.
It wasn't pretty, and it was a near collapse, but the Sooners did just enough to escape with a 9-8 win at Love's Field. The win secures the series victory for the Sooners, who beat the Longhorns 7-6 on Friday and 7-2 on Saturday.
The game completely turned despite a dream start for the Sooners.
The offense very comfortable attacking Texas ace pitcher Teagan Kavan. Ella Parker got things started in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run home run — her second home run of the series — to open the scoring. Gabbie Garcia followed with a three-run home run in the second inning to blow the game open.
The Sooners added a trio of runs in the bottom of the third inning. Cydney Sanders scored on a passed ball after a leadoff walk, and the Sooners got a pair of RBI singles from Abby Dayton and Gabbie Garcia.
That offensive outburst was combined with a stellar opening from Smith. The redshirt senior retired all nine batters through three innings. But after she allowed a leadoff single in the fourth — her first hit of the game — Smith was pulled for Audrey Lowry.
That's when disaster started.
The true freshman allowed four runs on four consecutive singles and a walk as the Longhorns loaded the bases with no outs. Lowry was eventually pulled for Paytn Monticelli, who allowed two RBI singles before the Sooners turned to Landry. for the final two outs.
After that frame, the Sooners' comfortable eight-run lead was suddenly dwindled down to two. Landry then allowed a two-run home run to Joley Mitchell in the top of the fifth inning, as the Longhorns tied the game.
The Longhorns' rally came as the Sooners' offense went cold. The Sooners logged just one total hit in the fifth and sixth innings.
However, their sixth-inning offense — and Landry's clutch pitching — gave them just enough to secure the win.
The Sooners improve to 42-5 and 16-5 in SEC play. They'll close out the regular season next weekend at Florida with a three-game series.
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