3 eye-popping takeaways from another Oklahoma SEC series sweep vs Ole Miss

As it has all season, Oklahoma used the long ball to power its way to a second consecutive series sweep of an SEC opponent, taking all three games against Ole Miss in Oxford last weekend.

The Sooners (32-2, 6-0) slugged 10 more home runs in the Ole Miss series, bringing their nation-leading total to 129, which is eight more than all of last season and 32 shy of the all-time NCAA record of 161 held by the 2021 Oklahoma team.

Oklahoma posted run-rule victories in the first two games of the series, winning 10-0 on Saturday and 14-2 on Sunday. The two teams played a full seven innings in the series finale on Monday. It was the only game in the series in which the Sooners trailed and were in actual jeopardy of losing.

With OU behind 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning, Isabela Emerling was called on to pinch hit for first baseman Allyssa Parker with the bases loaded and one out. The former North Carolina transfer went after the first pitch from Ole Miss starter Kyra Aycock and sent a towering blast deep over the left-field fence that cleared the bases and instantaneously gave the Sooners a 5-2 lead.

Ole Miss didn't go quietly, though. Like Oklahoma in the top half of the sixth, the Rebels loaded the bases on a couple of hits and a walk off of Audrey Lowry, who had entered the game in the fifth in relief of OU starter Sydney Berzon. But unlike the Sooners, Ole Miss was unable to capitalize as Lowry recorded the final two outs in the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, ending the scoring threat

The Rebels were retired in order by Lowry in the home half of the seventh, and Oklahoma managed to come from behind and win its 21st consecutive game. It was the Sooners' 10th comeback win of the season.

With the series sweep over Ole Miss (20-14, 0-9), in combination with former No. 1 Tennessee losing twice to Florida over the weekend, Oklahoma moved up one spot this week, to No. 3, in this week's ESPN/USA Softball rankings, which is where the Sooners began the season.

Additionally, both Emerling and Lowry on Monday received SEC weekly honors. Emerling was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and Lowry was honored as SEC Pitcher of the Week.

In addition to Emerling's pinch-hit grand slam, the redshirt senior batted .545 for the week and a 1.091 slugging percentage. The grand slam, the seventh of her career, was her 11th home run of the season. She also hit one in a win over Memphis earlier in the week.

Lowry picked up her 13th and 14th wins of the season in the Ole Miss series. She was the winning pitcher in the 10-0 series opener and also was the pitcher of record in relief in the Sooners' 5-2 win in the series finale.

Oklahoma will stay on the road and visit LSU for three games this weekend.

3 takeaways of note from the series sweep of Ole Miss

OU is never out of a game with the exceptional home-run power this team possesses

Oklahoma hit 10 more home runs in the three games against Ole Miss. With five fence-clearing blasts in Game 2, including two by freshman Kai Minor, the Sooners broke the SEC single-season team record for home runs, hitting 127 in just 33 games. The nation leader in that category, OU freshman Kendall Wells, hit three more this weekend, giving her 25 for the season. She is just six away from eclipsing the NCAA freshman record and 10 away from breaking the Oklahoma single-season record of 34, set twice (in 2021 and 2022) by Jocelyn Alo. As a team, OU has homered in all but one game this season.

25 of the Sooners' 34 games have ended by run-rule after 5 innings

Oklahoma has played just nine games this season that have gone the full seven innings. The Sooners added a couple more run-rule wins with 10-0 and 14-2 victories against Ole Miss. The two run-rule wins by OU were the fourth and fifth suffered by the Rebels this season, all against SEC opponents (once to Alabama and twice each to Texas and Oklahoma).

Sooner starting pitchers were outstanding in all three games

Oklahoma got outstanding performances by all three of its starting pitchers in the Ole Miss series. Audrey Lowry appeared in two games ( as the starter in Game 1 and in relief in Game 3). She was the winning pitcher in both and improved her season ERA to 2.08. She pitched 7.2 innings, giving up no runs on four hits, striking out eight and issuing one walk. With a 15-1 record, the sophomore left-hander has the second-most wins among SEC pitchers.

Ole Miss transfer Miali Guachino faced her former team in the middle game of the series. The sophomore right-hander worked the first 4.0 innings of OU's 14-2 win in five innings, facing just 15 batters and allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Guachino earned her eighth win of the season without a loss.

LSU transfer Sydney Berzon drew the starting assignment in the circle in Monday's finale. In what may have been one of her best outings of the season and second in the same week, the senior right-hander worked 4.1 innings in the Sooners' win on Monday, giving up both Ole Miss runs, along with three hits, all in the second inning. Her start also included three strikeouts and no walks.

As a composite, the three OU starters worked 16.0 of the 18.0 total innings in the Ole Miss series, giving up three runs on 10 hits along with 16 strikeouts and just two walks.