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OU Softball: Abby Dayton Delivers in Extra Innings to Pull Oklahoma Within One Win of SEC Title

The No. 1-ranked Sooners outlasted No. 9 Florida in nine innings to take the first game of the series on Thursday.

Ryan Chapman

Oklahoma outfielder Abby Dayton
Oklahoma outfielder Abby Dayton / John Hoover / Sooners on SI

Oklahoma has a flair for the dramatic when it clashes with Florida. 

The No. 1-ranked Sooners notched another epic win over the No. 9 Gators in extra innings on Thursday. 

After battling through a back-and-forth contest, Abby Dayton’s RBI single in the ninth proved decisive. 

OU loaded the bases with back-to-back-to-back singles, and Dayton was the beneficiary. Her second hit of the inning dropped into the grass in shallow center field to put her team back on top. 

Starting pitcher Sam Landry worked through the heart of Florida’s offense in the bottom of the ninth to close out the 6-5 win at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, to pull OU within one game of clinching the SEC regular season title. 

Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering also hit homers to help Oklahoma’s cause, and Tia Milloy and Hannah Coor’s RBI singles in the sixth also joined with two RBIs from Dayton to win the game. 

Final Box Score
Final Box Score / OU Stats

Landry pitched all nine innings, allowing nine hits, five walks and five runs but firing six strikeouts in the win.

She pitched a season-high 144 pitches in the win, clearing her previous high of 141 pitches against Tennessee on March 28.

Ailana Agbayani’s one-out single in the second gave the Sooners (43-5, 17-5 SEC) their first baserunner of the evening. 

Sydney Barker then flew out, and as Dayton battled Florida’s Keagan Rothrock, fouling off eight pitches, Agbayani stole second with a perfect slide to avoid the tag. 

Nabbing the extra 60 feet proved crucial, as Dayton doubled off the wall on the 13th pitch of the at-bat to plate Agbayani and put OU up 1-0.

Pickering then belted a no-doubter in the third to double the lead.

Landry’s outing in the circle got off to a rocky start. She issued a pair of walks in the first, needing Barker to throw out a runner at home from first to end the frame. She again walked a pair in the second inning with two outs, though she was able to battle back and get out of the jam with a strikeout. 

But the Gators (41-13, 12-10) finally broke through in the third. 

Landry hit Taylor Shumaker, then a single by Korbe Otis put two aboard. 

Former Sooner Jocelyn Erickson reached on a fielder’s choice, which allowed Shumaker to score, then first baseman Reagan Walsh knotted the game up with a single.

Landry then fired well wide of catcher Isabela Emerling with Erickson on third, and Florida took its first lead of the game. Landry was able to bounce back and end the inning with a strikeout, but the game moved to the fourth with the Gators on top 3-2.

In the fourth inning, Florida avenged the runner it had thrown out back in the first. 

Barker singled to move Agbayani to third, and with one out, coach Patty Gasso instructed Barker to take off toward second and get drawn into a rundown. 

As soon as Barker turned back toward first, Agbayani broke for home, but Florida second baseman Mia Williams wasn’t fooled. She fired back to the plate and Erickson’s tag kept Agbayani from scoring. 

Parker, who hit two home runs in three games against Texas last weekend, got her team back on level footing. She crushed the third pitch she saw in the sixth for her ninth long ball of the season.

A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases, and Milloy’s pinch-hit single and Coor’s blooper put the Sooners up 5-3.

Florida immediately had an answer, however. 

Williams clubbed a no-doubter to tie the game again as the contest moved to the seventh. 

Parker led off the top of the seventh with a single, and Agbayani drew a walk, but OU was unable to add another.

Shumaker matched Parker’s hit to start the bottom of the seventh for the Gators, and she made her way to third with two outs. 

Landry was able to battle through a full count to retire Kenleigh Cahalan, however, to send the game to extras. 

OU was unable to convert a pair of leadoff runners in the eighth, and Florida’s leadoff single in the bottom of the inning didn’t amount to anything either. 

Dayton finally clutched up in the ninth, and Landry retired Shumaker and Otis, but then she plunked Erickson. 

Two batters later, Landry got a groundout to second seal the win.

The Sooners and the Gators meet again Friday at 5 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is managing editor at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.