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USA Today
7 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma baseball beats Nebraska in Chapel Hill Regional at NCAA Tournament
Oklahoma baseball beats Nebraska in Chapel Hill Regional at NCAA Tournament One down, two to go. The Oklahoma baseball team did what it needed in order to stay on the good side of things in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, beating Nebraska, 7-4, in the first round. OU's victory advances the Sooners in the winner's bracket where they will play host, and No. 4 national seed North Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m. Malachi Witherspoon, Oklahoma's normal No. 3 starter, was the star Friday. The Sooners' right-hander kept Nebraska scoreless through his six innings of work. Witherspoon gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters over his 102 pitches. His offense picked him up plenty, staking him to a 2-0 lead after two innings and a 4-0 advantage through six. Drew Dickerson popped a two-run home run in the second to give OU the early lead and he was followed in the third inning by Easton Carmichael, who hit a solo shot to make it 3-0. Trey Gambill's RBI single in the fifth inning provided more breathing room. OU still needed more, though, as Nebraska scored four runs in the eighth inning off Jason Bodin. The Sooners, however, had already added to their advantage, scoring three runs in the seventh. Scott Mudler plated a run with a groundout and Kyle Branch tacked on two more with a two-out single through the right side. Oklahoma hasn't lost its opening game at the NCAA Tournament since 2012, a stretch of six straight appearances with a victory. North Carolina booked its spot in the second round earlier Friday with a 4-0 win over Holy Cross. The Crusaders and Cornhuskers will play an elimination game at noon Saturday. The winner will play the loser of Oklahoma/North Carolina on Sunday at noon.
USA Today
15 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
How does WCWS work? Explaining double-elimination format for NCAA softball tournament
How does WCWS work? Explaining double-elimination format for NCAA softball tournament Show Caption Hide Caption OU softball coach Patty Gasso, pitcher Kierston Deal talk about Sooners reaching WCWS OU softball coach Patty Gasso, pitcher Kierston Deal talk about the Sooners' 13-2 win against Alabama in Game 2 of the NCAA super regionals to reach the WCWS. The college softball world has shifted its entire focus to Oklahoma City for the 2025 Women's College World Series. Back for the ninth consecutive year is the sport's biggest titan, No. 2 Oklahoma. Patty Gasso's Sooners, who are led by Sam Landry and Kasidi Pickering, are looking to continue their dominance at Devon Park by winning their fifth consecutive (and ninth overall) national championship. The SEC also has a strong showing in Oklahoma City, as the conference owns five of the eight spots, largely due to the additions of Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 over the offseason. The Big 12 still is represented in Oklahoma City, though, as NiJaree Canady pitched Texas Tech to the WCWS for the first time in program history. WCWS BRACKET 2025: Full schedule, matchups for NCAA softball tournament Speaking of first-time appearances, Ole Miss is making its first trip to the WCWS as well. The Rebels upset back-to-back national seeds No. 13 Arizona and No. 4 Arkansas in the Tucson Regional and Fayetteville Super Regional, respectively. WCWS play opens up on Thursday, May 29 at noon ET with an SEC-on-SEC battle between Florida and Texas. But as the WCWS takes place over the next week, fans who watch the action unfold for the first time may wonder how the championship tournament format actually works. Here's what you need to know on the format of the Women's College World Series: How many teams make the WCWS? The Women's College World Series is comprised of the final eight remaining teams in the 64-team NCAA softball tournament bracket. The eight teams that compete in the WCWS have advanced to Oklahoma City by winning their respective regional and super regional series. Of the eight teams that have made the 2025 Women's College World Series, five of them hail from the SEC. REQUIRED READING: Does college softball have a pitch clock? Action clock length, rules explained How does the Women's College World Series work? Explaining WCWS format Similarly to the College World Series, the Women's College World Series begins with a double-elimination style format comprised of two four-team brackets. It's similar to how the regional round of the NCAA Tournament operates, where four teams compete against each other until a winner is crowned from that respective bracket. Each team begins WCWS play with a 0-0 record and is guaranteed to play at least two games in Oklahoma City. Those who lose their opening WCWS game will fall to 0-1 and drop into the "elimination bracket," where they will play to keep their stay alive by winning an elimination game. Those who win their opening WCWS games will move to 1-0 and continue further in the "winner's bracket." REQUIRED READING: How big is a softball? Size, weight for 2025 NCAA softball tournament, WCWS The team that drops their first "elimination bracket" game will drop to 0-2 and be eliminated from the chase for a national championship. But where the format of the WCWS differs from the CWS and gets a bit complicated is what happens to the loser of the second "winner's bracket" game. The loser of this game not only drops to 1-1 in WCWS play and is put into a survive-and-advance elimination game, but they have to play that elimination game on the opposite side of the bracket. From there, that team will play the winner of that bracket's "elimination bracket" game. The team that loses that game is eliminated from the WCWS, while the winner advances back into the "winner's bracket" to play in the semifinals with a 2-1 record. To make the WCWS championship, that team will need two wins against the representative of the "winner's bracket." REQUIRED READING: Why does Florida softball wear sunflowers in their hair? Gators honor Heather Braswell How does the Women's College World Series championship work? The Women's College World Series championship series is a best-of-three series, meaning a team needs to win two games to be crowned the national champion. A team that drops Game 1 of the WCWS championship series can still win the national championship by winning Game 2 and forcing the "if necessary" Game 3. WCWS bracket 2025 Bracket 1 for the 2025 Women's College World Series is loaded and consists of four national seeds in No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Texas and No. 7 Tennessee. Bracket 2 for the WCWS consists of No. 9 UCLA, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 16 Oregon and non-seeded Ole Miss. Here's a full breakdown of the two WCWS brackets: Parentheses represent team's seeding Bracket 1: (2) Oklahoma vs. (7) Tennessee (3) Florida vs. (6) Texas Bracket 2: (9) UCLA vs. (16) Oregon (12) Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss REQUIRED READING: Patty Gasso salary, contract details: How much does Oklahoma softball coach make? WCWS schedule 2025 Here's a full breakdown of the 2025 Women's College World Series, including available start times and TV channel information at the time of this writing: All times Eastern Thursday, May 29 Game 1: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas | noon | ESPN (Fubo) No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas | noon | ESPN (Fubo) Game 2: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Game 3: Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Texas Tech | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Texas Tech | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 4: No. 16 Oregon vs. No. 9 UCLA | 9:30 p.m. ESPN2 (Fubo) Friday, May 30 Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Saturday, May 31 Game 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner 3 p.m. | ABC (Fubo) Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner 3 p.m. | ABC (Fubo) Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner 7 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Sunday, June 1 Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser 3 p.m. | ABC (Fubo) Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser 7 p.m. | ESPNU (Fubo) Monday, June 2 Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | noon | ESPN (Fubo) Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | noon | ESPN (Fubo) Game 12 (If Necessary): Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Game 13: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) Game 14 (If Cecessary): Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo) WCWS championship series schedule 2025 Wednesday, June 4 WCWS championship Game 1: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 8 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Thursday, June 5 WCWS championship Game 2: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 8 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Friday, June 6
USA Today
15 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Is Oklahoma softball's Ella Parker related to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts?
Is Oklahoma softball's Ella Parker related to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts? Show Caption Hide Caption Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady and Tennessee's Karlyn Pickens lead WCWS players to watch The Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson highlights several Women's College World Series key players to watch. Since she arrived to Oklahoma last year, all Ella Parker has done is hit. As a freshman on college softball's most storied team, Parker led the veteran-heavy national championship team with a team-best .416 batting average while winning the Most Valuable Player award in the Big 12 softball tournament and a spot on the All-Women's College World Series team. She has replicated that outstanding freshman by blossoming into an all-time OU player and OU's leading hitter this season, especially in the last month or so, as she has hit safely in 15 of the last 17 games for the Sooners. REQUIRED READING: Who are top OU softball players in 50 years of program history? Meet 50 greatest Sooners Another WCWS national championship ring would be Parker's second in two seasons with the Sooners, the same number her uncle, Dave Roberts, has won as the skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oklahoma begins its chase for that national championship ring on Thursday, May 29 against No. 7 Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. ET at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. Here's what you need to know on what Parker's relation is to Roberts and more ahead of the WCWS: Is Oklahoma softball's Ella Parker related to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts? Yes, Oklahoma softball's Ella Parker is related to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Parker is the niece of the two-time World Series champion manager, who played collegiately at UCLA before going on to have a 10-year MLB career with the now-Cleveland Guardians, Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. REQUIRED READING: Who will win 2025 NCAA softball title? Get to know the eight teams at the WCWS in OKC Who is Ella Parker? Ella Parker is a sophomore utility player on the Oklahoma softball team. The Los Angeles native was a highly touted recruit for the Sooners, as Extra Innings had her ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. Softball America, meanwhile, had Parker listed as the No. 15 recruit in their rankings. As a freshman last season, Parker was an immediate impact player for OU, as she was named a top-three finalist for TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year after starting 58 games and hitting a scorching .415 at the plate as a freshman. She additionally led the Sooners in stolen bases last season with 17. She earned a spot on the WCWS All-Tournament team after leading the Sooners with a .381 batting average in six WCWS games last season. She also had a home run and five RBIs in the WCWS last season, which extended OU's streak of consecutive national championships to four. Parker has continued that same success this season for the Sooners, as she leads all OU hitters in batting average (.416) for the second consecutive year. At one point this season, Parker was as hot as a Division I hitter in the country with a .608 batting average. REQUIRED READING: Does college softball have a run rule? How NCAA Tournament, WCWS games can end early Ella Parker stats Here's a year-by-year breakdown of Parker's stats at Oklahoma:
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
What OU players Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering and Sam Landry said after beating Tennessee
What OU players Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering and Sam Landry said after beating Tennessee They call it Sooner Magic. And it was floating around Oklahoma City on Thursday. The Oklahoma Sooners rallied to a 4-3 win over Tennessee in their first game of the Women's College World Series thanks to a two-out, three-run, walk-off home run by Ella Parker. Parker, outfielder Kasidi Pickering, and pitcher Sam Landry took the dais with coach Patty Gasso after the game to field questions. Here's what the players had to say. More: Everything Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said after Sooners beat Tennessee in WCWS Parker on game-winner "Just understanding just to keep passing the bat. I wasn't trying to make any moment too big. I thought all of our batters before that did a good job of staying loose in the moment and not letting the moment get too big. Honestly, I looked at Maya Bland and she said, 'God's got you.' He's our fourth man in the fire. I just stuck with it, ran with it, and we kept the faith until the end. " Pickering on single that kept the inning alive "Throughout my whole at-bat, I was just 'Pass the bat. Pass the bat. Don't go outside yourself. Ella will have you back.' That was just what got me into it. " More: Social media reacts to Ella Parker's walk-off home run to fuel Oklahoma win Landry on her defense "We work on double plays all the time, so they're fun to turn in the game. They're definitely a momentum changer. Just having them there to change the momentum, keep it on our side. Basically, the whole game was kind of on their side. So when we could take those moments and get it back in our dugout, it was a win." Parker on the feeling after the homer "I honestly don't really remember the first pitch. I just remember rounding the bases with my team's arms wide open and starting to get teary-eyed and really emotional. It was just really, really cool to have them with us this whole time. We never got out of it. We kept the faith until the end. Just being able to run into them was, like, really, really, really awesome." Landry on sticking with it when trailing "Not every pitch is going to go my way, but this team is amazing in everything they do. I trust them. I was telling Nellie before the game - she's not in here - but I was just like 'I just have a feeling about this game. Something is going to happen.' Double plays. Ella's hit. Two home runs. Just something about it. I knew if I stayed locked in, they were going to come around. I just kept them where I could." Parker on athletes who inspire her "I just think it was really cool to have all those players I looked up to either in the dugout with me or right against the fence in the front row. I think I looked at Jocey that last at-bat. … Being able to finally be that, it makes me really passionate about what's to come for our future and being able to pass that to our future." Parker on the personal difficulty of the season "Just learning more to invest in my teammates. I know my teammates have my back and I know I have theirs. … Just being able to have them and know that they're my backbone is something I started to learn a lot more about." Three players on Sooner Magic Pickering: "We're just so invested in each other and just knowing you're never out. Like coach was saying, if there's one pitch left, just knowing we can take the game over. Even going to the seventh, Sam kept us in the game the whole time." Parker: "It's just keeping the faith, like Kas said. Just knowing that we're never out of it until it's over." Landry: "Sooner Magic travels. … I think a lot of the Sooner Magic comes from the people out there supporting us. We're able to keep that with our team and give the glory to God." Parker on having her family in attendance "My family is my No. 1 support system. I started playing because my older sister played and I wanted to be exactly like her. Being able to have that moment and share that moment with them is so awesome to me." Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma's Ailana Agbayani wins Gold Glove award
Oklahoma's Ailana Agbayani wins Gold Glove award Ailana Agbayani picked up an award Wednesday that only one Oklahoma softball player ever won before. The Sooners' junior infielder earned a Rawlings Gold Glove award Wednesday. She was the only player in the country at second base who won one. By capturing the award, she joined former Oklahoma shortstop Grace Lyons as the only such winners from OU. In fairness, the award has only been given out since 2022. Agbayani totaled 100 assists, 69 putouts, and just one error. She was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Defensive team at season's end and had earlier been named SEC Player of the Week on April 29. At the plate, Agbayani has hit for a .336 batting average with eight doubles, four home runs, 35 RBI, and 36 runs scored. Unsurprisingly, the SEC did well in the Gold Glove awards. Agbayani joined conference mates Jocelyn Erickson from Florida (catcher), Arianna Rodi from South Carolina (first base), Koko Wooley from Texas A&M (shortstop) and Kendra Falby from Florida (centerfield) as SEC winners. Oklahoma State's Tallen Edwards won the third base award. Oklahoma returns to the diamond on Thursday in the first round of the Women's College World Series. The Sooners play at 1:30 p.m. CT against Tennessee, a team that took the regular-season series against the Sooners. OU has won the last four national championships and is playing its ninth straight WCWS. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso will be seeking her ninth title, all of which have come with the Sooners. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.
