The second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners fell to No. 10 Tennessee on Friday night, dropping the first game of the series 5-2. Despite the loss, OU remains near the top of the SEC standings with an 8-2 conference record. The teams will face off again in Games 2 and 3 on Saturday and Sunday.
The game was tied 2-2 until the eighth inning, when Tennessee pulled ahead with a three-run rally. Former Sooner Sophia Nugent delivered the decisive blow with a two-run homer, followed by an insurance run on a wild pitch. Oklahoma couldn’t respond, as Tennessee’s defense shut down the heart of the Sooners’ order in the bottom of the inning.
Tennessee struck first with a two-run homer from Amayah Doyle in the second inning. Oklahoma chipped away, scoring on a Gabbie Garcia sacrifice fly in the third before Abigale Dayton tied it with a solo shot in the fifth. The Sooners nearly won it in the seventh, but Hannah Coor was thrown out at home on a close play after Kasidi Pickering’s single to right field.
OU starter Sam Landry went the distance but struggled, allowing eight hits and five runs. Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens, who entered in relief in the third, held the Sooners to just one run—Dayton’s homer—over the remainder of the game.
Oklahoma, now in its first SEC season after dominating the Big 12, has rarely lost multiple conference games in a year since 2015. Even with five league losses last season, the Sooners went on to claim their fourth straight national title.
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