Oklahoma ace Sam Landry flirted with a no-hitter through six innings, but a tense moment against LSU nearly shifted momentum.
In their SEC Tournament debut, the top-seeded Sooners led 4-0 when Landry gave up two singles and a walk, loading the bases for LSU power hitter Torri Edwards. Edwards, who has 19 home runs on the season, sent a deep fly that turned into a sacrifice fly rather than a game-tying grand slam.
That was the only major threat LSU posed, as Oklahoma held on for a 4-1 victory Thursday at Jack Turner Softball Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
Landry threw a complete game, striking out seven and allowing just one hit and four walks over seven innings.
“Just trusting my team and staying aggressive,” Landry told SEC Network after the win. “I wanted to keep them off-balance and let our defense handle things. Once we got into a rhythm, everything clicked.”
Cydney Sanders’ fifth-inning home run gave OU a comfortable four-run cushion—enough for the Sooners to secure their first postseason win outside of Oklahoma since 2017.
Now 44-7, Oklahoma advances to the tournament semifinal where they’ll face the winner of Thursday’s Tennessee–Arkansas matchup.
The Sooners got on the board early. LSU pitcher Sydney Berzon issued three walks in the first inning, and then hit Sanders with a pitch to force in a run. However, OU couldn’t add more after that as Ailana Agbayani and Sydney Barker were retired.
Berzon settled in during the second and third innings, but OU’s offense reignited in the fourth. Sanders drew a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Chaney Helton, who advanced on a wild pitch. Agbayani moved her to third with a groundout, and Barker followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Abby Dayton added a single in the same inning, but Oklahoma left two runners stranded when Kasidi Pickering grounded out.
In the fifth, Ella Parker smashed a double before Sanders launched a two-run homer to put OU firmly in control at 4-0.
Edwards’ sixth-inning sac fly gave LSU (41-14) its lone run, but they couldn’t close the gap any further.
Oklahoma will play in Friday’s first semifinal at 3 p.m. ET, broadcast on ESPN2, against either Tennessee or Arkansas.
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