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OU Softball: Oklahoma Takes Down Cal, Advances to Sunday’s Regional Final

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OU Softball: Oklahoma Takes Down Cal, Advances to Sunday’s Regional Final


NORMAN — Oklahoma is one win away from clinching a spot in next weekend’s Super Regionals. 

OU downed the California Golden Bears behind a pair of home runs by Kasidi Pickering.

Her first came in Oklahoma’s first at-bat of the afternoon, then she returned to hammer a grand slam in the fourth to essentially end Saturday’s contest.  

The 2-seeded Sooners finished off the 11-2 run rule victory in the top of the fifth at Love’s Field.

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Final Box Score

Final Box Score / OU Stats

Oklahoma (47-7) gets to take the rest of the day off, while California (36-20) will have to battle out of the loser’s bracket on Saturday night. 

Patty Gasso started Sam Landry in the circle for the second straight day, but the big offensive day made things easy on OU’s pitching staff. 

Still, Cal put up a good fight against Landry. 

The Golden Bears totaled seven hits off the Oklahoma ace, but the right-hander was able to strand runners in each of the first four innings to ensure Cal couldn’t battle back into the game. 

Pickering needed just three pitches in the first to put the Sooners on top. 

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Cal immediately bounced back, however. 

Left fielder Kaylee Pond bounced a home run off the foul pole in right field on the first pitch of the second inning to pull the Golden Bears back level with Oklahoma. 

OU’s offense then plated four runs in the bottom of the second without an extra-base hit. 

Cydney Sanders and Isabela Emerling put two aboard with walks and one out, then Cal starter Annabel Teperson hit Abby Dayton

Oklahoma then got back-to-back-to-back singles from Pickering, Ella Parker and Sydney Barker, which each plated a run.

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Barker’s single came off new Golden Bears pitcher Anna Reimers, then she plunked Gabbie Garcia to put OU up 5-1.

Reimers finally battled back with a pair of strikeouts to end the threat, and her offense got back to work in the top of the third. 

The Golden Bears tallied three straight singles, the last of which by Acacia Anders plated a run to cut OU’s lead to 5-2.

Landry hit Pond to load the bases, but the Sooners rung up a double play to limit the damage to the lone run.

Cal loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Anders bounced out to third and OU was able to keep its 5-2 lead intact. 

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Barker’s second walk of the afternoon quickly turned into a run in the bottom half of the inning after Garcia hit her 17th home run of the year, which leads the team.

After Garcia’s bomb, a walk, a hit batter and a single loaded things up for Pickering’s grand slam.

Freshman left-hander Audrey Lowry entered for Landry in the fifth, and she closed the game out in the circle.

The Sooners will now wait for the loser’s bracket to work itself out to find out their opponents for tomorrow’s regional final, which starts at 1 p.m. 

Omaha and Boston University will battle in the day’s first elimination game at approximately 3:30 p.m., and the winner of that will turn around and immediately take on Cal. 

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Whoever emerges to take on Oklahoma in Sunday’s regional final will have to beat the Sooners twice to advance to next weekend’s Super Regionals. 

One win for OU will push it through to next weekend’s festivities.



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Iowa State wrestling adds Brayden Thompson from transfer portal

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Iowa State wrestling adds Brayden Thompson from transfer portal


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Iowa State wrestling’s first commitment of the Brent Metcalf era will be a transfer portal addition.

The Cyclones added Oklahoma State transfer Brayden Thompson, who announced his commitment on April 18 via Instagram. Thompson is a one-time NCAA qualifier at the 2024 NCAA Championships, doing so as a true freshman. He redshirted in 2024-25, but competed in open tournaments at 184 pounds and was 9-0. He did not wrestle a match in 2025-26 and will have at least two years of eligibility remaining.

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Out of high school, Thompson was ranked the No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler and No. 1 at 182 pounds in the 2023 recruiting class by Flowrestling. He also won Powerade and Ironman titles, two of the more prestigious high school tournaments in the nation. Assuming Thompson returns to 184 pounds where he last wrestled, he should fill in nicely as a potential replacement for Isaac Dean after his graduation.

Thompson is Iowa State’s first transfer portal addition after several departures, including Anthony Echemendia and Christian Castillo, who also entered the portal.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.





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Oklahoma’s Jahsiear Rogers ‘Knew It Was Time to Showcase’ His Talents In Spring Game

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Oklahoma’s Jahsiear Rogers ‘Knew It Was Time to Showcase’ His Talents In Spring Game


NORMAN — The Oklahoma Sooners liked their wide receiver room a year ago. They want 2026 to be even better.

Isaiah Sategna’s return helps that desire. Earning experienced pass catchers Trell Harris and Parker Livingstone via the transfer portal gives you added play makers. But after the Sooners Spring Game on Saturday, an unlikely hero emerged.

When Jahsiear Rogers flipped from Penn State to Oklahoma last December, he drew the usual excitement that comes with a new commitment. But few expected him to climb the depth chart this quickly, even with the injuries that hit Emmett Jones’ room.

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Rogers did just that and more on Saturday. He led all pass catchers with five receptions for 70 yards in Oklahoma’s annual Red/White game.

“I knew it was time to showcase,” Rogers said after the game. “It was amazing to see the fans and get used to the OU way. I’m a playmaker. They really want to put the ball in playmakers hands. I pretty much knew I had to lead the white team.”

Rogers got the ball rolling early. On the second offensive play for the white team, backup quarterback Whitt Newbauer rolled to his right wide, then stopped and looked towards the middle of the field where he saw Rogers running open. Newbauer connected with Rogers for a 39-yard gain.

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With Rogers on the white team, he is running against (most of) Oklahoma’s starting defense. As fate would have it, on that 39-yard reception, Rogers beat his favorite teammate to compete against — Reggie Powers.

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“He is just a leader, good guy,” Rogers said of Powers. “Me and him go after it every day in practice. Reggie is strong. When I come at him, I have to really come at him.”

Rogers’ big play over Powers was the second-longest catch of the spring game — Sategna’s 50-yard reception that appeared to be a touchdown before coaches pulled it back to set up a red-zone rep. The other four catches weren’t flashy, but they were important in their own way, and Rogers looked like he belonged on the field.

“I love it. As long as I can get the ball, I can be me. I love it,” Rogers said. “When I am on the field, I am ready to go. I am ready to be a playmaker.”

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The season is still months away, and Rogers hasn’t earned a spot high on the depth chart yet. A strong spring and an encouraging Red/White Game can only lead to early playing time if he carries that momentum into summer and fall camp.

More experienced players will return from injury and receivers who’ve been in the program for a few years will have an extra leg-up.

But Rogers is taking everything in stride and leaving no stone unturned in his development.

“Just learning from the older guys,” Rogers said. “Manny Choice, Isaiah Sategna, Trell Harris, Mackenzie Alleyne. Really all of them. We lean on each other, learn from each other. That is kind of how our room is.”

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Oklahoma knocks off Missouri in series opener

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Oklahoma knocks off Missouri in series opener


The Oklahoma baseball team is back in the mix and trending upward.

After a rough few weeks in Southeastern Conference play, the 14th-ranked Sooners have won three of their last four games to get to .500 at just beyond the halfway point of the league slate. Friday’s 9-6 win over Missouri allowed Oklahoma to move to 8-8, tied with three other teams for eighth in the standings.

Friday’s win wasn’t truly that close, even. OU took a 9-3 lead into the ninth before Mizzou made it somewhat interesting with three runs in the frame. Two of them came with two outs, though, and Mason Bixby induced a groundout with the bases empty to hold on.

The large edge came via a home run-happy night. The Sooners popped four over the wall at Kimrey Family Stadium, including three in a four-run seventh inning that gave OU a four-run lead.

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Jason Walk, who hit one of the four homers, had the best day at the plate. He went 2 for 5 with the shot, three RBIs and a run. Camden Johnson, who also homered, went 2 for 3 with a walk, a double and two runs, and Dasan Harris went 2 for 4 with a home run, two RBIs, and three runs. Trey Gambill hit the Sooners’ other jack.

Oklahoma jumped out to a four-run lead in the second behind four hits and a walk. Missouri helped the Sooners out with an error that resulted in a bases-loaded situation and three unearned runs registered to Tigers starter Josh McDevitt.

The runs were more than enough for Oklahoma’s LJ Mercurius, who pitched six strong innings, giving up three runs on six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

Game 2 in the series is set for 4 p.m. Saturday and the finale will be played Sunday at 2 p.m., weather permitting.



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