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Oklahoma Pitching Coach Jennifer Rocha ‘Forever Grateful’ to Karlie Keeney

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Oklahoma Pitching Coach Jennifer Rocha ‘Forever Grateful’ to Karlie Keeney


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.

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

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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.

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Now that Rocha is back, having been declared cancer-free after a cervical-cancer diagnosis led to her stepping away from the team for the first seven weeks of the season, Sooners coach Patty Gasso continued to heap praise on Keeney.

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“She really allowed this team to stay together,” Gasso said.

Before Rocha’s return, Gasso praised Keeney’s growth as a pitching coach.

“I think she has really improved on her pitch-calling as we’ve gone along,” Gasso said. “She does a really good job of communicating with pitchers, asking them, ‘What do you want here?’, ‘What kind of combos are you looking for?’, what have you. So she’s gotten better and I’ve gotten better.

“We’ve gotten better together as we’ve gone along.”

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OU allowed just five runs during its three-game sweep of Kentucky, which wrapped up with a 12-2 five-inning win Saturday.

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“I’m happy that she was available,” Rocha said of Keeney after Tuesday’s 12-3 win over Wichita State, Rocha’s first home game since returning March 27 against LSU. “I don’t know, only God knows why her name was the first one that was thrown out, but she certainly stepped in and was readily available. She’s done, really, an amazing job under the circumstances. To bring a former player one year out to come in and just take over a top Division-I softball program, it’s hard for anybody to do. And so I commend Karlie on the job that she’s done with our pitching staff. It’s a young pitching staff, and she really did her best to manage it, and she got us to this point. So I’m just forever grateful for what she’s done.”

Even though Rocha has returned, Keeney will remain part of the staff for the remainder of the season, serving as a bullpen coach.

“Just having someone that was here only two years ago so getting her point of view and then also having Coach Rocha’s, who has been doing this forever, so it’s like just having them two is great for my mentality,” Guachino said of her relationship with both Keeney and Rocha.



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Crews respond after fireworks stand catches fire in Broken Arrow, no injuries reported

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Crews respond after fireworks stand catches fire in Broken Arrow, no injuries reported


BROKEN ARROW, Okla. –

Crews responded to a fireworks stand after it caught fire in Broken Arrow Saturday night.

Authorities urged people to avoid E. Kanosha Street near S. 236th E. Avenue as the road is closed and fireworks could spread in the area due to the fire.

Broken Arrow Fire Department released a statement confirming no injuries were sustained as a result of the explosions or fire.

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Fire crews quickly controlled the fire in about 20 minutes according to Broken Arrow Fire Department.

The initial cause of the fire is under investigation.

Viewer Leslie Maxey, who lives close to the fireworks stand, sent in video of the ongoing fire.

“We were putting our daughter to bed with a book when we heard an explosion that was gradually getting louder and louder,” Maxey said.

This is a developing story.

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Scouting the Oklahoma Sooners ahead of UNC matchup

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Scouting the Oklahoma Sooners ahead of UNC matchup



What you need to know about Oklahoma ahead of the College World Series

North Carolina will face a dangerous Oklahoma team that is on a roll.

Oklahoma (41-22) has been just as dominant. The Sooners, making their 13th College World Series appearance and first since 2022, surged through the postseason as road warriors. They won the Atlanta Regional by upsetting No. 2 seed and ACC champion Georgia Tech in the final, then swept Big 12 champion and No. 15 seed Kansas by a combined score of 21-3 in the Lawrence Regional.

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The Sooners, who are 3-0 in Omaha after beating No. 7 seed Alabama and knocking off No. 3 seed and SEC champion Georgia twice, are seeking their third national championship. Oklahoma won titles in 1951 and 1994 and finished as runner-up to Ole Miss in 2022.

Here are a few things to know about Oklahoma:

Best player: Catcher Deiten LaChance

LaChance is Oklahoma’s most powerful hitter. He is batting .333 with 12 doubles, two triples and team highs of 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.

Throughout the postseason, he is hitting .326 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. In Omaha, he is 5-for-14 (.357) with one home run and five RBIs.

Strengths

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Like North Carolina, Oklahoma is a balanced team that is good at a little bit of everything and is built to frustrate opponents.

Oklahoma is a balanced hitting team like UNC, but the Sooners have hit a few more homers with 91, compared to the Tar Heels’ 82. That is largely due to the Sooners smashing 26 home runs in their 10 postseason games. In Omaha, OU has homered eight times, including five homers in its win over Georgia in its previous game.

The Sooners have stolen 129 bases this season. That is good for 24th nationally and second in the SEC.

Pitching-wise, OU is 18th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings and leads the SEC in shutouts.

Weaknesses

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The most glaring weakness is the pitching staff, despite its ability to strike out opposing batters and record shutouts.

The Sooners have a 4.98 ERA as a staff. Only one pitcher with 10 or more appearances has an ERA under 3.60.

They also allow 4.51 walks per nine innings, which ranks 138th nationally.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.





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Oklahoma State Football Target Israel Hammons Commits to Cowboys

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Oklahoma State Football Target Israel Hammons Commits to Cowboys


It was a Friday Night Lights in June kind of moment for the Oklahoma State Cowboys as Israel “Izzy” Hammons made his commitment announcement.

The Choctaw, Okla., rising senior announced his decision to commit to Oklahoma State on Friday during an Instagram Live session. The Cowboys beat out a roster of schools vying for the linebacker, most notably Texas.

Hammons made just two official visits — one to OSU and one to Texas last week.

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His commitment pushed the Cowboys’ 2027 recruiting class back to nine players after the defection of Mount Carmel (Chicago, IL) offensive lineman Chase Clark to Purdue.

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Commitments are non-binding. The earliest that Hammons can sign with OSU is in December.

Izzy Hammons to OSU

Hammons is the first four-star player to commit to the Cowboys this cycle. Their previous commitments all came from three-star players. The 6-3, 225-pound linebacker was considered a Top 200 player in the country by both On3/Rivals and 247Sports. Both services had him ranked as a Top 10 player in the state of Oklahoma at any position. He’s also considered the No. 1 linebacker in the state.

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He also runs track and field, competing in the high jump and the 100-meter days, with a personal best of 11.30 seconds in the latter.

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The Longhorns came in hot at the end but already had linebackers committed to the program this cycle. For the Cowboys getting a pledge from a player like Hammons is key to shore up a position where they didn’t have a commitment and where they plan to use senior transfers as starters in 2026. That means OSU and head coach Eric Morris must start building a pipeline now.

OSU’s Class of 2027

After Clark’s decommitment the Cowboys were down to eight recruits for 2027 entering Friday, most of which were on the offensive side of the ball and starting with Iowa Colony (Texas) quarterback Carson White, who was the cycle’s first commitment in April.

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Up front, OSU has two offensive line commitments Jake Baker of Ensworth High School in Nashville, Tenn., and Sonny Mullen of Troy, Texas. When it comes to skill positions players the Cowboys have three commitments as well, including two wide receivers — Cooper Hooker of Pryor (Quapaw, Okla.) High School and Ake O’Neal of Argyle, Texas. Oklahoma State also has a pledge from tight end Talan Scott of Queen City, Ariz.

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Defensively, the Cowboys have commitments from safeties Chayce Davis of Euless (Texas) Trinity High School and Bryson Brown of Broken Bow, Okla.

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