Florida won back-to-back games and took the series over No. 1 Oklahoma this weekend, but the one game OU did salvage in the series was good enough to earn the Sooners the SEC regular-series championship, their 12th conference championship in the last 13 seasons and their first as a member of the SEC.
Florida (43-13, 14-10) had control of the rubber game in the series from the start on Saturday before winning 6-4.
Oklahoma drops regular-season finale to Florida
The Gators took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Reagan Walsh that scored former Sooner Jocelyn Erickson. The Gators extended the advantage to 3-0 in the third inning on a two-run double by Katie Otis.
Oklahoma cut into the Florida lead on a booming solo home run by senior first baseman Cydney Sanders in the fourth inning and scored a second run the following inning on a sac fly from Gabbie Garcia that scored Kasidi Pickering to make it a one-run game at 3-2.
Playing for a third straight day before a sellout home crowd, however, Florida opened the home half of the sixth inning with a leadoff solo home run by Ava Brown, her second in as many days, and tacked on a couple more runs after that to stretch what was a one-run advantage to 6-2 heading to the seventh inning.
The Sooners didn't go quietly, getting two runs back on a seventh-inning home run by Garcia, and had the potential winning run at the plate in Abigale Dayton with two on and two out. Dayton, however, grounded out to first base to end the game.
Senior OU pitcher Sam Landry, who on Saturday became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 Athletics Unlimited Softball League Draft, started her second game in the series and threw 114 pitches after delivering a career-high 144 pitches in a complete game victory in Game 1 of the series. She gave way in the sixth inning with two on and one out to freshman Audrey Lowrey, who recorded the final two outs.
The Sooners unleashed 15 hits in the series opener, half of which came from the top four hitters in the lineup, including home runs by Kasidi Pickering and Ella Parker. It took extra innings, however, before OU finally came out on top. In a 13-pitch at bat, Dayton delivered a bases-loaded single, scoring Parker with the winning run in a 6-5 victory. Landry started and went the distance to earn her 18th win of the season.
In the middle game of the series on Friday, Florida jumped all over Oklahoma pitching, putting up five runs in the first two innings to go up 5-1 and drive starter Kiersten Deal from the game after just eight batters.
A three-run blast by Parker in the fifth brought the Sooners within one run, 5-4, but the resilient Gators exploded for four runs on three home runs in the bottom half of the inning to widen the margin to 9-4, which ended up being the final score.
Oklahoma ended the regular season with an overall record of 43-7. All seven of the Sooners' losses were to SEC opponents, with OU ending with a 17-7 conference record and the regular-season conference championship. The Sooners are the top seed in the SEC Softball Tournament, which starts on Tuesday in Athens, Georgia.
Notable notes from the final weekend of the regular season
- The biggest question from Oklahoma's 6-4 loss in Saturday's deciding game in the series was why head coach Patty Gasso elected to go so long with starter Sam Landry, who threw over 100 pitches in the game after throwing a career-high 144 just two days earlier. The senior right-hander has been the Sooners workhorse in the circle all season, but she was struggling with her control and pitching behind hitters throughout the game. She recorded an uncharacteristic six walks on Saturday, and two of those free passes ended up in runs scored, which was the difference in the game.
- Freshman shortstop Gabbie Garcia hit her 15th home run of the season in the seventh inning on Saturday, giving her the team high.
- The Sooners and Gators are likely to face each other again before this season is over. Oklahoma is now 8-4 against Florida and 2-2 in Gainesville.
- Florida center fielder Kendra Falby made two run-saving catches in Saturday's game that took at least two potential runs off the board for Oklahoma. Falby took a home run away from Cydney Sanders in the second inning, leaping above the wall to make a highlight-reel catch. Again in the sixth inning, a drive to the left-center field gap by Isabela Emerling with a runner on first looked like sure extra bases before Falby raced it down to make another circus catch denying the Sooners.
- Oklahoma is 18-6 this season against ranked teams.
- Sam Landry's complete-game win in Game 1 of the series was her 14th of the season.
- Former Sooner Jocelyn Erickson, who played one season at Oklahoma, drew five walks in 12 total at bats in the series and scored five times.
- Florida had 11 extra-base hits in the series off of Oklahoma pitching, including six home runs.
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