Runners on the corners. Down to the last out. World Series game on the line.
Oklahoma softball star Ella Parker found herself in that high-pressure situation on Thursday, and Parker delivered in dramatic fashion.
In the second-ranked Sooners’ first game of the 2025 Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Parker crushed a walk-off, three-run homer to stun No. 7 Tennessee, 4-3. The Sooners are going for a record fifth consecutive title.
Parker -- the niece of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts -- ripped an 0-1 pitch from Volunteers ace Karlyn Pickens over the center-field wall to lift her team into the winners’ bracket, where Oklahoma will face No. 6 Texas at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Hitting against Pickens is no easy feat, either. The Tennessee hurler set a record for the fastest pitch in NCAA softball history with a 79.4 mph pitch against Nebraska in the 2025 Knoxville Super Regional, which the Vols won to reach the WCWS.
But if anyone was up to the task, it was Parker, who is hitting a team-high .418 and posted a 1.326 OPS for the Sooners. After Ailana Agbayani walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh and Kasidi Pickering kept the game alive with a two-out single, Parker gave Oklahoma the win with her thrilling walk-off homer.
Tennessee’s stay in Oklahoma City isn’t over, though. The Vols are still alive in the double-elimination tournament and will face No. 3 Florida in an elimination game at 7 p.m. ET on Friday.