Oklahoma

OU Softball: Oklahoma Rides Fast Start to Open Series With Win Over UCF

Published

2 years ago

April 26, 2024

OU Softball: Oklahoma Rides Fast Start to Open Series With Win Over UCF

Oklahoma began its final Big 12 road trip with a bang.

Patty Gasso’s team plated five runs in the first inning, complete with a two-RBI single from Kasidi Pickering and a two-run bomb from Alyssa Brito to set the tone for a steady win in the series opener.

The No. 2-ranked Sooners went on to beat UCF 10-2 at the UCF Softball Complex on Friday.

OU (43-4. 19-3 Big 12) maintained its lead atop the conference with the win over the Knights (28-19, 10-12).

Final Box Score

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UCF helped the Sooners out immediately.

Jayda Coleman beat out a throw for an infield single and Ella Parker reached on an error, putting immediate pressure on Kaitlyn Felton.

The Knights’ starting pitcher didn’t help herself out, as she walked Tiare Jennings to load the bases with no outs.

Kinzie Hansen broke the deadlock with an RBI-single, but Ella Parker was thrown out at home to make the first out of the game.

Had Gasso kept Parker on third, she would have likely come home anyways.

Pickering singled through the left side and Brito hammered a full-count delivery to left field, putting OU up 5-0 and ending Felton’s first stint of the evening after just six batters.

Alynah Torres and Cydney Sanders both walked with one out, but OU was able to further the damage after Rylie Boone struck out and Coleman bounced out to second base.

After building the lead, Oklahoma stayed aggressive and attacked pitches early in at-bats, which produced mixed results in the second inning.

OU was able to load the bases with one out, but couldn’t bring any runs across.

Coleman added to the lead in the third, however.

The senior centerfielder stepped in and belted her 11th home run of the season, an opposite field bomb with two outs that put the Sooners up 6-0.

Kelly Maxwell finally had to work around traffic on the basepaths in the bottom of the third inning.

With Stormy Kotzelnick already on first, UCF third baseman Sierra Humphreys dropped a single into shallow-left field, but Boone was unable to corral the ball off the bounce, allowing the runners to move up to second and third.

Only working with one out, Maxwell then made a nice play herself.

Jada Cody slapped the ball back up the middle, which Maxwell gloved and shuttled over to first for the second out of the inning, then Maxwell trusted her defense and induced a ground ball from Chloe Evans to get out of the inning.

UCF went back to Felton in the circle to start the fourth inning, which was the Knights’ fifth pitching change of the game.

Both Felton and reliever Sona Halajian re-entered the game as UCF coach Cindy Ball-Malone never let OU’s offense get all the way through the lineup with the same pitcher.

Felton frustrated Oklahoma upon her return, holding the Sooners off the board as the Knights tried to get into the game.

A snafu in the field gave UCF a change to get on the board in the bottom of the fifth.

Cody singled to center with two outs, but instead of simply getting the ball back into the infield, Coleman fired down to first base.

Parker, who had been inserted into the defensive lineup at first in favor of the always steady Sanders, wasn’t ready for Coleman’s throw. The ball rolled into foul territory and allowed Cody to take second base on the throwing error.

Maxwell looked unbothered, firing two straight strikes to Evans, but the UCF right fielder battled admirably.

She didn’t allow Maxwell to coax her into a bad swing, and after taking three balls and fouling off three pitches, Evans doubled into the corner in right field to cut OU’s lead to 6-1.

Maxwell then issued a four-pitch walk, but struck out Shannon Doherty to end the inning.

Oklahoma dialed back in on Felton in the seventh.

It took just five total pitches for OU to load the bases. Hansen, Pickering and Brito all smoked singles through gaps and into the outfield.

The situation prompted another pitching change, as this time UCF called upon its fourth pitcher of the night in Ava Justman, ending Felton’s Friday.

Avery Hodge was undeterred by the change, as she drew a walk to extend the lead back out to six runs.

Boone poked her first hit of the day through the right side, narrowly missing Hodge, to put the Sooners up 8-1, and Coleman’s second walk of the day added to the advantage again.

Oklahoma’s last run of the inning scored when Parker hit into a fielder’s choice, capping off the four-run frame.

Up 10-1, Gasso left Maxwell in to record the first out of the seventh before turning to Karlie Keeney.

Maxwell allowed eight hits and two walks, but struck out five and crucially limited the Knights to the lone run in 6 1/3 innings.

Keeney swiftly notched the second out of the seventh, but she left her 1-2 delivery hanging and Evans pounced, clobbering a solo home run. UCF drew another walk off Keeney before she closed out the win.

The Sooners have a chance to notch the series victory on Saturday at 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma storms bring widespread damage, tornadoes in Purcell and Shawnee

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma storms bring widespread damage, tornadoes in Purcell and Shawnee

8:45 p.m. Tornado Update from NWS Norman:

EF1 (high end) at Purcell
EF0 near Lake Thunderbird (south of Stella/northwest of Little Axe)
EF1 west and near the Shawnee Twin Lakes
EF1 in north Shawnee.
There are other areas of damage that we will continue to investigate.

Original story:

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Storms moved through parts of Oklahoma on Thursday morning, with at least five tornado warnings issued and two tornadoes that touched down in Purcell and Shawnee, leaving behind damage.

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved through central and eastern Oklahoma early Thursday that producing tornadoes, damaging winds, and power outages.

Preliminary information from the National Weather Service in Norman shows that at least EF-1 damage was found in Purcell. Survey teams are continuing to assess the damage that was left behind from the morning storms.

Officials also reported that widespread power outages occurred in the city, along with downed trees and powerlines, with nine homes having damaged roofs, and a semi-truck rollover accident on I-35 with one injury.

Shawnee also suffered some damage Thursday morning, which includes downed fences and partial roof loss at the Holiday Inn Express. As of Thursday evening, NWS officials confirm that a tornado did touch down in the northern portion of Shawnee; however, a preliminary rating hasn’t been given at this time.

According to Comanche County Emergency Management, damages related to the storms were reported across the City of Lawton, with roof damage at Sheridan and Lee, along with power pole and power line damage.

Lawton Fire Department responded to a rooftop fire at MacArthur High School on Thursday morning, caused by wind damage to AC units.

Lightning strikes in Edmond were reported to have caused a transformer fire near Covell and Kelly, with another lightning strike having caused a tree to fall on top of a vehicle near Covell and Broadway, resulting in one person being injured.

Straight-line winds were also reported to have destroyed a barn north of Guthrie, while structures were damaged in south Wynona, including a shop building that was devastated and a mobile home that was damaged.

Damage assessments are said to be ongoing at this time. News 4 will provide updates as we learn more.

According to NWS Norman officials, the last time the department issued a tornado warning in January was on January 10, 2020. However, Thursday’s reported tornado was not the earliest for a tornado to occur in Oklahoma. Tornadoes happened in Osage, Mayes, McIntosh, Ottawa, and Sequoyah Counties back on January 2, 2023.

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Oklahoma

Neighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado

Published

19 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Neighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado

PURCELL — Jennifer Fox had just fed the pigs behind her house early in the morning Thursday, Jan. 8, and began getting ready for work before she and her two sons heard something hit her bedroom window.

“I said, ‘Is it hailing?” she said. “My oldest looked out the window and he saw our awning across the back. He said, ‘Mom, the awning’s gone.”

Fox looked out the window and saw debris everywhere. She said she didn’t hear tornado sirens, but she and her sons immediately took shelter in a closet. By that time, the suspected tornado had already passed through her neighborhood off of Johnson Avenue in Purcell.

At first, Fox didn’t think there was a tornado and attributed the damage and debris to strong winds.

But just one street over, the roof of one house had been destroyed. When she looked at the house behind hers, Fox said she knew a tornado had hit her neighborhood.

“I was thankful at the time,” she said. “I told my kids, I said, ‘It could’ve been a lot worse.’ We weren’t prepared, obviously. I really felt like it just barely missed us.”

Severe weather passed through central Oklahoma early Thursday morning, bringing reports of damage from a possible tornado in Purcell. The National Weather Service in Norman reported on social media that survey teams have found at least EF1 tornado damage in the Purcell area.

The Purcell Fire Department reported a tornado touched down in the city, causing roof damage to nine homes, a semi truck rollover accident on Interstate 35 with one injury and widespread power outages, downed trees and powerlines.

On Norte Street in Purcell, the suspected tornado wiped out the roof of a newly-built home, throwing debris onto the road, including a Christmas tree and blue ornaments. The houses across the street and next door were untouched.

Community members and local high school students gathered pieces of trash, plywood, insulation and other debris and hauled them off.

Next door to Fox, a man and a woman removed debris from their yard that appeared to have blown over from Fox’s house. Like a puppy, a tall brown horse followed the man as he picked up each piece of trash. Across the street, cattle laid in the middle of a field and watched as one person after another drove into the neighborhood to lend a hand.

About five miles northeast of Fox’s house, the suspected tornado knocked over a few powerlines near Purcell’s football stadium. A tree fell onto a small white house and took the tin roof off a large warehouse.

Ron Musgrave, the warehouse’s owner, lives six miles north of Purcell. He said he learned his property was damaged through a local news broadcast.

“They had the people out front and they had the helicopters, so I could see it,” Musgrave said. “They were flying over here. There’s a football field, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. If that’s the football field, that’s my warehouse.”

The retired home builder and property owner said he keeps building supplies in his warehouse and a black and white cat who’s in charge of exterminating any trespassing mice.

The cat was happy to see Musgrave as he surveyed the water damage inside of the warehouse. Though there was some wet spots, the roof took most of the impact.

“It’s a project,” Musgrave said with a smile. “I am down for it.”

Severe weather damage reported in Shawnee, Norman

Tree damage was reported in Cleveland County at 156th Street and East Tecumseh Avenue, according to Alyse Moore, Cleveland County communications director, along with damage to a car port and barn at 800 Moffatt Road north of Lexington.

Storm damage was also reported in Shawnee. Social media posts show damage to the Holiday Inn Express and Walmart Supercenter off of Interstate 40.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners add transfer portal offensive lineman to the roster

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Sooners add transfer portal offensive lineman to the roster

The Oklahoma Sooners made an under-the-radar transfer portal addition on Wednesday, bringing back a player who spent two seasons in Norman before transferring out last year.

Former Central Oklahoma offensive lineman Kenneth Wermy will be returning to play for OU out of the portal. Wermy played for the Sooners in 2023 and 2024 before spending 2025 at the NCAA Division II level with the Bronchos. He’ll add depth to an offensive line group that is in need of it after recent portal departures.

Wemry is a local product from Cache, Oklahoma, and he stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 315 pounds. The Sooners have been busy adding big names in the transfer market, but with a week and a half left until the portal closes, the focus may soon turn to retention and building back depth on the roster.

Oklahoma had a busy portal day on Wednesday, adding Wermy and former Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan. However, Oklahoma also lost three players to the portal, in linebacker Sammy Omosigho, defensive back Jaydan Hardy, and wide receiver Zion Ragins.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.

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