Vanderbilt beats Oklahoma in SEC Baseball Tournament
Vanderbilt beats Oklahoma in SEC Baseball Tournament
The weekend will be long in Norman for the Oklahoma baseball team.
OU saw its regular season come to an end Thursday at the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament. Fourth-seeded Vanderbilt knocked off the 12th-seeded Sooners in the quarterfinals, 6-1.
Now, Oklahoma, which is a practical lock for the NCAA Tournament, will see where its off to next on Sunday, when the field of 64 teams is announced. The Sooners' defeat at the hands of Vandy all but ensures the longshot hope of hosting a Norman Regional will not come to fruition.
Vanderbilt struck for four runs in the third inning off Oklahoma starter Cade Crossland. The Commodores tallied the four runs off four hits and a Sooners error. OU, which has still only scored more than five runs once since April 25, couldn't get things going offensively enough to rally.
Things were so rough offensively for Oklahoma, their lone run came almost by accident. Sam Christiansen was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning. He advanced to second when Jaxon Willits walked, then took third on a passed ball. An RBI groundout from scored him. That's all Oklahoma, which picked up just two hits as a team, would get in the inning and the game.
Vanderbilt took three of the four games played against Oklahoma this season and is likely to end up hosting the Nashville Regional. The Commodores are unlikely, however, to earn a national seed.
Oklahoma is seeking to avoid a similar fate: The Sooners would prefer not landing in a nationally-seeded team's Regional. The good news is the SEC is expected to earn at least four of the eight such seeds, meaning Oklahoma's chances are smaller than most other teams'.
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USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
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New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
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The Pac-12 and some departing Mountain West schools have sued the league over the exit fees UNLV and the MW leftovers are in line to receive, and the sides are currently in mediation, but Harper did not sound too concerned about the final numbers. 'If I was an attorney or judge, I could probably give you a better answer,' he said. 'I don't know. Do I think the numbers will be where they were reported? Should be somewhere in that neighborhood.' To sweeten UNLV's Mountain West decision further, the conference agreed to continue to hold its basketball tournaments at UNLV and plans to move its headquarters from Colorado Springs to a new home base: Las Vegas. Like so many Sin City transplants, Mike Palm found himself hooked by one Vegas show in particular: Mountain West basketball. Palm, who grew up a sports fan in the Midwest and was once a middle school teacher in Iowa before rising up the gaming industry ranks, could not get enough of hoops at the Thomas & Mack Center. Kawhi Leonard was introducing himself to America at San Diego State. Jimmer Fredette was shooting it from the logo for BYU. Palm, the VP of operations for Circa, The D and Golden Gate Casinos in downtown Vegas, said for so long UNLV football was a local afterthought. Until Odom arrived. The city was in the midst of a sports revolution, with the Raiders arriving after the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL and Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA. And UNLV football was suddenly something worth talking about. Palm knows a thing or two about the topic du jour as a regular on Las Vegas sports radio. And when Vegas became the epicenter of the name, image and likeness messiness last September, Palm attempted to get involved. Advertisement Before UNLV went on to compete for a second consecutive conference title, its former starting quarterback, Matthew Sluka, announced he was leaving the program amid a dispute over funds he said were promised to him but not delivered by the school's NIL collective. The Rebels were 3-0 and coming off a 23-20 win at Kansas. Sluka's exit was a flashpoint in college athletics — a starting quarterback leaving his team in the middle of a season with tremendous promise. Palm, on behalf of Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens, offered to pay Sluka $100,000 during the dispute. By the time the public offer was made, officials at UNLV informed Palm that there would be no negotiating with Sluka. In January, the former UNLV quarterback announced he was signing with James Madison. That's the singularity of Vegas in $100,000 nutshell. Stevens, a casino owner who isn't a UNLV alumnus, offered to help keep the Rebels' start red-hot. Palm, who said he's gone to several UNLV games the last two years, said the home game atmospheres are more vibrant than Raiders games. He said Mullen's hiring quickly negated the deflation around town after Odom left for Purdue. But Palm said he's realistic about what challenges still lie ahead. 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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Women's College Softball World Series championship series Game 3 history
The saying is "There's nothing like Game 7 in sports." The same is true of Game 3 of the championship series in the Women's College World Series. The 2025 season will conclude on Friday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City with a rare treat for college softball fans: a Game 3. For the seventh time since the WCWS adopted the best-of-three-game series format in 2025, everything will come down to a winner-take-all game. Advertisement No. 6 Texas will take on No. 12 Texas Tech at 8 p.m. ET to determine which of the programs from the Lone Star State will collect their first national championship in the sport. Here's what you need to know about the history of Game 3s in the WCWS: How many Game 3s have there been in WCWS finals history? The Texas-Texas Tech Game 3 on Friday will be the seventh WCWS in championship series history since the format was adopted in 2005. This will be the first one since Oklahoma stormed back from a 1-0 deficit against Florida State to win two straight to begin their dynastic four-peat. The first Game 3 occurred the same year the new format was put in place. UCLA defeated Michigan 5-0 in Game 1, but the Wolverines earned 5-2 and 4-1 wins to win the national title. That Game 3 actually lasted 10 innings before Michigan pulled away late. Advertisement The 2007, 2012, 2015 and 2016 Women's College World Series also went the full three games. The winner of Game 1 only won the national championship in just 2015 and 2016 WCWS. Texas-Texas Tech 2025 WCWS Texas opened with a 2-1 victory over Texas Tech on a clutch hit from catcher Reese Atwood. The Red Raiders were carried by NiJaree Canady in Game 2 to force the winner-takes-all Game 3. Game 1: Texas 2, Texas Tech 1 Game 2: Texas Tech 4, Texas 3 Game 3: Texas vs. Texas Tech, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) Oklahoma stuns Florida State in 2021 WCWS Florida State's offense broke out for eight runs in Game 1 to down Oklahoma in the opener. However, Giselle Juarez and the Sooners limited the Seminoles to just three runs over the next two games to win the fifth national championship in program history. Advertisement Game 1: Florida State 8, Oklahoma 4 Game 2: Oklahoma 6, Florida State 2 Game 3: Oklahoma 5, Florida State 1 Oklahoma defeats Auburn in 3 games for 2016 WCWS title After taking a close victory in Game 1, the Sooners jumped out to a 7-0 lead through two innings against Auburn in Game 2 of the 2016 WCWS. However, the Tigers scored 11 consecutive runs, including four on a grand slam by Emily Carosone in the eighth inning. Paige Parker limited Auburn to one run in a gem to win Game 3. Game 1: Oklahoma 3, Auburn 2 Game 2: Auburn 11, Oklahoma 7 (8 innings) Game 3: Oklahoma 2, Auburn 1 Florida defeats Michigan to repeat as champions in 2015 WCWS Michigan made Florida earn a repeat in the 2015 WCWS. The Gators took Game 1 3-2, but the Wolverines earned a 1-0 win in Game 2 to force Game 3. That's when Florida ace Lauren Haeger took over in a 4-1 Gators' win. She limited Michigan to one run on five hits in her complete game bid. She struck out five and walked one. Advertisement Game 1: Florida 3, Michigan 2 Game 2: Michigan 1, Florida 0 Game 3: Florida 4, Michigan 1 Alabama overcomes 1-0 deficit to win first SEC softball championship in 2012 Alabama won the first-ever softball national championship in school history and the first for the SEC after falling behind the Sooners at multiple points. The Sooners took Game 1, but Alabama bounced back with an 8-6 Game 2 win. In Game 3, the Crimson Tide trailed 3-0 but scored four runs in a rain delay extended fourth inning to pull off the comeback. Game 1: Oklahoma 4, Alabama 1 Game 2: Alabama 8, Oklahoma 6 Game 3: Alabama 5, Oklahoma 4 Arizona takes down Tennessee in 2007 WCWS Arizona did not score a run until the 10th inning of Game 2 of the championship series in the WCWS in 2007, but the Wildcats still took the series. After winning 1-0 in 10 innings in Game 2 to even the series, Taryne Mowatt delivered a gem with 11 strikeouts in a 5-0 Arizona Game 3 win. Advertisement Game 1: Tennessee 3, Arizona 0 Game 2: Arizona 1, Tennessee 0 (10 innings) Game 3: Arizona 5, Tennessee 0 Michigan knocks off UCLA to win 2005 WCWS for first title In the very first WCWS championship series, three games were not nearly enough for UCLA and Michigan. After splitting the first two games, the third and deciding game went to extra innings. Samantha Findlay hit a three-run home run in the top of the 10th to help the Wolverines win their first national championship in school history. She actually drove in all four runs for Michigan in the championship game. Game 1: UCLA 5, Michigan 0 Game 2: Michigan 5, UCLA 2 Game 3: Michigan 4, UCLA 1 (10 innings) The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports' newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women's College World Series championship series Game 3 history
