Oklahoma
Hurt feelings: How Texas Tech softball ended the Oklahoma dynasty in the Women’s College World Series
Hailey Toney on Texas Tech softball’s ability to play in the clutch
Hailey Toney on Texas Tech softball’s ability to play in the clutch
OKLAHOMA CITY — “No hard feelings” was not the way Monday night’s semifinals of the 2025 Women’s College World Series were going to end. It would’ve been impossible.
Too much was at stake at Devon Park, so much on the line for two programs in very different positions less than a year ago. Before Gerry Glasco took over the Texas Tech softball team, landed NiJaree Canady through the transfer portal and altered the course of Red Raider history, he was leading the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, an emerging mid-major powerhouse with Division I-level talent dotting the roster.
When he left Lafayette, he took a number of players with him to Lubbock but urged his ace pitcher, Sam Landry, to go to Oklahoma. There wouldn’t have been enough innings for Landry with Canady in the fold, and her best chance at success laid with the Sooners.
Landry made the most of her year in the SEC, being drafted No. 1 in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League and guiding the Sooners to regular-season and co-tournament champion status with a mostly young roster. Glasco has spoken glowingly about his former player throughout the year, even in the lead-up to the WCWS last week.
Landry owns one of Glasco’s dogs. The name of his late daughter, Geri Ann, is written in her glove. When Oklahoma didn’t have her usual No. 12 available as a jersey number, she chose No. 21 to honor Geri Ann. Several of her former Louisiana teammates make up the bulk of Texas Tech’s starting lineup.
Somebody was getting their feelings hurt on Monday. It just wound up being Landry, and the Sooners.
Mihyia Davis’s one-out single, chopped over the head of Landry into center field, started the Texas Tech rally in the bottom of the seventh. Hailey Toney followed with a double to put Davis at third, then Lauren Allred hit a fly ball to right field, deep enough for the speedster Davis to slide in for the game-winning run, sending Texas Tech to the championship series of the Women’s College World Series with a 3-2 win, and ending the Sooners’ reign atop the college softball world after four consecutive national titles.
Two former Ragin’ Cajuns teamed up to end their former Louisiana teammates’ season, and career.
“Sam is a great pitcher,” Allred said of the game-winning at-bat. “Going against her, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially with the history we have playing with each other.
“And going to my bat, Coach Hunter (Veach) always says, ‘Doing something really hard, really well, is really fun.’ It reminded me to have fun and just go up there with confidence and trust in all the preparation and training that I had. And I knew Mihyia Davis was probably one of the fastest players in the country, would make something happen as long as I got the ball in play.”
Davis, Texas Tech’s best hitter throughout the season, was hitless in the first two games of the WCWS. She wound up striking out in her first two at-bats against former teammate Landry. Assistant coach Tara Archibald, though, knew Davis was due.
“We kept telling her all week long, ‘Mihyia, you’re going to show up when we need you the most and we know that,’” Archibald said, “and, man, did she ever.”
The Red Raiders didn’t have much time to regroup after the Sooners tied the game in the top of the seventh. Abigale Dayton took an 0-2 offering from Canady for a two-run home run to tie the game. At that point, Canady had appeared to be cruising to another shutout before Sooner Magic took over again.
The best way to combat Sooner Magic, it seems, is with some Raider Power. Toney’s double continued a string of hits the freshman has collected after Canady’s had a (rare) tough inning. She did it in the Lubbock Regional (twice), and again against UCLA with home runs. On Monday, it was her double that put Davis into position for the win.
“That’s the whole team,” Toney said. “We all have each other’s backs no matter what. And she has had our back for the whole season and we’re just trying to have hers.”
Somebody had to leave Devon Park with an L, and Texas Tech made sure it wasn’t them. That didn’t make ending their old friend’s career any easier to swallow.
“Definitely strange,” Alexa Langeliers, another former Louisiana player, said. “I’m used to being on the same field behind her, but she gave it her all. She’s a great pitcher. She’s a great person, and tough end of the season. My heart goes out to her, but it is what it is. I love her to death and she’s just an amazing person.”
Langeleiers called it “surreal,” the whole game and the circumstances leading to Tech’s triumph. The senior second baseman admitted she didn’t think getting to the WCWS finals was going to happen, though the feeling is electric all the same.
That’s especially true for the players who followed Glasco to Texas Tech. Davis and Allred both said that the head coach believed in them, and they trusted him with their careers.
“Coach Glasco always had faith in me,” Allred said, “and I knew that he helped me get to the position I was going to be in, and I wanted to stay by him no matter what.”
The Oklahoma State Cowboys and the USC Upstate Spartans meet in the first game of the Tuscaloosa Regional on Friday.
The Cowboys (37-20) and the Spartans (33-28) have never met on the diamond. Both enter the game on hot streaks. Oklahoma State didn’t win the Big 12 Tournament, but the Cowboys have won 11 of their last 14 games. The Spartans won the Big South Conference Tournament champions and have won 14 of their last 16 games.
The game is the first of two in Tuscaloosa. The second game features the host school, Alabama, facing Alabama State. The winners of the first two games will meet Saturday for a trip to the regional final on Sunday.
Oklahoma State fans can keep up with the game here, including lineups and inning by inning details on the game. Check out Oklahoma State On SI’s NCAA Tournament Central for everything related to the Tuscaloosa Regional.
Game Details
Oklahoma State vs. USC Upstate
Time: 1 p.m. central
TV: ESPN+ (Derek Jones & Jared Mitchell on the call). NOTE: TV is subject to change without notice. Game times and TV for games played after Friday will be announced.
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network & The Varsity Network App/93.7 KSPI-FM or okla.state/GetVarsity (Rex Holt on the call)
OSU Batting Order
The batting order for Friday’s game will be posted here when it is released by the team.
Tuscaloosa Regional
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala. Venue: Sewell-Thomas Stadium (5,867).
Friday’s Games
Game 1: USC Upstate vs. Oklahoma State, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Game 2: Alabama State vs. Alabama, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday’s Games
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, TBA (elimination game)
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBA (advances to Sunday’s final)
Sunday’s Games
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (elimination game)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Monday’s Game
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)
(Times subject to change for TV purposes)
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Brent Swadley, owner of Swadley’s Bar-B-Q, found guilty in fraud trial
A jury convicted Brent Swadley of fraud for inflating invoices involving Oklahoma state park restaurants.
A jury convicted Brent Swadley, owner of a string of popular Oklahoma barbecue restaurants, at his fraud trial and chose prison time as his punishment.
The 12 jurors reached their unanimous verdict Thursday, May 28, in a felony case that focused on Swadley’s inflated bills for the renovation and operation of restaurants at six state parks.
Jurors found Swadley, 55, guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the state and all five counts of presenting fraudulent claims to the state.
They chose five years in prison and a $25,000 fine as his punishment for the conspiracy. They agreed on one year in prison and a $10,000 fine as punishment on each fraudulent claims count.
Oklahoma County District Judge Susan Stallings could order Swadley to serve the time back to back for a total of 10 years.
Jurors voted for the maximum fines but showed leniency on prison time. Jurors could have chosen prison sentences totaling 20 years.
Sheriff’s deputies led Swadley from the courtroom in handcuffs to be taken to jail. Formal sentencing was set for July 16.
His defense attorney, David Smith, said, “We are not done fighting.”
Still to be decided by the judge is restitution. Prosecutors said Swadley defrauded the state of at least $3.1 million.
The owner of Swadley’s Bar-B-Q did not testify at his trial but has been outspoken in the past that he is innocent.
“The state attorney general … is pushing a false, politically motivated narrative accusing us of purposely misleading the government. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote in an open letter to Oklahomans in 2024 after he was indicted.
Jurors took only 90 minutes to reach their verdict. “It was pretty easy,” one juror told prosecutors afterward.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is running for governor, told reporters outside the courtroom that the case was never political.
“Mr. Swadley broke the law. His arrogance has been illustrated for the last four years, and I’m very happy that justice has been done,” Drummond said.
Swadley trial ends in guilty verdict, AG Drummond ‘proud’ of prosecution
A jury unanimously found Brent Swadley guilty of defrauding the state, sentencing him to five years in prison and $25,000 fine.
“I think we in state government have a tendency to trust Oklahomans,” he added. “I think it’s a lesson for state actors. We need to not trust as we have before.”
In a news release, the attorney general said, “Today is a win for Oklahoma and for the rule of law.”
Swadley signed a contract with the state in March 2020 to remodel and operate state park restaurants. The agreement was finalized weeks before COVID-19 shutdowns began across the world.
Swadley went ahead with the remodeling, completing work at four of the parks in months. His restaurants became a huge hit as Oklahomans spent more time outdoors because of the pandemic.
Jurors heard testimony that many of the invoices sent to the state for reimbursement of construction and other costs were marked up. Some were inflated as much as 300%.Swadley operated the state park restaurants under the company name Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen. The last one opened in 2022.
The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department in April 2022 canceled its contract with Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen due to “suspected fraudulent activity and questionable business practices.”Much of the testimony centered around meat smokers sold to the state in 2021. The cancelation of the contracts came after tourism officials learned the smokers were used.
Swadley put the smokers in at Robbers Cave State Park and Quartz Mountain State Park. They had been in storage after he removed them from a Swadley’s Bar-B-Q in Ardmore.
He paid $23,680 each for the smokers in 2018, according to evidence in the case. He billed the state $51,346 each for the smokers in 2021.
A restaurant supplier testified at trial that he faked paperwork that Swadley used to support the bill to the state. “He told me to make them as expensive as I could,” Mike McWhorter told jurors.
Swadley’s defense attorneys maintained at trial that it was an understood standard business practice to inflate invoices.
“Their case is − and this is no joke − Brent Swadley was supposed to do all of this construction work and not make a dime,” Smith told jurors in his closing argument.
The attorney said Swadley became the fall guy for a mess created by Jerry Winchester, the executive director of the Tourism Department at the time, and Gino DeMarco, the deputy director.
Smith argued that Winchester knew the smokers were used and lied at trial. Winchester told jurors he thought the state was buying brand new smokers.
The defense attorney also told jurors, “What we’ve got here is a paperwork dispute, not fraud.”
Prosecutors told jurors Brent Swadley was greedy and had said the state contract might save his business during the pandemic.
“Brent Swadley believes the rules do not apply to him,” Assistant Attorney General McKenzie McMahan said in his closing argument.
The key witnesses against Swadley were former employees.
His former vice president, Curtis Breuklander, and former chief operating officer, Tim Hooper, testified invoices were marked up at Swadley’s direction.
Breuklander, 51, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count and four of the fraudulent claim counts. “I did all of this at the direction of Brent Swadley,” he said in his plea paperwork.
Under a deal with prosecutors, Breuklander was sentenced to probation for 10 years. He stopped working for Swadley in September 2021.
Hooper, 57, also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count. He pleaded guilty to one fraudulent claim count and no contest to another fraudulent claim count.
Under his deal, Hooper was put on probation for five years. He was fired by Swadley in 2023.
Under the state contract, Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen was reimbursed for the costs of improvements to the restaurants, up to a limit. The state also covered the company’s operating losses, at first up to $1 million a year and later up to $2,116,900 a year.
The state further paid the company management fees, at first $571,808 per year and later $1,332,000 per year.
Swadley is expected to appeal. His defense attorneys are expected to complain about the judge’s refusal to let two expert witnesses testify at trial.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
The roof of a home in Oklahoma City collapsed following a fire early Thursday morning, according to firefighters.
The Oklahoma City Fire Department says firefighters were called around 2 a.m. to the scene of a fire at a home near Southeast 29th Street and South Shields Boulevard.
After arriving at the scene, firefighters reported flames coming from the home and serious structural damage, including the roof, which had collapsed due to the fire.
Additionally, OKCFD reported this was not the first emergency services response to the home, with a call for medical services being placed to the same address only a few hours earlier.
“We know that earlier today, they’d made a medical call over here,” OKCFD Battalion Chief Greg Lindsay said. “Somebody was staying in that building, so we’re being extra careful to check and make sure that everybody got out.”
No injuries were reported. Fire investigators believe the cause was related to a cooking incident.
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