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No. 2 OU (40-4, 13-2 SEC) fell to No. 4 Texas (33-6, 10-5 SEC) 8-6 Sunday afternoon in a thrilling back-and-forth affair, as the Longhorns delivered the final blow with a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth.

The loss stopped the Sooners from sweeping their Red River foes, but they still secured the series 2-1 after wins on Friday and Saturday night, marking a series victory over a top-five opponent.

Here are key takeaways:

Gabbie Garcia’s late-game heroics unable to vault Sooners to win

Sophomore shortstop Gabbie Garcia delivered in a clutch moment, launching a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to erase the Longhorn lead. The blast to deep right field tied the game and added another standout moment to her impressive season.

Garcia’s home run marked her 18th on the year, tied for second most on the team with junior utility player Ella Parker. The sophomore came into Sunday batting .405 with 53 runs batted in and a 1.318 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Though Garcia’s blast pulled the Sooners even, OU ultimately fell in extra innings after Texas junior first baseman Katie Stewart delivered a three-run walk-off home run, her second of the day.

Sooners turn to multiple arms in circle

OU head coach Patty Gasso used four different pitchers Sunday afternoon, getting new arms involved as the postseason looms.

Senior right-hander Sydney Berzon started for the Sooners in the circle. Through 2.1 innings, she allowed five hits and three runs while striking out two. Berzon ran into trouble in the second inning, surrendering back-to-back singles before Texas junior outfielder Kayden Henry delivered a three-run home run.

After Berzon’s outing, Gasso turned to the bullpen to navigate the rest of the game. Senior Kierston Deal was first out of the pen. Entering Sunday with a 9.73 earned run average, Deal worked around traffic, stranding two runners and keeping the deficit unchanged across one inning of work.

Following Deal, two freshmen, Berkley Zache and Allyssa Parker, were called upon to close out the game, each tasked with stabilizing the circle in high-leverage innings. Zache threw 1.1 innings, allowing just one hit, a solo home run that extended the Texas lead to two.

After OU responded in the fourth to cut the deficit back to one, Parker entered in relief. She also went 1.1 innings and surrendered a solo home run in the sixth that pushed the Longhorns’ lead back to two.

After a wild seventh inning that saw Garcia launch a two-run home run to tie the game, Gasso turned to sophomore ace Audrey Lowry to carry OU into extra innings. Lowry was unable to hold the line, surrendering a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth, resulting in her second loss of the season and moving her record to 18-2.

Sooners get spark from bottom of lineup

For a majority of the game, the back half of the OU lineup was the only production the Sooners were seeing. With Parker, freshman catcher Kendall Wells and junior outfielder Kasidi Pickering combining to go 3-11 at the plate, an unlikely source sparked the Sooner rally

Senior outfielder Abby Dayton batting out of the nine spot, carried the load offensively, starting the OU scoring with a solo blast in the red inning. 

The senior added another RBI with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, trimming what was a two-run Texas lead. Dayton has remained a key contributor at the back end of the Sooners’ lineup throughout the season, hitting .440 with a 1.329 OPS.

OU’s seven and eight hitters, senior second baseman Ailana Agbayani and sophomore utility player Sydney Barker, also contributed. Agbayani came around to score on Dayton’s sacrifice fly, while Barker crossed the plate twice out of the eight spot.

Between the seven, eight and nine hitters, the Sooners combined for five runs, five hits and a walk, providing a strong boost from the bottom of the order.

Next, OU will take on Oklahoma State in Bedlam at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City on ESPN2.

This story was edited by Joshua McDaniel.