OKLAHOMA CITY — No. 2 Oklahoma (51-7) beat No. 7 Tennessee (45-16) 4-3 on the opening day of the Women’s College World Series behind a stout defensive close-out performance. An incredible defensive finish outshined a slow start in the field for the Sooners.
OU fell behind early as Tennessee's offense jumped out on senior right-hander Sam Landry (24-4), who made her first appearance in the Women’s College World Series of her career.
Landry struggled to start the game, giving up four hits and three runs, while striking out only one batter and walking two through the first three innings.
The ace’s number has been called in big games throughout the season, and she’s delivered. However, the biggest game of the year and of Landry’s career undoubtedly provided added pressure.
A costly error from Landry on a passed ball brought in Tennessee’s Taylor Pannell to extend the Vols’ lead to 2-0 after one inning.
Well-placed hits from the Lady Vols kept the Sooners’ defense unbalanced, finding gaps and forcing difficult plays all over the field.
An uncharacteristic error from sophomore outfielder Kasidi Pickering on a dropped ball in the third left the door open for Tennessee’s utility player Ella Dodge to score from first, extending Tennessee’s lead to 3-1.
It was an overall rough start for Landry and the defense, but like they’ve done all year, they didn’t flinch and played lights out the rest of the game.
Landry started to settle in in the fourth, holding Tennessee to one hitless inning and four scoreless innings the rest of the game.
In her 17th complete game of the season, Landry displayed her poise and confidence in herself and her team and began setting up the defense to make game-changing plays.
“They love, love, love defense so much,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “They’re all great hitters, but a lot of them if you’d ask what they like better, they’d say defense. They believe and I believe, defense wins championships.”
One of the best infields in the country started showing signs of life, making three pivotal one-out double plays that served as momentum changers in innings where Tennessee strung together hits and put runners on base.
“It’s amazing, I mean we work on double plays all the time, so they’re fun to turn in a game,” Landry said following the win. “They’re definitely a momentum changer so just having them there to change the momentum and keep it on our side. I mean basically, the whole game was kind of on (Tennessee's) side, so when we could take those moments and get them back in our dugout it was a win.”
Junior outfielder Hannah Coor raced to make a great catch in center field and made an even better throw to first for the double play to get out of the fifth.
defense got Devon Park on it's feet 🔊🔊🔊@coor_hannah | 📺ESPN pic.twitter.com/OrFuS7JJyK
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 29, 2025
The other two came in the form of 6-4-3 double plays, with the last coming in the top of the seventh to get out of a bases-loaded jam that inevitably led to sophomore utility player Ella Parker’s walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
third DP of the day 🔄Three outs to work with.📺ESPN pic.twitter.com/dp2oxYwz6n
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 29, 2025
When the OU offense couldn’t get things going, it was the defense that stepped up and kept the Sooners in the fight. Trust amongst the defense and pitching was vital in staying grounded and not letting the game get out of hand when it seemed that was the way things were heading.
Next, the Sooners will face Texas in the winner’s bracket 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC.
This story was edited by Parker Coyne.
