With a wand in her hands, Ella Parker created Sooner Magic.
Down to their last out, the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners edged past the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers 4-3 thanks to Parker's walk-off home run in their first game of the Women's College World Series on Thursday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Ella Parker walks off Tennessee to advance Oklahoma in WCWS
The Sooners were staring down the barrel of the longest path possible to defend their title as four-time national champions. One more out, and OU would had needed four straight wins without a loss to give in order to make the championship series again.
Tennessee struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning. OU immediately answered with a solo shot from Parker in the bottom half. But it seemed that was all the Sooners would muster against two-time SEC Pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens.
Tennessee added one more in the third inning, but from there, things were a standstill in an ace's dual between Pickens and OU's Sam Landry. Pickens was an NFCA First-Team All-American, while Landry was Second-Team. Landry had given up just two runs total in 14 innings during the NCAA Softball Championship, but the Vols surpassed that in half the time.
Landry eventually escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the seventh to give her team a fighting chance still down just two runs with the bottom of the order up in the final frame. Ailana Agbayani had a leadoff walk, but then Pickens got the next two out before leadoff Kasidi Pickering singled up the middle to put runners on the corners with two outs and Parker up.
With one swing of the bat, Parker put the Sooners back in control of the whole tournament with a three-run bomb over centerfield to end the game as head coach Patty Gasso, who has seen so much already in 31 seasons as head coach, was even in disbelief at third base.
The revenge tour continued for the Sooners, who lost an SEC series to Tennessee during the regular season. OU also dropped a series to Alabama during the season before sweeping the Crimson Tide in Super Regionals last weekend to get to the WCWS for the ninth year in a row.
OU will be rewarded with a day off before playing the No. 6 Texas Longhorns at 2 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC. The Sooners swept Texas during the regular season in Norman and last year in the WCWS championship series.
That rest is also clutch after Landry just threw 139 pitches. Had the Sooners lost, they would had turned around the next day to play No. 3 Florida likely without their ace.
A loss would had set up what seemed like an impossible path for the Sooners, but with Parker accomplishing what also seemed impossible, a fifth straight national title seems more possible than ever for the Sooners.
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