Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Oklahoma Sooners had recorded just three hits off of SEC Pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens. The Sooners struggled with to move runners over. At one point, they were 0-for-11 with runners on.
But in the bottom of the seventh inning, everything came together. Ailana Agbayani walked to open the frame and with two outs, All-American Kasidi Pickering recorded her first hit of the day and Agbayani went first to third on the play. Two pitches later, Parker made magic happen for the Sooners, sending Pickens 0-1 offering to straight away centerfield to give the Sooners the improbable 4-3, walk-off win over the Volunteers.
Advertisement
Parker had two hits in the game. Both were home runs, driving in all four of Oklahoma’s runs. The two home runs gave Ella Parker five in her last seven games dating back to the win over Arkansas in the SEC tournament. She’s hitting .440 over that span with 10 RBIs.
Her first inning home run helped answer Tennessee’s two-run first, setting the stage for Parker’s heroics in the seventh inning. Parker wasn’t necessarily trying to hit a home run in that moment. She was simply trying to keep the rally going.
“Just understanding just to keep passing the bat,” Parker said.” I wasn’t trying to make any moment too big. I thought all of our batters before that did a good job of staying loose in the moment and not letting the moment get too big. Honestly, I looked at Maya Bland and she said, ‘God’s got you.’ He’s our fourth man in the fire. I just stuck with it, ran with it, and we kept the faith until the end.”
Parker didn’t let the moment get too big. She took a first-pitch strike on a change-up from Pickens. It would have been easy to get ahead of the next pitch, guessing that Pickens might come with her trademark fastball. But the Tennessee ace threw another changeup, and Parker saw it perfectly and put the ball over the center field fence.
Advertisement
After Oklahoma’s offensive struggles throughout most of the game, it would have been easy to doubt whether they’d come through in the seventh, or even try to do to much. But Ella Parker’s seen what Oklahoma’s overcome to achieve their success and knew they were still in it.
“It’s just keeping the faith,” Parker said, “Just knowing that we’re never out of it until it’s over.”
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: ‘It’s just keeping the faith’: Ella Parker on home run to beat Vols
