OKLAHOMA CITY — Freshman Ella Parker refused to let Oklahoma’s senior class end their season on a low note.
In a pivotal moment on Tuesday at Devon Park, Parker shook off the effects of a major collision, literally picking herself up off the ground, and delivered a crucial game-tying hit with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The game concluded in the eighth inning with Jayda Coleman’s opposite-field, walk-off home run, securing a dramatic 6-5 victory over Florida and propelling the Sooners back to the Championship Series of the Women’s College World Series.
Second-seeded OU will face No. 1 Texas for the title on Wednesday night.
Coleman’s heroic hit would not have been possible without Parker’s outstanding performance: she went 3-for-3 at the plate, with a two-run home run in the first inning, a long single in the fifth, and another single in the sixth.
Each of Parker’s hits was crucial. The first tied the game at 2-2, and the last evened the score at 5-5. However, her fifth-inning single was significant for another reason entirely.
Parker hit a line drive into the gap in right-center field and hustled to second base. As the throw came in, Gators shortstop Skylar Wallace stood over the base and reached out for the ball.
Parker seemed to collide face-first with Wallace, causing both to fall onto the base as the ball hit the ground.
“I kind of don’t really remember a whole lot of it,” Parker said, “just because of the adrenaline rushing. But I was just doing whatever it took to get to second base.”
OU coach Patty Gasso rushed onto the field to check on Parker while she received medical attention.
“She was talking,” Gasso said, “but she didn’t want to move. I think she got her bell rung — pretty hard. It was a little scary because she’s tough and she didn’t want to move. So, at first, you wonder, ‘Did something really happen?’
“She started to move a little. We took her helmet off, and she slowly got up. But her bell was rung. Both players got hit hard. I need to review it more because it happened so fast.”
“That was just an odd thing that happened,” said Florida coach Tim Walton.
Gasso mentioned that OU’s medical team examined Parker and cleared her to play.
“We had our doctors right in the dugout, and they checked her and gave the OK,” Gasso said. “She passed all the concussion protocols. So we asked her, ‘Are you OK? Are you good with it?’
“‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, get me back in there.'”
The Sooners were still trailing 5-4 in the sixth inning when Parker returned to bat. OU pitcher Kelly Maxwell had settled in by then, having given up three early home runs, with the Gators’ last hit being an infield single in the sixth.
Parker’s final at-bat was crucial as OU’s offense struggled against Florida starter Keagan Rothrock.
“I think that kind of started a rally for our team to pass the bat,” Coleman said.
Avery Hodge sparked the rally with a one-out double into the right-field corner.
Parker took strike one, then hit a sharp single to left-center field, driving in the speedy Hodge from second. The crowd of 11,166 erupted.
OU had a chance to end it in the seventh when Kasidi Pickering hit a one-out single, and Rylie Boone was intentionally walked, but that rally fizzled.
After another solid inning from Maxwell, Coleman finished the game in the eighth.
“I know my team’s got my back,” Parker said. “Just working on passing the bat to the next teammate.”
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