Sooner Magic was on full display in all its radiant glory on Thursday afternoon at the Women's College World Series, and the four-time defending national champion Oklahoma softball team was the unexpected beneficiary.
Down to the final two strikes and trailing 3-1, Oklahoma designated player Ella Parker launched a 68 mph pitch from Tennessee starter and SEC Pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens high and far over the left-center fence with two Sooners aboard.
And for the second time this month, Oklahoma softball, in the parodied words of the late sportscasterJim McKay of ABC's "Wide World of Sports," was able to seize victory from the jaws of defeat and a 4-3 win over the No. 7 Volunteers (45-16).
Ella Parker's walk-off proof of Sooner Magic
In hindsight, you've got to wonder why Tennessee didn't elect to walk the powerful slugger Parker, who had already hit one home run in the game, and take its chances with freshman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, who was 0-for-2 in the game.
It was unequivocally one of those "I can't believe what I just saw" moments. Pickens, who already had two wins over Oklahoma this season, had dominated the Sooner lineup the entire game.
After giving up a solo home run to OU's Parker in the bottom of the first, making the score 2-1, Pickens allowed the Sooners no runs and just two hits from the second inning through the sixth and struck out six. Prior to the dramatic seventh inning, Oklahoma produced just seven baserunners and never advanced a runner past second base. Pickens suffered her 10th loss of the season to go with 24 wins.
Parker had two of the Sooners' five hits in the game and accounted for all four runs with her 16th and 17th home runs of the season.
It was the ultimate gut punch to a Tennessee team that was the better team for practically the entire game, but the No. 2 Sooners continued to fight and that resilience paid off in their final at-bat.
OU starter Sam Landry (24-4) was not as sharp as she has been in previous games and struggled with her command. The senior right-hander and SEC Newcomer of the Year threw 139 pitches. She issued four free passes and ran the count full multiple times. She was able to wiggle out of trouble in several innings, leaving at least a couple of runners on base. That included serving up a double-play ground ball with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to avoid falling behind any further.
Tennessee attacked OU right out of the gate with the first two hitters reaching on a single followed by a double. Both ended up scoring on a passed ball and sacrifice fly, respectively. The Volunteers scored a third run in the third to go up 3-1.
The top two hitters in Tennessee's lineup collected four of the Volunteers' eight hits off of Landry with Taylor Pannell accounting for three of the four in four plate appearances.
The dramatic walk-off victory was reminiscent of OU's 8-6 win over Arkansas in the SEC Tournament a couple of weeks ago when Gabbie Garcia blasted a three-run home run in the Sooners' final at-bat for another thrilling come-from-behind win.
For a long while it looked like the Sooners were going to be relegated to the losers bracket and have to play Florida on Friday. With the quick turnaround and facing elimination, OU probably would not have been able to come back with ace Landry in the circle, at least not to start the game.
Instead, the Sooners (51-7) will get a day of rest and will next play in the winners bracket on Saturday against Texas, a 3-0 winner over No. 3 Florida on Thursday. The Longhorns (52-11) will be loaded for bear and seeking some revenge after being swept by Oklahoma in the regular-season series.
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