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Gabbie Garcia's Late Blast Lifts Oklahoma to Sweep of Georgia

Miali Guachino's relief effort helped keep the door open for Garcia's heroics.
Ryan Aber|
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso high fives shortstop Gabbie Garcia outside the dugout at Love's Field earlier this season.
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso high fives shortstop Gabbie Garcia outside the dugout at Love's Field earlier this season. | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

NORMAN — Gabbie Garcia isn’t a senior, but on Oklahoma’s Senior Day, it was the Sooners’ junior shortstop that came up big at the end.

Garcia broke a tie with a home run in the sixth inning and then made a spectacular defensive play to end the game as top-ranked Oklahoma finished off a sweep of Georgia with a 6-5 win Sunday at Love’s Field.

In a back-and-forth game, Garcia dug in with two outs in the sixth with Kendall Wells waiting on deck.

Garcia blasted the 1-1 offering 219 feet to right to put Oklahoma back in front and turn the crowd of 4,302 raucous.

"I just thinik wanting to win for my team was just kind of my mindsey going into everything," Garcia said of her 22nd home run of the season. "And then, of course, it's the seniors' last official game here at home before postseason, so I just think it was just doing anything I can to win for my team."

With runners on first and second and two outs in the seventh, Georgia’s Bailey Lindemuth delivered an apparent hit up the middle that would’ve tied the game.

But Garcia ranged over, dove to stop the ball from reaching the outfield before reaching back to  tag second ahead of the runner, ending the game.

“That was pretty legit right there,” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said. “It’s hard to see how far she was from the back of the bag just sliding like that, it was wonderful to see.

“She’s such a great athlete. I don’t know many shortstops who can make those kinds of plays, so very happy that she’s a Sooner.”

Miali Guachino pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to end the game.

The Sooners (46-6, 18-3) trailed by one in the fourth when Ailana Agbayani drew a leadoff walk.

Two batters later, Kai Minor ripped a two-run home run to left center, a 228-foot shot, to give Oklahoma its first lead of the game.

The home run was the Sooners' 168th of the season, extending their NCAA record.

Georgia centerfielder Natalie Ray was injured attempting to make a leading grab on the play, and left the game. Ray appeared to suffer an injury to her left lower leg.

OU wasn't done in the inning as Ella Parker doubled and then came around to score on Gabbie Garcia's single to right to make it 5-3.

The Bulldogs answered back in the fifth, on Sarah Gordon's two-run home run to right. The homer just made it over the wall, and stayed out of Parker's glove.

Gordon hesitated rounding first, unsure if the ball had cleared the wall, before circling the bases to tie the game.

After Allyssa Parker walked the next hitter, Guachino came on and got out of the inning quickly.

The Bulldogs put runners at the4 corner with two outs in the sixth with the help of an error, but Guachino struck out Tyler Ellison to end the inning, drawing an emphatic fist pump from catcher Kendall Wells.

Wells, one home run away from tying Arizona's Laura Espinoza for the NCAA single-season record of 37, went 0 for 2 with two walks.

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In her final regular-season game at Love's Field, senior Kierston Deal got the start in the circle, her first start since Feb. 28 vs. Alabama State.

After retiring the side in order in the first, Deal walked the leadoff hitter in the second and was lifted, receiving a short ovation from the fans, am embrace from Sooners' pitching coach Jennifer Rocha, and high fives from her teammates.

Sydney Berzon struggled out of the gate, giving up a single and then, two batters later, a sacrifice fly to start the scoring.

Berzon then surrendered three consecutive singles, the last two of which drove home runs to make it 3-0 Bulldogs.

The Sooners loaded the bases in the first on a trio of walks before Georgia's Addisen Fisher escaped the jam by getting Kasidi Pickering to foul out to third.

But after falling behind in the second, Oklahoma came back with the help of Abby Dayton's leadoff walk and then a Georgia error with two outs that kept the inning alive.

Parker then delivered a two-run single to right center the deficit to 3-2.

Wells got another chance at the second in the third, coming to the plate after Garcia drew a leadoff walk.

But on a 3-1 count — the only strike was a time violation call before Wells saw a pitch — Wells grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Another senior, Agbayani, made an excellent play in the fourth.

"It was a big-time play. We’re witnessing some greatness and we’re just like, ‘Hey, it’s another play,’ ‘Another play.,'" Gasso said. "These are big-time plays. Our defense, everybody talks about our home runs, and they should, and everybody talks about our offense, and they should, but our defense is not getting enough credit for what they’re doing to help win games. It’s fun to watch them."

Emily Digby hit a soft liner to center that looked like centerfielder Minor would need to make a diving attempt to get. But Agbayani cut in front of Minor, gloving the ball for the second out.

In the third inning, Kasidi Pickering delivered a two-out double down the right-field line, her first hit since April 15 vs. Oklahoma State.

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Ryan Aber
RYAN ABER

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

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