NORMAN — Karlie Keeney was in a difficult position.

Less than two years after her college career ended, Keeney found herself not only taking over as an interim pitching coach but doing it at Oklahoma, where she’d be taking over the Jennifer Rocha — one of the most well-respected pitching coaches around.

The Sooners had a staff with little experience pitching for OU, with transfers Sydney Berzon and Miali Guachino, freshmen Allyssa Parker and Berkley Zache playing roles.

Only Kierston Deal and Audrey Lowry had pitched at all for the Sooners entering this season.

It wasn’t a great start to the season pitching-wise for Oklahoma but the Sooners had clearly taken a turn in recent weeks under Keeney.

They’d moved into the top 25 nationally in team ERA.

NORMAN — From the first to the beginning of the bottom of the fifth, Alabama pitchers retired 13 of 17 Oklahoma batters, with only one Sooner reaching at least second. As the opportunities went by, OU’s first inning blunder loomed larger and larger.

Despite forcing a decisive game for Saturday, Oklahoma could not overcome one bad inning and squandered opportunities, losing 3-2 and the series to the Crimson Tide. It’s OU’s second conference series loss in the last two weeks after winning their first two against Texas A&M and LSU.

The left-hander Trent Collier (1.93 ERA) got the call to start in Saturday afternoon’s rubber game for No. 11 Oklahoma against No. 16 Alabama. They typical day three starter Cord Rager sat out, dealing with lat tenderness — Skip Johnson said the freshman’s future wasn’t worth the risk of playing him.

Oklahoma (21-10) and Collier started off with turbulence. An ill-timed shift led to a base hit. That was followed by another base hit. A walk loaded the bases. Then two back-to-back pitches resulted in a wild pitch and a passed ball to allow Alabama (25-8) two runs.

Eric Hines cracked a shot to deep center that Jason Walk lost in the sun, resulting in an error and the Tide’s third run.

But Oklahoma bounced back when they had their chance. Where base-running aggression bit them last week in Austin, it earned the Sooners their first run of the game when Trey Gambill beat the tag at the plate after a Brenden Brock base hit.

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“I thought we gave that game away for sure,” Johnson said afterwards. “We’ve got to keep the ball in front of us. We’ve got to play fundamental baseball. We beat ourselves in that inning.”

It took almost two hours for the OU to find an offensive spark against the pesky Alabama. They found it in an unorthodox way.

Down 3-1 with two outs and bases loaded in the fifth, Kyle Branch singled up the middle where second basemen Brennan Holt attempted to throw out Deiten LaChance for the third and final out. LaChance beat the force out, running a few feet passed the bag — allowing Drew Dickerson to score.

But LaChance wasn’t done trying to add another run. After beating the tag, he rounded towards third to buy time for Alec Blair to reach home. Alabama short stop Justin LeBron applied the tag to LaChance but not before Blair appeared to score to tie the game.

A review would show that Blair didn’t reach in time, leaving the Sooners still behind at 3-2.

OU would continue to have chances in the final three innings. Solid performances from their bullpen allowed minimal damage at the plate from Alabama. But the Soners had trouble making the most of any opportunity after a batter reached a base.

Oklahoma’s inability to do much damage at the plate counter balanced their superb pitching performances on the day.

“Early in the year, we’re getting two-out hits,” Johnson said. “Now, we haven’t got a two-out hit in a while. So, that goes back to having confidence, that goes back to trying too hard. You’ve got to deal with it and keep playing.”

The Sooners will head back on the road for a Monday clash against Dallas Baptist at 6:30 p.m. Afterwards, OU will take on Vanderbilt in Nashville for a weekend series beginning Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m.

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Powerful storms rolled through the Oklahoma City metro area on Friday night, causing significant damage in the southwest part of the city. Fallen trees, downed power lines, and scattered debris were reported, with a trampoline being tossed into power lines near Southwest 82nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, knocking out electricity in the neighborhood. No injuries were reported, but the storms left a trail of destruction across the affected area.

Why it matters

Severe weather events can pose a serious threat to public safety and infrastructure, especially in densely populated urban areas like Oklahoma City. This incident highlights the need for effective emergency preparedness and response measures to mitigate the impact of such storms on local communities.

The details

The storms brought high winds and heavy rainfall to the region, snapping tree limbs, toppling fences, and causing other property damage across southwest Oklahoma City. A trampoline was blown into power lines near the intersection of Southwest 82nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, knocking out electricity in the surrounding neighborhood. Emergency crews worked quickly to assess the damage and restore power to affected areas.

• The severe storms moved through the Oklahoma City metro area on Friday night, April 4, 2026.

What they’re saying

What’s next

Local authorities and utility companies will continue to assess the damage and work to restore power and clear debris in the affected areas.