Oklahoma
What Tennessee softball said about walk-off loss to Oklahoma in the WCWS
Tennessee softball was an out away from downing Oklahoma to begin its 2025 Women’s College World Series run.
However, the Lady Vols allowed a walk-off home run to drop the game, 4-3.
Afterward, head coach Karen Weekly and players Sophia Nugent, Taylor Pannell and Laura Mealer met with the media. Here’s what they said.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
KAREN WEEKLY: Obviously that was a gut-punch. I thought our team played really, really well. Proud of how we came out. We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We got to be ready to play tomorrow, and that’s what we just talked about in the locker room.
Q. Sophia, what’s your immediate reaction to the loss, and what do you feel like happened late with the offense? You guys had been able to get things going early and then seventh inning couldn’t capitalize with the bases loaded.
SOPHIA NUGENT: My immediate reaction was we fought really hard and it didn’t come out on our side. But there’s another day tomorrow.
When it comes to offense, I think we were putting the ball into play. We just weren’t cashing in on the runners on base.
Q. For the players, how frustrating is it to have those double-play balls there in those big moments, and how do you ensure that frustration doesn’t linger into tomorrow in an elimination game?
SOPHIA NUGENT: I mean, it’s going to happen. They have a very good defense. And sometimes you hit the ball into their defense and it works out for them.
Q. Taylor, what’s the biggest thing you feel like you need to reset for tomorrow to make sure you guys aren’t out of here in two games?
TAYLOR PANNELL: I think just flush today. We were seeing the ball well at the plate. Things weren’t going well. Just flush today and focus on playing Florida tomorrow.
Q. On that note, just is there anything you guys can think of right now in particular to try to — because it is such a gut-punching loss, and to have to come back a day later, to change it? Anything in particular you might try to do, or just continue to follow what you guys have done all season?
LAURA MEALER: Yeah, I don’t think much changes, if we’re being honest. We’ve been in this position before, just losing a game and having to bounce back. The only difference is just being in post-season.
And I think we had a great talk in the locker room of just, yeah, it stings right now, and we can let it sting for a minute, but flush it right away because you don’t have time to dwell on it.
Q. Sophia, until the last inning, Karlyn really shut down that offense. After the — it looked like the first home run really kind of made her kick it into another gear. I don’t know if it kind of made her mad a little bit, but what did you see from her today, and how impressive was it that for most of the game she really held one of the best offenses in the nation without much production?
SOPHIA NUGENT: I think that’s what Karlyn is. She fights for us every single pitch, and she puts it all out on the line for us. Her bringing that energy really helps us every single day.
Q. Karen, what were you seeing from the offense today that obviously had a great start early and just and what did you see in the seventh inning that you guys were able to capitalize and get some insurance runs?
KAREN WEEKLY: Yeah, I thought overall we had a good plan and for the most part we were executing that plan. And we just had a couple situations even before the seventh inning where, yeah, we could have put another run or two on the board and given ourselves a little bit more of a cushion.
Like Soph said, you’re not trying to hit into a double play. Sometimes those things happen. It’s a tough game, and hitting’s the hardest thing to do.
Q. Karlyn got into quite a few three-ball counts. Is that more kudos to OU’s preparation? Was Karlyn going through her spin a little bit? I want to know what you felt about that.
KAREN WEEKLY: I think it’s a combination of things. You know, we had four walks. I think three of them might have been to lead off innings. So we got ourselves in a couple jams. She worked herself out of a lot of jams.
Part of it I think you could see their game plan shifting a little bit to being more patient, trying to get more base runners on by not swinging the bat. But, you know, it just comes down the execution.
Q. Karen, you spoke yesterday about the mentality that Karlyn has developed. I’m curious where you saw that over those first six innings today while she navigated some trouble and where you see that as you go into tomorrow knowing it’s a must-win situation with her.
KAREN WEEKLY: Yeah, you see the same thing out of Karlyn for all seven innings. Karlyn is as steady as they come. She’s the ultimate warrior. 99 times out of 100, she wins that game.
What I expect going into tomorrow from Karlyn and this entire team, we’ve been here. We were here last Friday. We lost the first game against Nebraska. We go into Saturday morning, win-or-go-home. Sunday, win-or-go-home.
That’s the situation we’re in right now. We’re playing Florida tomorrow, and one team is going home. And it’s really going to come down to which team can flush today the quickest and get their mind right for tomorrow.
Q. Talk about early getting some good traction off Sam and how that can help tomorrow, you will most likely face a very good pitcher in Keagan, and how that can help tomorrow knowing that you have already, you know, early on beaten one of the better pitchers there is.
KAREN WEEKLY: Yeah, it was one of our better offensive performances, and I’m proud of them for that. The thing people don’t realize is how young our team is. There is one person in our starting lineup that’s a senior with four years starting in the SEC. That’s it.
Everybody else in that lineup either didn’t play SEC for four years — Sophia Nugent, she’s got two years playing every day under her belt. But before didn’t, get every at-bat. We have a lot of sophomores who didn’t play a lot last year.
So I’m really proud how they showed up here. They weren’t fazed. The environment didn’t faze them. They knew — I don’t know how many people this place holds, 10,000 — that there were going to be 9,900 against them. That didn’t bother them at all.
So there’s a lot of things to really be excited about and proud of.
Q. Was there any consideration with walking Parker there in the seventh with Oklahoma having the momentum?
KAREN WEEKLY: Not really because it’s 3-1. You have two runners on, and if you walk her, that means you put the winning run on base. So you have to make a decision there.
The key thing in that inning was Agbayani drawing a walk. You look at that, and strategy-wise you’re like, okay, we can get through this inning and get out of here without ever rolling the order back around at the top.
When you walk her, you know you’re going to face Pickering and Parker again.
Q. Obviously have to get through tomorrow, but how big is it knowing that Sage has also thrown really well this post-season?
KAREN WEEKLY: Oh, huge, especially right now. Sage has had some really good outings starting back to Ole Miss series. Great game against them. Great game against Texas A&M. Great game against Ohio State. We put the ball in her hands in big situations and she’s come through for us.
Q. Speaking of some of your youth, Ella Dodge went deep into every at-bat she had today. She got two walks out of it. What does that say about her maturity as a freshman to do that in this game, and how did she learn how to slide like that?
KAREN WEEKLY: Ella, we call her “Pigpen” because she’s the dirtiest one at practice. Ella is going to fight and scratch and claw to do everything she can on the softball field. The girl absolutely just loves playing.
What I was really proud of was her first at-bat wasn’t real good. She got herself in a 3-1 count and chased something high, and we would have drawn a walk there and kept the inning going a little bit more. But she bounced back right away and her next two at-bats were fantastic. When you can see a freshman do that, that’s pretty cool.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the pre-game scout of Ella Parker and the swing she had today?
KAREN WEEKLY: She’s a great hitter. Great hitters make adjustments, and Oklahoma is one of the best at making adjustments as the game goes along.
I think the first one she hit out, I think we missed our spot in that situation. The last one I think was a change-up, pretty sure. But they’re just really good hitters, especially her and Pickering at the top of the order.
The more times they face you, the more information they have, the more adjustments they’re going to make, and they’re tough to beat.
Q. Coach, obviously Oklahoma has loads of talent every year, but even when the faces and names change, the moments seem to continue. Is there anything tangible about this program, over just the talent, that allows them to continue to do things like this that you’ve noticed?
KAREN WEEKLY: Well, there’s a lot of talent out there. They have some of the absolute best players in the country. Patty Gasso is a phenomenal coach. You don’t win that many national championships without being an exceptional coach.
And you also have 9,900 people on your side. It’s an environment that you have to fight through, but I thought our kids did a really good job of that today.
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.
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.
“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.”
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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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.
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.
Just miles off Route 66 in Rogers County stands one of Oklahoma’s most unusual roadside attractions: a 90-foot concrete totem pole built largely by one man over more than a decade.
Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park is home to what is widely described as the world’s largest concrete totem pole, created by Oklahoma folk artist Nathan Edward Galloway during his retirement years.
The park sits near Chelsea and continues to draw visitors traveling Oklahoma’s stretch of Route 66.
A project decades in the making
Credit: Rogers County Historical Society
According to the National Park Service, Nathan Edward Galloway was born in 1880 in Springfield, Missouri. He later worked as a manual arts teacher at Sand Springs Home before retiring in 1937 to property near present-day Chelsea in Rogers County.
After retiring, Galloway began building what would become Totem Pole Park. Using concrete, steel rebar, wood, and red sandstone, he created a series of colorful, highly decorated totems and structures across the property.
Atlas Obscura reports that Galloway began construction in 1938 with the goal of building durable totem poles from sturdy materials, and he surrounded his land with tapered concrete monuments and decorative features.
Between 1937 and 1948, Galloway constructed the park’s centerpiece: a 90-foot-tall totem pole carved with bas-relief designs. Travel Oklahoma describes it as a Route 66 icon and a state landmark.
Eleven years and 90 feet of concrete
Credit: Rogers County Historical Society
The main totem took roughly 11 years to complete, according to Atlas Obscura. The structure is made of red sandstone framed with steel and wood, then covered with a thick concrete exterior.
The tower features more than 200 carved images, including representations of birds and Native American figures facing the four cardinal directions. Near the top are four nine-foot figures representing different tribes.
Galloway’s version differs from traditional totem poles of the Pacific Northwest, which are generally carved from red cedar.
The structure rises from the back of a large, three-dimensional turtle. The turtle base was carved from a broad sandstone outcrop on the site and painted in bright colors.
The totem is hollow and rises about nine stories, with the ground level measuring about nine feet in diameter. Inside, plastered walls feature painted murals of mountain-and-lake scenes and bird totems, along with Native American shields and arrow points. At the top, the cone is open to the sky.
Picnic tables supported by small concrete totems, a totem barbecue fireplace, and gate structures designed to resemble fish fill the park grounds.
The Fiddle House
Credit: Rogers County Historical Society
Beyond the towering pole, Galloway’s artistic interests extended into music and woodworking.
An 11-sided structure known as the “Fiddle House” sits on the property and resembles a Navajo hogan, according to the National Park Service. The building houses many of Galloway’s hand-carved fiddles and other creations.
The Rogers County Historical Society says the Fiddle House Museum retains many of Galloway’s handcrafted violins and artifacts.
From neglect to restoration
Credit: Rogers County Historical Society
Galloway continued working on the park until his death in 1961. After he died, the site gradually fell into disrepair.
In 1989, the Rogers County Historical Society acquired the property. A major restoration effort took place from 1988 to 1998, with art conservators and engineers studying the structures and repairing damaged materials.
Additional repainting and preservation projects began in 2015.
Today, Totem Pole Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains open year-round with free admission and is managed by the Rogers County Historical Society.
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