No. 1 Oklahoma softball falls to No. 9 Florida in regular-season finale
No. 1 Oklahoma softball falls to No. 9 Florida in regular-season finale
The No. 1 Oklahoma softball team will head into its first SEC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. They may not be happy about the way they're playing, though.
Oklahoma fell in its regular-season finale Saturday evening against No. 9 Florida, 6-4, dropping the series after Friday's loss in Game 2. Despite the loss, the Sooners won the conference's regular-season title by 1/2 game over No. 2 Texas A&M. The Aggies had a rain out April 7 against Georgia to create the unusual standings difference.
Florida led 3-0 after three innings in Gainesville after a sacrifice fly in the first and a two-run double from Korbe Otis in the third. Oklahoma pulled two of those back in the fourth and fifth when Cydney Sanders hit a solo home run and Gabbie Garcia plated a run on a sacrifice fly.
But the Gators would make OU's hole too large in the sixth. Ava Brown led off the inning with a home run, Kendra Falby scored on a passed ball and Reagan Walsh crossed the plate on a fielder's choice to provide Florida enough insurance to counter the Sooners' seventh-inning attempted comback. Garcia popped a two-run home run to create the final score and the Sooners left two runners on base to end the game.
Florida did its damage off Oklahoma starter Sam Landry. She allowed all six runs, only four earned, on seven hits, four for extra bases, and six walks.
The top four seeds in the SEC Tournament all receive byes into the quarterfinals. Oklahoma will play the winner of eight-seed Mississippi State and nine-seed LSU on Thursday at 10 a.m. CT from Athens, Georgia. OU swept Mississippi State during the regular season and did not play LSU.
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