Oklahoma Freshman Ella Parker Rose to the Occasion and Delivered Big.
Freshman or not, Ella Parker was determined to ensure Oklahoma’s senior class didn’t end their season on a sour note.
On Tuesday at Devon Park, the Sooners’ remarkable rookie picked herself up after a major collision, shook off the impact, and delivered a 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 OU’s dramatic 6-5 victory over Florida and sending the Sooners back to the Championship Series of the Women’s College World Series.
No. 2-seed OU will face No. 1 Texas for the championship on Wednesday night.
However, Coleman’s heroics wouldn’t have been possible without Parker’s exceptional performance: 3-for-4 at the plate with a two-run home run in the first inning, a long single in the fifth, and a clutch single in the sixth.
Each of Parker’s hits was crucial. The first tied the game at 2-2. The last tied it at 5-5. But the single in between was significant for a different reason.
Parker lined a drive into right center and hustled to second base. As the throw came in, Gators shortstop Skylar Wallace stood over the base and reached for the ball.
Parker collided face-first with Wallace, sending both players sprawling on the bag 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 rush. But, I was just doing whatever to get to second base.”
OU coach Patty Gasso immediately ran onto the field to check on Parker while she received medical treatment.
“She was talking,” Gasso said, “but she didn’t want to move. I think her bell was rung — pretty hard. It was a bit scary because she’s tough and didn’t want to move at first. So I was concerned something serious might have happened.
“She started to move around a little bit. We took her helmet off. And then she slowly got herself up. But her bell was rung. Both got hit pretty hard. I need to go back and look at it more because it happened so fast.”
“That was just an odd thing that happened,” said Florida coach Tim Walton.
Gasso said OU’s medical team checked Parker and cleared her.
“Our doctors were right there in the dugout waiting to see her and gave her the OK,” Gasso said. “She passed all the protocols and concussion tests. We asked her, ‘Are you OK? Are you good with it?’
“She said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, get me back in there.’”
The Sooners were still trailing 5-4 in the sixth inning when Parker came to the plate again. By then, OU pitcher Kelly Maxwell was locked in, having given up three home runs earlier, but the Gators’ fourth and final hit was an infield single in the sixth.
That’s why Parker’s final at-bat was so critical. OU’s offense, which had struggled against Florida starter Keagan Rothrock, needed a boost.
“I think that kind of started a rally for our team to pass the bat,” Coleman said.
Avery Hodge initiated the rally with a one-out double into the right-field corner.
Parker took strike one, then brought home the speedy Hodge from second with a sharp single to left center off Rothrock. The crowd of 11,166 erupted in cheers.
OU had a chance to win it in the seventh when Kelly Maxwell hit a one-out single and Rylie Boone was intentionally walked, but that rally ended.
After another strong inning from Maxwell, Coleman finished it off in the eighth.
“I know my team’s got my back,” Parker said. “Just working on passing the bat to the next teammate.”
