Oklahoma's 9-0 nonconference softball win over seriously outgunned Arkansas-Pine Bluff would ordinarily have been no big deal. On Tuesday night, however, the top-ranked Sooners turned a relatively sleepy midweek ballgame into an historic event.
The Sooners celebrated their second straight week ranked No. 1 in college softball allowing Arkansas-Pine Bluff no runs or hits and only three total base runners in a five-inning, run-rule shutout that also featured a three home-run game by Oklahoma that tied the NCAA record for home runs in a season.
Another fact associated with this game that made it historic: This was the first meeting between the two schools in softball.
Sooners turned a lackluster midweek matchup into a historical night
Sophomore Miali Guachino started out the no-hitter for Oklahoma and was part of a three-pitcher committee that combined to throw a five-inning no-hitter against the visiting Golden Lions (11-26) out of the Southwest Athletic Conference.
Guachino worked the first 2.0 inning, striking out five of the eight batters she faced. Senior Kiersten Deal (2-0) took over in the third inning and earned the win. She also worked two innings, fanning four and walking one, and freshman Berkley Zache closed out the win, striking out two and retiring the side in order in the fifth.
It was Oklahoma's first staff no-hitter since posting an 8-0 win over East Texas A&M in March 2025. That game also resulted in a run-rule victory.
After a scoreless first inning, a pair of OU freshmen, Allyssa Parker and Lexi McDaniel, got things started for the Sooners with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the second to put Oklahoma up 4-0.
Isabella Emerling continued her power streak, hammering a two-run blast over the left-field fence in the fourth inning, capping off another four-run inning to extend the Sooners' lead to 8-0 and put the game in run-rule territory. Tia Milloy added another run in the inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to complete the OU scoring.
Emerling, a former North Carolina transfer, has been on a recent terror hitting balls out of the yard. The home run on Tuesday night was her fourth in as many games and her 17th of the season. She hit 12 last season as a junior in her first year at Oklahoma. The Sooners are 25-1 when Emerling hits at least one home run in her two seasons at Oklahoma.
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Oklahoma's three home runs in the game gave the Sooners a total of 161 for the season and tied the current NCAA mark for home runs in a season, which this year's OU team now shares with the 2021 Oklahoma national championship squad.
The Sooners (43-6) will now set their sights on 11th-ranked Georgia and the three-game series with the Bulldogs at Love's Field this weekend, ending a seven-game homestand and the regular-season home schedule.
Also of note in Sooner softball
- The last perfect game by an Oklahoma pitcher was also in 2025, the same year as the last individual or staff no-hitter. Isabella Smith pitched a five-inning perfect game against Cal Baptist on Feb. 7 last season in her first start for the Sooners. She struck out six and didn't allow a single base runner.
- Oklahoma has 31 run-rule wins and 10 shutouts in 49 games this season.
- Isabela Emerling's four-game home run streak is the second longest this season by an Oklahoma hitter. Kendall Wells hit five in five consecutive games from March 29 to April 4.
- The three Oklahoma pitchers against Arkansas-Pine Bluff recorded 11 strikeouts. It was the third time this season Sooner pitchers have recorded double-digit strikeouts in a game.
- The fourth inning has been Oklahoma softball's most productive inning this season. The Sooners are outscoring their opponents 112-9 in the fourth frame.
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