Oklahoma

OU Softball: Oklahoma Wastes Late Chances, Falls to Alabama in Extra Innings

Published

11 months ago

April 14, 2025

OU Softball: Oklahoma Wastes Late Chances, Falls to Alabama in Extra Innings

Oklahoma squandered a pair of chances late in Tuscaloosa.

The Sooners loaded the bases with the game tied in the seventh, but neither Kasidi Pickering nor Gabbie Garcia could deliver a decisive hack at the plate.

Singles by Ella Parker and Ailana Agbayani didn’t amount to anything in the eighth, either.

The Crimson Tide didn’t allow OU a third bite at the apple.

Freshman Audrey Vandagriff hit a solo shot to end the game on the first pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

No. 23 Alabama won the game 2-1 at Rhoads Stadium and took the series, which handed OU back-to-back series defeats in conference play for the first time since 2004.

Final Box Score / OU Stats

Patty Gasso’s offense struggled all weekend, and Monday was no different.

OU went 2-for-15 at the plate with runners on and 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position as the No. 2-ranked Sooners couldn’t figure out Crimson Tide right-hander Catelyn Riley.

She threw a career-high 136 pitches, allowing just six hits, including a towering fourth inning home run by Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, while striking out five Sooners and allowing just two walks and hitting one batter.

Sam Landry battled admirably in the circle, too, fanning five and allowing seven hits in a full night’s work, but the offense did nothing to reward her for the strong outing.

Oklahoma will return home to regroup and take on No. 16 Mississippi State next weekend.

As they’ve done all series, the Crimson Tide struck first.

Vandagriff singled off Landry in her second at-bat of the night, then Kali Heivilin continued her excellent weekend with a one-out double into the alley in left-center to put the hosts up 1-0.

Vandagriff — the younger sister of former OU quarterback commit Brock Vandagriff, who decommitted after Caleb Williams pledged to Lincoln Riley’s in 2020 Sooners and went to Georgia before finishing his career at Kentucky — finished 3-for-4 at the plate.

McEnroe-Marinas, the OU captain, led by example in the fourth.

The redshirt freshman third baseman launched a moonshot over the scoreboard to knot the game up with two outs.

Landry then got out of the fourth after allowing a runner to reach second via a single and wild pitch with no outs, giving the offense a chance to steal momentum.

Corri Hicks’ one-out walk couldn’t get the Sooners going, but OU’s defense showed out in the bottom of the fifth.

Kristen White led things off with a bouncing infield single, but Gasso brought Isabela Emerling in defensively behind the plate and the veteran catcher helped throw White out on the basepaths.

Then Landry coolly fielded Vandagriff’s hit back up the middle for the second out and McEnroe-Marinas’ throw across the diamond ended the fifth and momentarily quieted the crowd at Rhoads Stadium.

Ailana Agbayani led the seventh off with a single, and Emerling’s hit put runners on the corners with one out.

Pinch hitter Maya Bland then wore a pitch, but neither Pickering nor Garcia could hit the ball out of the infield and the Sooners stranded three.

Landry was there for her offense, however, as she sat the side down in order to send the game to extra innings.

Parker reached with a leadoff single and Agbayani extended the threat with a two-out single, but Abigale Dayton grounded out to bring Alabama’s offense to the plate.

Vandagriff ended the series in the eighth, however, to drop OU to 36-5 overall and 10-5 in SEC contests while Alabama improved to 30-16 on the year and 7-8 in league play.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Published

4 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Big night in downtown OKC as the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Denver Nugget and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back on the floor.

Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.

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Oklahoma

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

16 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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Oklahoma

Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

The loss was on Ritson Meyer’s mind all week as he prepared for his final state wrestling tournament.

A senior 215-pounder at Elgin, Meyer isn’t used to getting beaten, but he got a wake-up call when he lost against Coweta senior Aiven Robbins by five points in their regional championship match.

For Meyer, it set in that winning his fourth state championship wouldn’t be an easy task.

“I lost to him last week and I’m not a loser, so it was eating on me all week in practice,” Meyer said. “So (in) practice, I really leveled up everything. Everything about it.”

Meyer and Robbins met again on Saturday, this time with the Class 5A state championship on the line.

Intensely focused from the start, Meyer came out aggressive. And although it was another great match, Meyer did just enough to etch his name in the state history books.

Meyer held on to beat Robbins in an 8-7 decision in the new OG&E Coliseum as he claimed his fourth state championship, while Coweta won the team title.

An Abilene Christian football signee, Meyer’s wrestling days are over, but he leaves the sport with satisfaction.

“I came out here — even though it hurt, even though I was tired — I got it done,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy. I got to celebrate with my parents, my family, my friends. It’s a crazy feeling.”

A standout running back and linebacker on the gridiron, Meyer helped his team win the Class 4A state title in football as a junior before Elgin lost to Tuttle 23-20 in the 2025 championship game in December.

It’s a different sport, but that loss fueled Meyer’s wrestling season in a way.

“I like to tell people that wrestling is like offseason football,” Meyer said. “I can’t go out, lose. Everybody wanted me to win this. I won it for the whole entire community. First four-timer at Elgin. And that football (loss) really did eat me alive. It didn’t feel good at all, and I didn’t want that same feeling again.”

Meyer had a great start against Robbins on Saturday and never trailed, but Robbins battled to set up a great finish and both were gassed when it was over.

“I just gave it my all,” Meyer said, “and I got it done.”

This article will be updated.

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@nicksardis. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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