No. 3 OU (52-10) saw its season end in dramatic fashion as No. 20 Mississippi State (43-19) defeated the Sooners 6-0 in game three of the Norman Super Regional on Sunday at Love’s Field.
The Bulldogs did the unthinkable. They slayed a giant in its own home amid an army of crimson and cream over 4,000 strong wishing on their downfall, and at the head of it all, a former Sooner in Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts blazing her own path with a new program eager to add on to the legacy she created in Norman in front of her former coach.
“They are the standard of college softball, and what they've done, what Coach Gasso has built cannot be denied,” Ricketts said. “I'm so thankful for her and her guidance, and I would not be in this seat in this moment without Patty Gasso, and she is just a huge mentor for me. … So thankful for her, thankful for this opportunity, and just really proud to have played under the best … just even more excited for this group.”
OU softball head coach Patty Gasso on the #Sooners’ season-ending loss to Mississippi State in the third game of super regionals.
The Norman Super Regionals was a weekend full of first time experiences for the Sooners. Sunday’s loss marks the first time this season OU has lost a series and the first time they have failed to score in a game at Love’s Field in the two seasons they have called the venue home.
It’s also the first time they have failed to score in a game at home since 2015, which was the last time the Sooners did not make the short drive up to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series, a testament to the dominance Gasso has reigned over the softball world over the last decade and beyond, but also a testament to Mississippi State’s resilience, playing in college softball’s toughest environment.
“We know that we're the underdogs in this environment .... And that's total respect for Oklahoma as a whole and the softball program. And I think we came in knowing that,” Bulldogs’ senior outfielder Morgan Bernardini said.
Despite little drama in the way of a close contest, one moment changed the mood in the stadium to go from both fanbases passionately cheering on their respective teams, to a mad house of irate Sooner fans eager for things to be made right.
Down three runs, but with a chance to make up some ground, OU freshman catcher Kendall Wells took to the plate to potentially inject some life into a rather stagnant offensive attack. For Wells, the stakes were larger than potentially getting the Sooners back into the game. The nation’s second-most lethal hitter had the chance to tie the all-time single-season home run record with a 40th deep shot, but in the blink of an eye that moment was lost and tempers flared higher than they had all series.
Bulldogs’ junior left-handed pitcher Delainey Everett delivered a pitch that struck Wells in the head and immediately drew flack from the crowd as boos rained down following the incident. Wells stood at the plate for a brief moment, shaken by what had just happened, and eventually headed back to the locker room under her own strength to seek medical attention.
Freshman catcher Kendall Wells being hit by a softball during Game 3 of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship super regionals against Mississippi State on May 24, 2026.
“That was really hard, because it looked like it busted her helmet,” Gasso said. “She's a tough young lady, that is for sure, and wanted to come back into the game, but I could see that she was a little bit woozy there.”
Chief of staff Jackie Livingston, freshman catcher Kendall Wells and junior outfielder Kasidi Pickering during Game 3 of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship super regionals against Mississippi State on May 24, 2026. A rogue pitch from a Mississippi State pitcher hit Wells in the head immediately prior to this photo.
The madness continued following Wells’ departure from the field, as just moments later, Everett would strike out junior designated player Kasidi Pickering to close out the inning, letting out a burst of emotion the Sooner faithful didn't take too kindly.
However, Everett’s on field passion was misunderstood by OU fans. Everett noted postgame that her energy on the field stemmed from trying to honor her late father, who passed away at the beginning of the 2025 season, as game three of the super regional coincided with her parents' anniversary.
“Daughters and dads have a special connection through softball, and he coached me up until I got here,” Everett said. “So just remembering the big games that we won, all the titles that we had, just set me up for this moment, and I always know that he's here.”
After the Wells incident, Bulldogs fans made sure to support their pitcher louder and prouder than before with shouts of “Maroon and White” and gave her the confidence to deliver a shutout performance the team desperately needed. Everett dominated every Sooner that challenged her at the plate, allowing just three hits across the entire game and was backed up by an impenetrable Bulldogs defense that made all the right plays and played an error free game.
In the fourth, fifth and sixth innings the Bulldogs would build onto their lead and deflate an already battered Sooners squad with four more runs. What seemed like a chance for OU to build on the momentum that came from its 7-1 statement win on Saturday turned into a slow realization that a tenth straight World Series berth was slipping further away after every run.
“I think sometimes when you want something so bad, it just can't come out that way,” Gasso said. “They were taking hacks. We just kept flying out. I think sometimes we're just over swinging … and that is not lack of ability, it’s lack of focus, it's lack of wanting to do more than that, and we just kept taking great swings over and over and over again, and we needed not one hero, but we needed 20.”
For Gasso and the Sooners, the journey back to the top will have to wait to be completed until next season, but in the meantime, progress is the key mindset for the offseason.
“We're just excited to get back to it. I know this obviously isn't what we wanted, but we're going to take this and we're going to take this into next year,” junior utility player Ella Parker said. “We're going to fight, and we're going to continue to battle and come back ready.”
This story was edited by Audrey McClour.
