No. 4 Oklahoma (40-5, 14-5 SEC) defeated No. 3 Texas (42-7, 13-6 SEC) 7-6 in the series opener on Friday.
A dominant offensive performance from junior second-baseman Ailana Agbayani led the Sooners to victory, as she finished a career-day going 3-3 with a grand-slam and five RBIs. Agbayani showed her experience and leadership as an upperclassmen, stepping up in one of the biggest series of the season for the Sooners.
Game one marked the first SEC series matchup between Oklahoma and Texas. The last time the teams met was in the 2024 Women’s College World Series, where the Sooners beat the Longhorns 8-4 in game two, winning their eighth national championship and becoming the first team in history to win four consecutive national titles. Oklahoma had a 13-3 record against Texas over the past three years heading into the day.
The Oklahoma offense had found its rhythm in the Mississippi State series and looked to carry that momentum into a battle against a strong Texas pitching staff in front of a record-setting crowd at Love’s Field.
Senior right-handed pitcher Sam Landry drew her 19th start of the season in her first Red River matchup. The Sooners’ ace was dealing early with three strikeouts, giving up one hit and no runs after going through the entire Texas lineup in three innings. The Oklahoma defense made its presence known against one of the nation’s top offenses.
“I love the way we came out and the way we started. I thought we set a really good tone. Sam (Landry) had really good control.” Patty Gasso said.
yesssss @sam_landry21 ⛽️ℹ️» https://t.co/Th2U6csrhI pic.twitter.com/2RibALTHL1
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 25, 2025
Oklahoma’s bats got hot as the Sooners were first on the board with a bases-loaded RBI-groundout from redshirt junior catcher Isabela Emerling, giving Oklahoma a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Sooners couldn’t further capitalize with runners on second and third, but the runs would continue to pile up in the third.
Freshman short-stop Gabbie Garcia sent a solo-homerun over the center field wall to ignite a rally in the third inning. A pair of hits from sophomore utility Ella Parker, who made her 100th career-start, and redshirt freshman third-baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas set up loaded bases for the second time of the day.
With bases loaded, Agbayani turned on the first pitch for a grand-slam over the left-center field wall, extending the Sooners’ lead to 6-0 through three innings. The grand-slam was Agabyani’s second homer of the season.
“My main thing was to just stay really neutral, not get too high or too low, especially with all the fans and how I felt everyone,” Agbayani said after the game. “I was just trying to stay neutral and really think just pass the bat, and I felt like we did a great job today of just passing the bat to each other."
Lana back to talkin' launch angle 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/mAA05dACtp
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 25, 2025
The high-powered Texas offense found its rhythm in the third and fourth, with two and three run innings. All five runs came with two outs as the Sooners’ defense struggled to get out of the innings unscathed. The Longhorns’ rally cut the Oklahoma lead to 6-5.
Agbayani provided a response in the fifth, hitting an RBI-double to add to the Sooners’ 7-5 lead and her career-day, tying her career-high RBIs with five.
“I feel like we have such a great team atmosphere, that it's all about trusting in the team,” Agbayani said. “I feel like my confidence is really just showing our team’s confidence and how we’re really blending in, really mixing in well with each other and all bringing out our super powers.”
Landry would display her pitching superpowers to finish out the game with a one-two-three inning in the sixth. After a walk to load the bases in the seventh, a wild pitch allowed a runner to score from third with two outs, leaving the Sooners with a one-run lead.
Landry’s veteran poise shined through as she battled back in the next at-bat, leading to a pop-up to redshirt junior center-fielder Hannah Coor to secure the Oklahoma win 7-6, marking Landry’s 16th win and 13th complete game of the season.
Out # 2️⃣1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/ADMDgLt2BH
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 26, 2025
The Sooners will look to keep the offensive production rolling into game two, as well as efforts to keep the Texas offense at bay with a pitcher other than Landry. Oklahoma has struggled to maintain its rhythm throughout a full three-game series in SEC play, and Texas is not a team to get too comfortable with, despite the series opening win.
Next, Oklahoma will face Texas in game two at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Love’s Field.
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.
Oklahoma softball schedule
Feb. 6: Oklahoma 7, Cal State Northridge 2
Feb. 6: Oklahoma 11, San Diego State 6 (9 inn.)
Feb. 7: Oklahoma 8, Cal Baptist 0 (5 inn.)
Feb. 7: Oklahoma 13, Cal State Fullerton 3
Feb. 8: Oklahoma 9, Loyola Marymount 0
Feb 9: Oklahoma 2, Long Beach State 0 (11 inn.)
Feb. 15: Oklahoma 8, Hofstra 0 (5 inn.)
Feb. 15: Oklahoma 9, Baylor 1 (5 inn.)
Feb. 16: Oklahoma 11, Hoftsra 3 (5 inn.)
Feb. 16: Oklahoma 8, Baylor 0 (5 inn.)
Feb. 22: Oklahoma 8, Tulsa 0 (5 inn.)
Feb. 23: Oklahoma 8, Wichita State 1
Feb. 24: Oklahoma 8, Bowling Green 5 (8 inn.)
Feb. 24: Oklahoma 9, Abilene Christian 1 (5 inn.)
Feb. 28: Oklahoma 9, Marshall 1 (5 inn.)
Feb. 28: Oklahoma 9, Kansas 1 (6 inn.)
March 1: Oklahoma 8, Kansas 0 (5 inn.)
March 1: Oklahoma 11, Marshall 0 (5 inn.)
March 2: Oklahoma 17, Kansas City 1 (5 inn.)
March 7: Oklahoma 10, South Carolina 9
March 9: Oklahoma 10, South Carolina 9
March 9: Oklahoma 2, South Carolina 1
March 12: Oklahoma 10, Tulsa 2 (6 inn.)
March 14: Oklahoma 7, Arkansas 0
March 15: Oklahoma 6, Arkansas 4
March 16: Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 7
March 19: Oklahoma 8, East Texas A&M 0 (5 inn.)
March 21: Oklahoma 8, Missouri 0
March 22: Oklahoma 1, Missouri 3
March 23: Oklahoma 5, Missouri 1
March 26: Oklahoma 19, Wichita State 16
March 28: Oklahoma 2, Tennessee 5 (8 inn.)
March 29: Oklahoma 4, Tennessee 1
March 30: Oklahoma 3, Tennessee 5
April 1: Oklahoma 13, UT Arlington 2 (5 inn.)
April 4: Oklahoma 12, St. Thomas 4 (5 inn.)
April 4: Oklahoma 6, UCF 0
April 9: Oklahoma 11, Oklahoma State 3 (5 inn.)
April 12: Oklahoma 5, Alabama 1
April 13: Oklahoma 1, Alabama 6
April 14: Oklahoma 1, Alabama 2
April 18: Oklahoma 4, Mississippi State 0
April 20: Oklahoma 6, Mississippi State 5
April 20: Oklahoma 9, Mississippi State 6
April 25: vs. Texas at 5 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
April 26: vs. Texas at 11 a.m. (TV: ESPN2)
April 27: vs. Texas at 1 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)
May 1: at Florida at 5 p.m. (TV: SECN)
May 2: at Florida at 5 p.m. (TV: SECN)
May 3: at Florida at 2 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
