Forty-eight games and some extra innings later, the Oklahoma Sooners need just one more win.
The No. 1 Sooners on Thursday night went nine innings with the No. 6 Florida Gators in Gainesville before finally prevailing 6-5 in Game 1 of the last series of the college softball regular season.
It was Abby Dayton who finally hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning to drive in Ella Parker from third and score what would be the game-winning run. Ace Sam Landry then kept the Gators at bay in the bottom half to complete the win.
Abby Dayton gets Oklahoma within one win from SEC regular-season title
Landry pitched the entire nine innings and tallied 144 pitches to push her record to 18-3 in the circle this season. She gave up three earned runs on nine hits and five walks while striking out five.
At 43-5 and 17-5 now, the Sooners entered the weekend atop the SEC standings and needing to win the series to clinch the regular-season conference championship in their first season in the SEC. Losing the series, though, would leave the door open for Tennessee or Texas A&M to steal the crown.
After Thursday night’s win, the Sooners now just need one more to secure the title and the 1-seed at next week’s SEC Softball Tournament in Athens, Georgia. OU could also clinch it with a Texas A&M loss.
The victory also pushed the Sooners’ winning streak to seven games.
Game 2 between OU and Florida will start at 5 p.m. CT Friday on SEC Network. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
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