Gabbie Garcia drilled a home run over the right-field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning, and then made a game saving tag at second base for the final out of the game to give Oklahoma a 6-5 win on Sunday and a series sweep over No. 11 Georgia.
It was the first time Georgia (34-16, 10-11) had been swept in a series this season and the first time the Bulldogs have been swept in an SEC series since Tony Baldwin was named head coach following the 2021 season. The last time Georgia was swept in a three-game series was by Mississippi State in 2021.
Oklahoma's three-game weekend sweep over Georgia, combined with Tennessee's 2-0 win over Alabama on Sunday, gave Oklahoma the outright lead in the SEC standings with one remaining series left in the regular season. Holding that lead would give the Sooners their second straight SEC regular-season title in just their second season in the conference.
Gabbie Garcia powers Oklahoma in Georgia sweep to gain advantage over Alabama
The Sooners and the Crimson Tide were tied at the top of the SEC standings entering the weekend. Alabama still has a game remaining at Tennessee on Monday, but regardless of the outcome of that contest, Oklahoma is guaranteed of having at least a one-game advantage over the Tide going into the final weekend of the regular season.
Garcia, who hit a pair of home runs and drove in six runs in the Sooners' 10-2 run-rule win in the series opener on Friday, teed off on Georgia reliever Randi Roelling, sending a 1-1 pitch with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth 219 feet into the right-field bleachers for the game-winning hit on Sunday. She now has 22 home runs for the season, following a 20-home run season a year ago as a freshman.
Garcia was the offensive star of the weekend for Oklahoma. The sophomore shortstop was 5-for-9 at the plate, including three home runs and eight runs batted in.
The nation home run leader, Kendall Wells, hit home runs in each of the first two games in the series, giving her 36 on the season and leaving her just one away from tying Lauren Espinoza of the 1995 Arizona team for the most in one season in NCAA history.
All eyes were on No. 1 of the Sooners on Sunday, but the freshman catcher never got the ball out of the infield in four at-bats, two of which resulted in walks. Wells had hit home runs in 11 of her last 14 games before Sunday.
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Georgia had tied the game in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Sarah Gordon, her second of the series, to make it 5-5. After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning, the Sooners battled back with a pair of runs on a two-run single by Ella Parker, scoring Abby Dayton and Kai Minor in the second, and then took their first lead in the game, 5-3, on a two-run home run by Minor in the home half of the fifth.
Oklahoma used four pitchers in the game with Saturday's starter Miali Guachino closing down the Georgia offense over the final 2.2 innings, giving up no runs, two hits and striking out four to earn her 14th win of the season. The sophomore transfer from Ole Miss was also the winning pitcher on Saturday, throwing a seven-inning complete game.
Senior Kiersten Deal got the start for the Sooners in the series finale on Senior Day. She has struggled this season with a 7.98 ERA and was lifted after just one inning. She was charged with one of Georgia's three earned runs in the second inning. Deal was followed to the circle by another senior, LSU transfer Sydney Berzon, who also had a short outing, lasting just 1.1 innings and allowing two runs on four hits.
Freshman Allyssa Parker was the third Sooner pitcher to enter the game. Parker pitched 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, including the two-run home run by Gordon in the fifth that tied the game. That's when Guachino got the call out of the bullpen. The sophomore left-hander allowed just two of the 12 batters she faced to reach base.
The Sooners trailed for just 2.2 innings in the 20 total innings in this series. Both teams had ample opportunities to score additional runs on Sunday. When you consider that Oklahoma, which possesses the most lethal lineup in college softball this season, was just 4-of-17 with runners in scoring position, it makes the come-from-behind victory on Sunday that much sweeter.
Oklahoma closes out the regular season with a trip to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M. The Aggies lost two of three at South Carolina this past weekend to fall three games back of Oklahoma in the standings.
Also of note from the OU-Georgia series
- This was Oklahoma's first series sweep of a ranked opponent since a sweep of No. 3 Texas at home in April of last year.
- The Sooners have won four in a row against top-15 teams.
- Oklahoma is 8-1 this season in one-run games. Interestingly, Georgia is 1-8 in one-run contests.
- Georgia issued eight walks to Oklahoma hitters on Sunday, the most in the SEC in a game this season.
- OU is 39-4 in game this season in which it hits at least two home runs.
- The Sooners have 16 come-from-behind wins this season.
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