OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tennessee moved past a lopsided loss and focused on the opportunity at hand.
Ashley Rogers threw a complete game, and the fourth-seeded Lady Vols defeated No. 6 Oklahoma State 3-1 on Sunday to qualify for the Women’s College World Series semifinals.
Tennessee’s ace gave up one run on four hits and struck out four. She returned to the circle after not playing in a 9-0 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday that put the Lady Vols on the brink of elimination.
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“We don’t think that was us on the field yesterday,” Rogers said. “Just knowing who we are as a team and just playing Tennessee softball and just flushing it, turning the page — it’s a new day, it’s a new game.”
Rogers threw 136 pitches.
“I feel like I’m pretty conditioned to throw that,” she said. “I’ve probably thrown over 100 pitches most of my games. Trusting my preparation, trusting the defense, continue to fight and fight every single pitch.”
Tennessee (51-9) advanced to play No. 3 Florida State (57-9) on Monday. It is the Lady Vols’ best World Series showing since finishing as runner-up to Oklahoma in 2013.
It is a double-elimination bracket, and Florida State is unbeaten while Tennessee has a loss, so the Lady Vols will need to win twice on Monday while Florida State will need to win just once to advance to the best-of-three championship series.
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Rogers’ effort allowed the Lady Vols to save Payton Gottshall for Monday. Gottshall has a 16-1 record with a 1.57 earned run average.
Oklahoma State (47-16) made its fourth straight World Series appearance but hasn’t reached the championship series. The Cowgirls reached the semifinals last year.
“We’re just going to keep kicking the shins of our opponents, and we’ll eventually break this door down, and we’ll look back to teams like this,” Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski said.
No. 1 Oklahoma (57-1) will play No. 9 Stanford (47-14) in the other semifinal. Stanford will need to win twice, while the two-time defending champion Sooners will need one victory to move on.
Kiki Milloy got the Lady Vols going against Oklahoma State starter Kelly Maxwell when she walked, stole second and scored on a double by Zaida Puni. Rylie West’s RBI single made it 2-0, and Maxwell was replaced.
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Oklahoma State threatened in the fourth but failed to score. Tallen Edwards doubled, but Tennessee second baseman Destiny Rodriguez threw Micaela Wark out at home to end the inning.
In the fifth, Puni got on with an error, then scored on a throwing error to make it 3-0.
Morgan Wynne cranked a solo shot just inside the left foul pole in the sixth to get Oklahoma State on the board, but that’s all the Cowgirls could produce.
Maxwell took the loss for the Cowgirls. Lexi Kilfoyl did not allow a hit in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
Oklahoma State lost 11 of 13 before the NCAA Tournament but went undefeated through regionals and super regionals, allowing just three runs in five games to qualify for the World Series.
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“It was mainly people on the outside who doubted us, and I think we stayed calm and the coaches helped us stay calm within each other,” Kilfoyl said. “We needed to look at the past and see what we’ve done and kind of take that and look at all the good stuff and use that to our advantage.”
The Oklahoma Sooners rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter for an incredible win over Auburn 27-21 on Saturday. OU scored 17 unanswered points to come away with the improbable win.
Brent Venables and Oklahoma are now 4-1 heading into the first of two bye weeks they’ll have during the regular season. With Texas on the other side of this bye, it’s a good opportunity for OU to get healthy and work on some of the many issues this team still has.
With the win, the Sooners moved up two spots to No. 19 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. The Sooners
They’re eighth out of nine SEC teams in the AP Top 25 after week five. The conference dominates the rankings with four of the top five teams and six of the top ten. ]
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Texas dropped to No. 2, as Alabama’s heart-pounding win over Georgia was enough to jump the Crimson Tide over the Longhorns into the No. 1 spot in the eyes of the voters. Texas also has a bye week coming up, sitting at 5-0.
Elsewhere in the SEC, Tennessee moved up to No. 4 and Georgia fell to No. 5 after the loss to Alabama. Missouri sits at ninth, Ole Miss is No. 12, LSU is at No. 13, and Texas A&M hangs on to a ranking at No. 25.
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Oklahoma kicker Zach Schmit endured a tough two years.
In 2022 and 2023, the Oklahoma City product connected on 27-of-39 field goals, including a host of crucial kicks late in tight games.
As a result, Brent Venables brought Tyler Keltnerin from Florida State to compete with Schmit, and Keltner won the starting job.
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But life has many twists and turns.
Keltner had to miss OU’s trip to Auburn, putting Schmit back in the spotlight for the Sooners’ first SEC road game.
And Schmit was nails.
He was trotted out for a 24-yard kick after an illegal motion took a touchdown off the board late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 14-10.
Then Venables needed Schmit to make one more kick, a 39-yarder, to heap the pressure back on Auburn.
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Schmit came through again, extending OU’s lead to 27-21, forcing the Tigers to go the length of the field.
Payton Thorne came crashing back down to earth after the turnover-prone Auburn quarterback enjoyed a smooth first three quarters, and the Sooners hung on for a crucial road victory to head into the bye week 4-1 on the year and 1-1 in conference contests.
“A great story of redemption,” Venables said after the win. “… We needed him every step of the way. Him nailing that. We’re up by three and now up by six and Auburn has no timeouts. A field goal and everything changes in their play selection. Who knows?
“… But it didn’t matter. Zach was ready.”
When he stepped up for his crucial kick, his own story of redemption was the farthest thing from Schmit’s mind.
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“It was another opportunity to step up and help the team,” Schmit said. “Like I told them in the locker room, I’m not worried about my own success in this game. But my main goal is to help the success of the team.
“… For me, it’s about the redemption of this team, making sure we bounce back from the Tennessee loss and making sure we go into this bye week with a lot of headway, 4-1 and in a good position. That’s what it’s about to me.”
Regardless of how things play out on the field every Saturday, Venables is a big believer in who Zach Schmit is.
This week, he was named as a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, college football’s academic Heisman.
Schmit’s a fighter, too.
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Though he didn’t win the placekicking job out of fall camp, he battled with Keltner throughout the spring and the summer to help the team.
“I was really thankful for his courage that he has shown,” Venables said. “He could have easily just quit, wasn’t on scholarship. He’s going to be incredibly successful in the business world. … Really, a cool moment to celebrate him and a great example for all of us.”
Schmit hasn’t run from his struggles, either.
He’s aware of everything, the good and the bad, which has only given him a bigger appreciation for Venables.
“Through the ups and downs, he’s been by my side consistently,” Schmit said. “He always tells us that he’s in the A-gap with us. A lot of people in the media can see that and say that’s kind of cliche, but for him it’s what he means.
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“He took a lot of flak because of me, but to continue to have trust in me and faith in me and put me back out this week shows me the type of man he is. Not even head coach, but just the man and the father figure (he is) for this team.”
The Sooners won by six points, a pair of field goals.
Saturday’s heroes — Kip Lewis, Michael Hawkins Jr., J.J. Hester and Schmit — soaked in the locker room scenes before OU left Auburn to get back to work during the bye week.
“It was awesome,” Schmit said. “… Especially when you win on the road in a (hostile) environment, especially coming back from 21-10. I’d assume every one wrote us off at that point, so to be able to do that shows what type of team we have in that locker room.
LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) – Also in Lawton, members of the local chapter of the Oklahoma Council of the Blind joined members statewide for the state convention at the Hilton Garden Inn.
The event featured plenty of resources for the visually impaired including things such as the state library for those with disabilities, different tech to assist those with daily tasks or even those looking into getting a seeing-eye dog.
The current president of the state organization she hopes the event continues to grow.
”We bring all these things in to one spot for people to be able to benefit from it and we’re hoping to get, every year, we get more and more,” said Elaine Boykin. “We have a number of new people here this weekend and it’s great. It really is.”
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The event included a welcome by Mayor Stan Booker, a proclamation from Representative Daniel Pae, and a tribute to the late Kay Love, former president of the Oklahoma Council of the Blind and the founder of the Lawton chapter.
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