Oklahoma

Oklahoma bill would shield poultry companies from lawsuits over chicken litter pollution

Published

1 year ago

February 24, 2024

Oklahoma bill would shield poultry companies from lawsuits over chicken litter pollution

Ben Felder
| Investigate Midwest

As Oklahoma wraps up a nearly 20-year lawsuit against several large poultry companies over chicken litter pollution in its eastern waterways, state lawmakers have advanced a bill to remove liability from companies in the future, giving them what environmentalists have called a “license to pollute.”

House Bill 4118, authored by State Rep. David Hardin, a Republican from Stilwell, would “insulate the poultry grower, integrator, and waste applicator from any private right of action” as long as they have an approved Nutrient Management Plan from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Poultry farm operators must submit a Nutrient Management Plan to the state demonstrating how they will safely remove and reuse chicken litter, which is often sold to area farms as fertilizer.

But Hardin’s bill says that even if a poultry operator violated its Nutrient Management Plan, it would still avoid liability.

“I can’t think of another industry that has this type of immunity,” said Matt Wright, chairman of the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma, a nonprofit that opposes the bill it calls a “license to pollute.” “If an oil and gas company had a spill but said they at least had a plan that tried to avoid the spill, they can still be held liable.”

The bill received unanimous approval by the Oklahoma House Committee on Agriculture last week and was advanced by the full House on Monday.

In 2005, then-Attorney General Drew Edmondson sued several large poultry companies, including Tyson Foods, Cargill, Cal-Maine Foods and Simmons Foods, for causing increased levels of phosphorus, E. coli and nitrogen in the Illinois River Watershed.

A federal judge ruled in favor of the state last year, but the case is still unresolved after a court-ordered mediation between the state and the companies broke down.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Oklahoma’s poultry industry has continued to grow, topping 200 million birds a year, according to licensing records from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Hardin, the bill’s author, said he wanted to protect poultry farmers from similar lawsuits in the future.

“We have stringent rules through the Department of Agriculture to protect our environment, and Nutrient Management Plans are really precise on the amount of litter that you can spread or if you can spread it all,” Hardin told Investigate Midwest during an interview in his Capitol office.

“This bill doesn’t mean that somebody can’t come in and bring some sort of action, but you bring it against the state. We set the rules and (the companies follow) the rules that we set and then they get stuck in lawsuits over rules we set. All I’m saying is if you’re going to sue, sue the state.”

Hardin’s bill originally had language making the protection from litigation retroactive, but it was removed before its hearing in the full House.

Even if the language had remained, it likely would not have impacted current lawsuits as the state’s Constitution bars the state Legislature from imposing new laws that end ongoing lawsuits.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who has continued the federal lawsuit against Tyson and other poultry producers, asked the judge last year to impose new standards on the poultry companies. Drummond’s office declined to comment on Hardin’s bill and its potential impact on the case.

State Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, voted in favor of the bill during its committee hearing. But he later told Investigate Midwest he wouldn’t support the bill moving forward after learning more details.

“The more I think about (this bill), the more I think we have a responsibility to take care of our constituents, not these large corporations,” Alonso-Sandoval said. “Besides, we’ve had a history of environmental problems, so why risk going back to where we were before?”

Alonso-Sandoval voted against the bill during its hearing before the full House, joining the rest of the Democratic caucus in opposition.

Democratic lawmakers spent nearly 45 minutes questioning Hardin on his bill during Monday’s hearing, including State Rep. Mickey Dollens who said he believed the bill was an act of “deregulating” an industry that has caused pollution problems in the state for years.

“It is reprehensible and quite disgusting that we are debating a bill that prioritizes big ag and corporate lobbyists over our citizens and their drinking water,” said Dollens, who is a Demcorat from Oklahoma City.

However, House Bill 4118 was approved by the House’s Republican majority with a vote of 68 to 28. The bill now moves to the State Senate for consideration.

Poultry litter waste in eastern Oklahoma

The growing poultry industry in eastern Oklahoma is largely made up of industrial farms that raise several hundred thousand birds at a time. A building with 100,000 chickens can produce 750 tons of litter a year.

Most of that litter is sold to area farmers as fertilizer.

“Animal manure and poultry litter contain all 16 essential plant nutrients as well as organic matter. … thus, manure can be a valuable asset to a poultry operation if its nutrients and organic matter are recycled through land application properly,” according to Oklahoma State University’s current guide on Nutrient Management Plans. However, “(p)oultry litter may cause surface and groundwater pollution if mismanaged or over-applied.”

The state’s 2005 lawsuit claimed chicken litter in eastern Oklahoma was being over-applied and ending up in streams and rivers. Rising phosphorus had decreased oxygen in the water, which was killing fish and increasing filtration costs for the more than one dozen towns that relied on the Illinois River Watershed for drinking water.

Over the last several years, more chicken litter has been shipped out of state, and some measures have been taken to protect waterways, such as vegetative buffer strips between a crop field and a nearby stream.

Lawmakers in support of the bill argued that declining phosphorus rates are proof that Nutrient Management Plans are working.

“We are making extreme progress every day cleaning up our waterways,” State Rep. Jim Grego, R-Wilburton, said in support of the bill before Monday’s vote. “This bill here, all it does is protect farmers.”

Grego and other lawmakers referenced a 2019 report from the Oklahoma Conservation Commission that said the state was a leader in the number of waterways removed from the federal list of impaired waterbodies.

But while phosphorus rates have decreased, some remain well above state standards.

Last year, a water quality report found maximum phosphorus rates higher than the state standard of 0.037 milligrams per liter in 13 eastern Oklahoma waterways. In the Illinois River, near the town of Watts, the maximum phosphorus rate recorded was 1.153 milligrams per liter, and as high as 0.438 milligrams per liter near Tahlequah.

Wright, president of the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma, said the poultry industry is an important economic sector for the state but he worried further pollution could hurt other industries, including tourism.

“In the eastern part of the state, you have the Illinois River and the Mountain Fork (River), both of which rely heavily on tourism,” Wright said. “If there is a huge fish kill or people start getting sick, it will have a huge impact on (the tourism) industry.”

Violators of Nutrient Management Plans would still be protected

Hardin’s claim that a Nutrient Management Plan should be enough to protect poultry companies from legal action is the same argument Tyson Foods made last year when the company sought a motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit.

“These plans, which set forth the time, location, and amount of poultry litter that may be applied to each parcel of land, have now ensured that, for well over a decade, the state has consented to and even controlled all poultry-litter applications,” Tyson attorneys wrote in the motion to dismiss.

Marvin Childers, president of the Poultry Federation, a lobbying group many Oklahoma poultry companies direct the media to for comment, said his organization is tracking HB 4118, but didn’t offer an opinion on the measure.

“It has a long way to go in the legislative process,” Childers said in an emailed statement to Investigate Midwest.

While poultry companies, like Tyson, say they should be protected from litigation if they are following state-approved plans, Hardin’s bill includes language that could also protect both poultry companies and the farmers they contract with if they stray from those plans.

The bill states, “Land application of poultry litter in compliance with a current Nutrient Management Plan shall not be the basis for criminal or civil liability in Oklahoma, … nor shall an administrative violation be the basis for a criminal or civil action.”

Asked what constitutes an “administrative violation,” Lee Benson, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, said it is any violation the agency deals with.

Asked about that language, Hardin said if a poultry farmer violated state rules the company would likely terminate its contract.

During Monday’s House debate, Hardin claimed the bill would not protect violators.

“If you are not in compliance (with the Nutrient Management Plan), this bill does not cover you,” Hardin said.

Recent state laws help the poultry industry

Despite the state’s lawsuit against poultry companies and water pollution rates above state standards, the Oklahoma Legislature and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture continuously have made it easier for poultry operators to open new farms and avoid pushback from neighbors.

Ten years ago, the state made it easier for industrial poultry farms to open closer to homes and water sources by offering an alternative registration system.

Last year, the Legislature passed a new law that dismisses protests against a poultry farm’s application for a water use permit, if the protest is “based solely on the industry or entity applying to use the water.”

Some Oklahomans have protested new water use permits and filed lawsuits against the state, arguing not enough research was done before giving new farms access to groundwater.

This year, an earlier version of Hardin’s bill sought to deregulate the poultry industry even further as it removed bans on poultry litter creating “an environmental or a public health hazard.” That draft also removed the state ban on the “discharge of poultry waste to waters of the state.”

Hardin removed that language before last week’s committee hearing, focusing specifically on the litigation aspect.

“I thought that might be a little bit too far, so I said let’s pull it back,” Hardin said about the changes he made to the bill.

Hardin has also faced criticism about his wife’s involvement in the poultry industry. She formerly consulted with Simmons Foods to write Nutrient Management Plans for its chicken farmers, but Hardin said she stopped working for the company once he began running poultry-related bills a few years ago. Hardin’s 2022 financial disclosure reported his wife’s work with Simmons Foods, but his 2024 disclosure no longer showed her work with the poultry company. Simmons Foods did not respond to a request for comment on Hardin’s wife.

“I’m not going to be Terry O’Donnell,” Hardin told two Democratic lawmakers after last week’s committee meeting on his bill.

O’Donnell, a former state representative, was indicted by an Oklahoma County grand jury in 2021 after he introduced a bill that removed the ban on spouses of lawmakers from serving as agents of a vehicle registration center, or tag agency. Months after the bill passed, O’Donnell’s wife took over a tag agency in Catoosa. The case was later dropped.

Hardin said his wife’s former work gave him unique insight into what’s involved with the disposal of chicken litter.

“I’ve seen what all you have to go through to create these Nutrient Management Plans and you have to go through all this training,” said Hardin, who added he believes the state’s requirements for poultry farmers are sufficient. “But if a poultry farmer has actually followed the Nutrient Management Plan then you’ll need to bring that lawsuit to the Department of Agriculture.”

Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public interest by exposing dangerous and costly practices of influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism. Visit us online at www.investigatemidwest.org

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Oklahoma

What channel is Texas vs Oklahoma softball today? Time, TV schedule for WCWS game

Published

12 hours ago

May 31, 2025

Press Room

What channel is Texas vs Oklahoma softball today? Time, TV schedule for WCWS game

It’s Red River Rivalry time in the 2025 Women’s College World Series.

No. 6 Texas and No. 2 Oklahoma will square off in the winner’s bracket of the WCWS from Devon Field in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, presenting a rematch of the 2024 championship series. With a win, either team would move that much closer to booking a return to the end-of-tournament series to determine the national champion.

The Longhorns used a dominant start from Teagan Kavan to earn a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Florida, while Ella Parker delivered a three-run walk-off home run off Karlyn Pickens and No. 7 Tennessee to steal a win. Patty Gasso and the Sooners are looking to earn a fifth straight championship.

Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s WCWS winner’s bracket game between rivals Texas and Oklahoma:

Stream Texas vs. Oklahoma with ESPN+

What channel is Texas vs Oklahoma softball on today?

TV channel: ABC
Streaming: ESPN app | ESPN+

Texas and Oklahoma’s winner’s bracket game will air on ABC. Streaming options include the ESPN app (with a cable login) and ESPN+, the latter of which is ESPN’s subscription service. Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Jessica Mendoza (analyst) and Michele Smith (analyst) will be on the call, with Holly Rowe serving as the sideline reporter.

Texas vs Oklahoma softball start time

Date: Saturday, May 31
Time: 3 p.m. ET

First pitch for Texas and Oklahoma’s winner’s bracket game is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET from Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Texas softball schedule 2025

Below is Texas’ postseason schedule. For the Longhorns’ full schedule, click here.

Austin Regional

Friday, May 16: No. 6 Texas 10, Eastern Illinois 2
Saturday, May 17: No. 6 Texas, Michigan 4
Sunday, May 18: No. 6 Texas 9, UCF 0

Austin Super Regional

Thursday, May 22: No. 11 Clemson 7, No. 6 Texas 4
Friday, May 23: No. 6 Texas 7, No. 11 Clemson 5
Saturday, May 24: No. 6 Texas 6,No. 11 Clemson 5

Women’s College World Series

Thursday, May 29: No. 6 Texas 3, No. 3 Florida 0
Saturday, May 31: No. 6 Texas vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (3 p.m.)

Oklahoma softball schedule 2025

Below is Oklahoma’s postseason schedule. For the Sooners’ full schedule, click here.

Norman Regional:

Friday, May 16: No. 2 Oklahoma 8, Boston College 0
Saturday, May 17: No. 2 Oklahoma 11, Cal 2
Sunday, May 18: No. 2 Oklahoma 12, Cal 1

Normal Super Regional:

Friday, May 23: No. 2 Oklahoma 3, No. 15 Alabama 0
Saturday, May 24: No. 2 Oklahoma 13, No. 15 Alabama 2

Women’s College World Series:

Thursday, May 29: No. 2 Oklahoma 4, No. 7 Tennessee 3
Saturday, May 31: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Texas (3 p.m.)

Women’s College World Series schedule

Women’s College World Series: May 29-June 6
WCWS finals: June 4-5/6

The Women’s College World Series will run from May 29 through June 6, with the three-game WCWS finals taking place from June 4 through June 5 or June 6, depending on whether teams need the “if necessary” game.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma State Fair announces 2025 concert lineup, from Black Stone Cherry to Joe Nichols

Published

1 day ago

May 30, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma State Fair announces 2025 concert lineup, from Black Stone Cherry to Joe Nichols

The 2025 Oklahoma State Fair will take place September 11-21 at the OKC Fairgrounds.
Nightly free concerts on the Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage will feature artists like Joe Nichols, Sister Sledge, and Black Stone Cherry.
The Bandshell will showcase Oklahoma performers daily.

The Oklahoma State Fair is about three and a half months away, but live music fans can go ahead and mark their calendars, since the event’s organizers have announced this year’s eclectic concert lineup.

One of the state’s largest yearly events, the 2025 Oklahoma State Fair is set for Sept. 11-21 at the OKC Fairgrounds, 3001 General Pershing Blvd.

This year’s fair will spotlight rock ‘n’ roll bands, country music artists, contemporary Christian hitmakers, R&B groups, tribute bands and more on its Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage.

Admission to the nightly concerts is free with outside gate admission to the fair.

The 2025 Oklahoma State Fair concert lineup on the Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage is:

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11: Joe Nichols, the country singer known for hits like “Gimme That Girl” and “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” returns to the Oklahoma State Fair.
7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12: Sister Sledge, the Philadelphia sibling group of Debbie, Joni, Kathy and Kim Sledge, entered the cultural consciousness with their 1979 worldwide hit and iconic album “We Are Family.”
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13: Black Stone Cherry with The Kentucky Headhunters, two rock bands from the Bluegrass State, are heading this fall to the Oklahoma State Fair.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14: ZZ-KC is based in Kansas City and tours the country paying tribute to Rock and Roll Hall of Famers ZZ Top.
7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15: Josiah Queen, the “I am Barabbas” hitmaker who was named one of Amazon’s Breakthrough Artists to Watch for 2024, just wrapped his first headline tour as a contemporary Christian recording artist.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone will bring their 1960s hits like “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” and “I’m into Something Good” to OKC.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept: 17: Shawn Klush – Tribute to Elvis returns to the Oklahoma State Fair with the addition of a horn section to add to the authenticity and excitement of his homage to The King.
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18: Drew Baldridge, a country singer-songwriter hailing from Patoka, Illinois, has scored hit singles with “Dance with Ya” and “She’s Somebody’s Daughter.”
7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19: Hairball, a tribute band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025 by performing classics by KISS, Van Halen, Queen and more, complete with pyrotechnics, costume changes and theatrical flair.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20: Stephen Pearcy the Voice of RATT with Quiet Riot brings together the frontman for glam metal band behind the 1980s hits “Round and Round” and “Lay It Down” with the Los Angeles quartet known as the first heavy metal band to top Billboard charts.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21: Los Herederos de Nuevo Leon, a regional Mexican band specializing in norteño music, returns to close out the Oklahoma State Fair, which traditionally reserves the final concert slot on its Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage for a Spanish-language act with appeal for a multi-generational Latino audience.

“I have been buying talent for the Oklahoma State Fair for quite some time, and I can honestly say this is one of the strongest lineups I can remember,” fair spokesman Scott Munz said in an email to The Oklahoman.

“Without hesitation, there is truly something for every musical taste during the 11 days of the 2025 Oklahoma State Fair.”

Along with the concerts on the Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage, the Oklahoma State Fair will feature a diverse lineup of Oklahoma performers from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily at The Bandshell.

For more information on the concerts, carnival rides, food vendors, performances and other attractions at the 2025 Oklahoma State Fair, go to https://okstatefair.com.

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Oklahoma

What Tennessee softball said about walk-off loss to Oklahoma in the WCWS

Published

2 days ago

May 29, 2025

Press Room

What Tennessee softball said about walk-off loss to Oklahoma in the WCWS

Tennessee softball was an out away from downing Oklahoma to begin its 2025 Women’s College World Series run.

However, the Lady Vols allowed a walk-off home run to drop the game, 4-3.

Afterward, head coach Karen Weekly and players Sophia Nugent, Taylor Pannell and Laura Mealer met with the media. Here’s what they said.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

KAREN WEEKLY: Obviously that was a gut-punch. I thought our team played really, really well. Proud of how we came out. We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We got to be ready to play tomorrow, and that’s what we just talked about in the locker room.

Q. Sophia, what’s your immediate reaction to the loss, and what do you feel like happened late with the offense? You guys had been able to get things going early and then seventh inning couldn’t capitalize with the bases loaded.

SOPHIA NUGENT: My immediate reaction was we fought really hard and it didn’t come out on our side. But there’s another day tomorrow.

When it comes to offense, I think we were putting the ball into play. We just weren’t cashing in on the runners on base.

Q. For the players, how frustrating is it to have those double-play balls there in those big moments, and how do you ensure that frustration doesn’t linger into tomorrow in an elimination game?

SOPHIA NUGENT: I mean, it’s going to happen. They have a very good defense. And sometimes you hit the ball into their defense and it works out for them.

Q. Taylor, what’s the biggest thing you feel like you need to reset for tomorrow to make sure you guys aren’t out of here in two games?

TAYLOR PANNELL: I think just flush today. We were seeing the ball well at the plate. Things weren’t going well. Just flush today and focus on playing Florida tomorrow.

Q. On that note, just is there anything you guys can think of right now in particular to try to — because it is such a gut-punching loss, and to have to come back a day later, to change it? Anything in particular you might try to do, or just continue to follow what you guys have done all season?

LAURA MEALER: Yeah, I don’t think much changes, if we’re being honest. We’ve been in this position before, just losing a game and having to bounce back. The only difference is just being in post-season.

And I think we had a great talk in the locker room of just, yeah, it stings right now, and we can let it sting for a minute, but flush it right away because you don’t have time to dwell on it.

Q. Sophia, until the last inning, Karlyn really shut down that offense. After the — it looked like the first home run really kind of made her kick it into another gear. I don’t know if it kind of made her mad a little bit, but what did you see from her today, and how impressive was it that for most of the game she really held one of the best offenses in the nation without much production?

SOPHIA NUGENT: I think that’s what Karlyn is. She fights for us every single pitch, and she puts it all out on the line for us. Her bringing that energy really helps us every single day.

Q. Karen, what were you seeing from the offense today that obviously had a great start early and just and what did you see in the seventh inning that you guys were able to capitalize and get some insurance runs?

KAREN WEEKLY: Yeah, I thought overall we had a good plan and for the most part we were executing that plan. And we just had a couple situations even before the seventh inning where, yeah, we could have put another run or two on the board and given ourselves a little bit more of a cushion.

Like Soph said, you’re not trying to hit into a double play. Sometimes those things happen. It’s a tough game, and hitting’s the hardest thing to do.

Q. Karlyn got into quite a few three-ball counts. Is that more kudos to OU’s preparation? Was Karlyn going through her spin a little bit? I want to know what you felt about that.

KAREN WEEKLY: I think it’s a combination of things. You know, we had four walks. I think three of them might have been to lead off innings. So we got ourselves in a couple jams. She worked herself out of a lot of jams.

Part of it I think you could see their game plan shifting a little bit to being more patient, trying to get more base runners on by not swinging the bat. But, you know, it just comes down the execution.

Q. Karen, you spoke yesterday about the mentality that Karlyn has developed. I’m curious where you saw that over those first six innings today while she navigated some trouble and where you see that as you go into tomorrow knowing it’s a must-win situation with her.

KAREN WEEKLY: Yeah, you see the same thing out of Karlyn for all seven innings. Karlyn is as steady as they come. She’s the ultimate warrior. 99 times out of 100, she wins that game.

What I expect going into tomorrow from Karlyn and this entire team, we’ve been here. We were here last Friday. We lost the first game against Nebraska. We go into Saturday morning, win-or-go-home. Sunday, win-or-go-home.

That’s the situation we’re in right now. We’re playing Florida tomorrow, and one team is going home. And it’s really going to come down to which team can flush today the quickest and get their mind right for tomorrow.

Q. Talk about early getting some good traction off Sam and how that can help tomorrow, you will most likely face a very good pitcher in Keagan, and how that can help tomorrow knowing that you have already, you know, early on beaten one of the better pitchers there is.

KAREN WEEKLY: Yeah, it was one of our better offensive performances, and I’m proud of them for that. The thing people don’t realize is how young our team is. There is one person in our starting lineup that’s a senior with four years starting in the SEC. That’s it.

Everybody else in that lineup either didn’t play SEC for four years — Sophia Nugent, she’s got two years playing every day under her belt. But before didn’t, get every at-bat. We have a lot of sophomores who didn’t play a lot last year.

So I’m really proud how they showed up here. They weren’t fazed. The environment didn’t faze them. They knew — I don’t know how many people this place holds, 10,000 — that there were going to be 9,900 against them. That didn’t bother them at all.

So there’s a lot of things to really be excited about and proud of.

Q. Was there any consideration with walking Parker there in the seventh with Oklahoma having the momentum?

KAREN WEEKLY: Not really because it’s 3-1. You have two runners on, and if you walk her, that means you put the winning run on base. So you have to make a decision there.

The key thing in that inning was Agbayani drawing a walk. You look at that, and strategy-wise you’re like, okay, we can get through this inning and get out of here without ever rolling the order back around at the top.

When you walk her, you know you’re going to face Pickering and Parker again.

Q. Obviously have to get through tomorrow, but how big is it knowing that Sage has also thrown really well this post-season?

KAREN WEEKLY: Oh, huge, especially right now. Sage has had some really good outings starting back to Ole Miss series. Great game against them. Great game against Texas A&M. Great game against Ohio State. We put the ball in her hands in big situations and she’s come through for us.

Q. Speaking of some of your youth, Ella Dodge went deep into every at-bat she had today. She got two walks out of it. What does that say about her maturity as a freshman to do that in this game, and how did she learn how to slide like that?

KAREN WEEKLY: Ella, we call her “Pigpen” because she’s the dirtiest one at practice. Ella is going to fight and scratch and claw to do everything she can on the softball field. The girl absolutely just loves playing.

What I was really proud of was her first at-bat wasn’t real good. She got herself in a 3-1 count and chased something high, and we would have drawn a walk there and kept the inning going a little bit more. But she bounced back right away and her next two at-bats were fantastic. When you can see a freshman do that, that’s pretty cool.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the pre-game scout of Ella Parker and the swing she had today?

KAREN WEEKLY: She’s a great hitter. Great hitters make adjustments, and Oklahoma is one of the best at making adjustments as the game goes along.

I think the first one she hit out, I think we missed our spot in that situation. The last one I think was a change-up, pretty sure. But they’re just really good hitters, especially her and Pickering at the top of the order.

The more times they face you, the more information they have, the more adjustments they’re going to make, and they’re tough to beat.

Q. Coach, obviously Oklahoma has loads of talent every year, but even when the faces and names change, the moments seem to continue. Is there anything tangible about this program, over just the talent, that allows them to continue to do things like this that you’ve noticed?

KAREN WEEKLY: Well, there’s a lot of talent out there. They have some of the absolute best players in the country. Patty Gasso is a phenomenal coach. You don’t win that many national championships without being an exceptional coach.

And you also have 9,900 people on your side. It’s an environment that you have to fight through, but I thought our kids did a really good job of that today.

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