
6 Oklahoma Sooners earn All-SEC Honors
6 Oklahoma Sooners earn All-SEC Honors
The Oklahoma Sooners completed their first season in the SEC, winning the regular season title and earning their first SEC tournament win on Thursday over No. 9 LSU. It's been a year of transition after Oklahoma lost several seniors after last season. But Patty Gasso reloaded through the transfer portal and the high school ranks to help Oklahoma to first place and stay within the top five of the nation all season long.
After a successful first season in the SEC, six Oklahoma Sooners earned SEC honors led by Patty Gasso's 16th Conference Coach of the Year award.
Sam Landry, who transferred to Oklahoma for her senior year, won SEC Newcomer of the Year after going 18-4 during the regular season and leading the Sooners pitching staff. Landry was named SEC Pitcher of the Week three times. She's thrown 15 complete games, including a one-hit effort in the win over LSU on Wednesday.
Selected to the All-SEC first team were Landry, third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, and outfielder Kasidi Pickering. Pickering is second on the Sooners in batting average, home runs, and RBIs this season and has played stellar defense in the outfield. McEnroe-Marinas is in her second year with the Sooners but her first year as a starter and has been fantastic at the plate and in the field. She's hit .340 with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs.
True freshman Gabbie Garcia was named to the All-SEC second team after hitting .354 and leading the Sooners in home runs with 15 and RBIs with 47. During the year, she had a run of five straight games with a home run, something that hasn't been done by a freshman since Jocelyn Alo.
Garcia was also named to the All-SEC defensive team for her work at shortstop. She had just three errors on 152 chances and recorded 58 putouts and 91 assists this season. Along with Garcia on the All-SEC defensive team was transfer second baseman Ailana Agbayani. Agbayani recorded a .993 fielding percentage, with just one error on 153 chances in 2025.
The Oklahoma Sooners will take on Arkansas in the SEC Softball Tournament semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m. CT.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
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San Francisco Chronicle
21 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Matt Chapman's first Giants walk-off HR gives S.F. another one-run win
San Francisco's hesitant offense has an unhappy tendency of disappearing during Logan Webb 's starts. Going into Saturday, Webb had by far the lowest run support among the Giants ' starters and that continued all the way through his time on the mound against the Braves. Then came the ninth inning, when the Giants used their other offensive technique, the walkoff win, making it two in a row. With two outs and another great Webb performance looking as if it were for naught, Matt Chapman clocked a two-run homer to propel San Francisco to a 3-2 victory over Atlanta, the team's MLB-high eighth walkoff win of the season. It was Chapman's first walkoff homer for San Francisco – and his first walkoff hit and RBI with the team. Atlanta starter Bryce Elder was just as terrific as Webb on Saturday, striking out a career-high 12 and allowing just three hits in eight innings. It was Elder's first career appearance against San Francisco, only one start removed from a 15-day trip to the minors. But Piece Johnson got the ninth and again was on the wrong side of a walkoff; he had also uncorked the decisive wild pitch in the 10th inning on Friday. Trust Webb to be the guy on the mound when an opposing pitcher put together his best start of the year: He gets just 2.8 runs per 27 outs while being the pitcher of record. The run support for the rest of the regular starters is slightly more robust: Robbie Ray gets 4.4 runs of support per 27 outs while the pitcher of record; Landen Roupp 4.0; Justin Verlander 3.8; Jordan Hicks, 3.8; Hayden Birdsong 3.4, all per Webb struck out 10 in his six innings and walked zero; over his past four starts, he's struck out 32 and walked one in 24 innings. That's ace stuff, All-Star stuff. Giants 3, Braves 2 Atlanta San Francisco ab r h bi ab r h bi Totals 34 2 7 2 Totals 31 3 5 3 Acuña rf 4 1 1 0 cf 4 0 1 0 Baldwin c 4 0 1 0 Ramos lf 4 1 1 0 Riley 3b 4 0 2 0 Flores dh 4 1 1 1 Olson 1b 3 0 0 0 Chapman 3b 4 1 1 2 Ozuna dh 4 0 0 1 Smith 1b 3 0 1 0 Harris cf 4 1 1 1 Adames ss 3 0 0 0 Albies 2b 3 0 1 0 Yastrzemski rf 3 0 0 0 Verdugo lf 2 0 0 0 Bailey c 3 0 0 0 White ph-lf 2 0 0 0 Fitzgerald 2b 2 0 0 0 Allen ss 4 0 1 0 ph 1 0 0 0 Schmitt 2b 0 0 0 0 Atlanta 000 011 000 — 2 San Francisco 000 100 002 — 3 LOB: Atlanta 7, San Francisco 2. 2B_Riley (11), (1). HR: Harris (4), Flores (11), Chapman (12). IP H R ER BB SO Atlanta Elder 8 3 1 1 0 12 L,1-3 BS,1-3 2-3 2 2 2 0 1 San Francisco Webb 6 6 2 2 0 10 Miller 1 0 0 0 0 0 Hjelle 1 1 0 0 1 0 Rogers W,3-2 1 0 0 0 1 0 Umpires: Home, Gabe Morales; First, Jansen Visconti; Second, Malachi Moore; Third, Andy Fletcher. T: 2:05. A: 35,162 (41,915). Saturday's outing was his fifth career game with 10 or more strikeouts and no walks. The only other Giants with as many or more since 1893 are Madison Bumgarner (12) and Tim Lincecum (five). Juan Marichal had four. Webb struck out nine of the first 14 batters Saturday, including getting Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin swinging with two on in the third. In the fourth, he struck out the side, all looking, something that Braves manager Brian Snitker took exception to until he was tossed by home-plate umpire Gabe Morales. Given the way Webb was working, Wilmer Flores' leadoff homer in the fourth seemed like a major blow, but the Braves love a tight game as much as the Giants do, and Michael Harris II led off the fifth with his second career homer off Webb in just 13 at-bats. Atlanta added a run in the sixth to take the lead, but Webb might have done his best work of the day that inning. Acuna, Baldwin and Austin Riley rapped singles to load the bases with no outs, and Webb got cleanup hitter Matt Olson to pop up before getting a grounder from Marcel Ozuna. Hit even slightly harder, Webb would have emerged unscathed, but Ozuna's tapper was 74 mph and Chapman could only get the runner at second, with Ozuna beating the throw to first as a run scored. Webb finished his day by striking out Harris. The Giants and Braves top the majors with 27 one-run games apiece including each of the first two games against each other this year. Each of San Francisco's past 13 games has been decided by no more than two runs, the longest streak in franchise history, eclipsing a 12-game span from May 30-June 12, 1978. Briefly: Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee got the start off because of some slight back tightness but he could have played had there been a need, manager Bob Melvin said. Lee pinch hit in the eighth and struck out. … Melvin said that Justin Verlander (pectoral strain) feels good after throwing to hutters on Friday but the team hasn't decided when he'll come off the IL. … The club announced that catcher Sam Huff, who'd been designated for assignment Tuesday, cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Sacramento, a welcome development for a team that doesn't have a lot of catching. 'As far as the catching position goes, depth can be ominous,' Melvin said, 'We were pulling for Sam to get a major-league job but he's gotten to know our pitching staff and did well with all our starting pitchers.'


USA Today
26 minutes ago
- USA Today
Jalen Williams on Thunder's NBA Finals Game 2 stakes: 'Pressure is a privilege'
Jalen Williams on Thunder's NBA Finals Game 2 stakes: 'Pressure is a privilege' With the entire sports world's attention on the 2025 NBA Finals, Jalen Williams has come a long way over the last four years from small-school Santa Clara, which likely only had a couple thousand people in the stands, to a global stage with millions watching. The championship series is only one game old, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are already at their first hurdle. Tyrese Haliburton's Game 1 game-winner put the title favorite in a 0-1 series hole. Goes without saying, but the Thunder must win Game 2 or risk being on the cusp of an all-time upset. If the Thunder even the series 1-1, Williams will likely play a big part. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort did enough to secure a Game 1 win, but the rest of the starters struggled. For the 24-year-old, that was 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Besides a hot three-minute fourth-quarter stretch, Williams couldn't buy a bucket. His process was solid. The rhythm scorer created quality mid-range looks and bullied his way into the basket. But the lack of touch created frustration. Expect Williams to bounce back. The Pacers don't possess defensive titans to slow down the All-Star player. If you can copy his shot chart, he'll surely enjoy better luck on balls that rimmed out or barely missed. The 24-year-old stayed cool when asked about the heavy expectations he shoulders. "I try and think of myself as somebody that's very uncommon. I don't ever think that I'm in my third year because then that allows me to make excuses. I should just go out there and play," Williams said. "Pressure is a privilege. So I enjoy being counted on and doing that, and I just think I've been counted on since, I feel like, last year, to be totally honest, just in regard to being there for the rest of the guys. And now we're here in the Finals." The Thunder have said all the right things after Game 1's stunner. We'll soon see if they can also walk the walk on the court. If you had to make a bet, expect the team that's only lost two in a row once this year to make up for its avoidable mistakes.


Chicago Tribune
34 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Seiya Suzuki leads power surge with 2 of Chicago Cubs' 5 home runs in 6-1 rout of Detroit Tigers
DETROIT — The language barrier between Seiya Suzuki and his teammates disappears on days like Saturday at Comerica Park, where the Japanese slugger hit two home runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. No interpretation was necessary in the Cubs dugout after five home run celebrations. 'Happiness after home runs — that's great and universal,' Pete Crow-Armstrong said. Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch and Matt Shaw added to the home run barrage as the Cubs evened the series before a second straight sellout of 41,084, which included thousands of road-tripping Cubs fans. They managed only seven hits on the day, including an infield hit by Nico Hoerner, but made all of them count. 'We hit some homers today and didn't do much else,' manager Craig Counsell said. 'But homers are good. You get five homers, that's a pretty good day.' A quick fact-check confirmed Counsell's statement: Home runs are good. So is dominant starting pitching, and Jameson Taillon threw seven strong innings, allowing one run on three hits while improving to 6-3 with his fourth straight win. The Cubs have not lost two straight games since a three-game skid on May 6-9 against the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. 'We make ourselves a tough beat, and I think we've done that pretty darn regularly,' Counsell said. 'And that's going to put you on top a good amount of the time.' The Cubs are 18-7 over their last 25 games, the best record in the majors in that span, and go for the series win Sunday with rookie Cade Horton facing Jack Flaherty. Suzuki started the Cubs off with a solo home run in the first off left-hander Tyler Holton, the Tigers opener. Busch added a two-run shot off Keider Montero in the fifth, his 10th of the season, giving the Cubs five players with 10 or more home runs in only 64 games. The Cubs led 3-1 in the seventh when Crow-Armstrong cranked his 17th and Shaw hit his second. Suzuki added his second of the game off Chase Lee in the eighth. The competition between Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong has been an interesting sidebar to a season in which both could be headed to the All-Star Game. Suzuki took the RBI lead 55-54 on Saturday, but Crow-Armstrong remains ahead 17-16 in their home run battle. 'Pete was saying he was the power leader of the team,' Suzuki said through an interpreter. Crow-Armstrong countered that Suzuki challenged him after his first home run. 'I let him know today that he had to hit two, and I've still got him, so …' Crow-Armstrong said. 'Seiya says when he hits a home run, I have to as well. If that turns into real motivation, it's great.' Suzuki said Crow-Armstrong likes to pat him on the head, then added it's obvious who has the most power of the two 'if you look at his body.' He likes to consider their relationship like an adult and a child. 'Everything Pete does is like a little kid, so Pete is like my little brother,' he said. Crow-Armstrong strongly disagreed. 'That's up for debate,' he said. 'We can work that out behind closed doors.' The win was big after Friday's 3-1 loss, in which a poor decision by third-base coach Quintin Berry to send Crow-Armstrong home in a scoreless game against Tarik Skubal backfired. Berry quickly changed his mind and held Crow-Armstrong up at third, leading to Crow-Armstrong being tagged out and squelching a potential rally against the game's best pitcher. It was a pivotal play and a tough loss that could've lingered had the Cubs let it. 'It was a unique play, the way it went down,' Counsell said Saturday. 'Pete is a unique runner. So I think you talk about it, you learn from it and it helps you get better the next time.' The Cubs responded with a well-played game and got another huge performance from Taillon, the leader of a rotation that has endured a few bumps but has been fairly consistent since Shota Imanaga was sidelined on May 5 with a hamstring strain. Matthew Boyd has a 3.01 ERA this season and 40 strikeouts to only three walks over his last six starts. Colin Rea rebounded in Washington from back-to-back subpar outings against the Cincinnati Reds and has allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his 10 starts. The Cubs have won in all of Horton's five appearances, including his debut in New York that included an opener. Ben Brown threw seven strong innings Friday in a tense duel with Skubal and has turned in his best two outings since Counsell used an opener for him last week at Wrigley Field. Taillon has morphed into the Cubs ace since the injury to Imanaga, who threw a bullpen Saturday at the team's complex in Mesa, Ariz. Imanaga will pitch in a game setting Monday in Arizona in hopes of returning later this month. The arrow is pointing up for the Cubs, who beat up on bad teams the last three weeks and have played well against baseball's best team in Detroit. Taillon said the atmosphere the last two days at Comerica has been something to see, though he pointed to the calendar in an effort to curb Cubs fans' enthusiasm. 'Obviously I've played in Detroit a lot and I've never seen the stadium like this with this kind of energy, which is really cool,' Taillon said. 'In that sense it's cool that it's two great teams going up against each other. But it's also June. 'Every series does count the same, but it's been a fun environment. It was a beautiful day at the park today. It was popping.' And when it's popping, the Cubs come ready to bop.