4-time defending Women's CWS champ Oklahoma beats Oregon 4-1 to reach semifinals, eliminate Ducks

OKLAHOMA CITY — Cydney Sanders hit two home runs and four-time defending national champion Oklahoma beat Oregon 4-1 on Sunday night to reach the Women's College World Series semifinals and eliminate the Ducks.

Sanders' two-run homer in the third put the Sooners up 3-1, and her solo shot in the fifth made it 4-1. Isabela Emerling hit a solo home run and Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering each had two hits for the Sooners (52-8).

Dezianna Patmon's homer provided the only run for Oregon (54-10), which won the Big Ten regular-season championship in its first year in the league.

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso got the win against Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi, a longtime assistant for her with the Sooners. Oregon assistants Sam Marder and Sydney Romero also went through the Oklahoma program.

''Huge one for the Sooners,'' Gasso said. ''Personally, kind of bittersweet because those are my people on the other side, and it's hard to play on such a big platform that means so much and is going to end somebody's season. It was hard, but super proud of that staff and all that they've done.''

Oklahoma will play Texas Tech in the semifinals Monday for the right to play in the best-of-three championship series. The Sooners will need to beat the Red Raiders and star pitcher NiJaree Canady twice to advance in the double-elimination format, while the Red Raiders will need just one win to play for the national title for the first time.

Canady has been the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's Pitcher of the Year the past two seasons. She was the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last season at Stanford. This season, she led Tech to the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and their first World Series trip.

''We're going to have to make a few adjustments for sure, but, I mean, we're fighting,'' Gasso said. ''We're fighting for our lives now, and that is what it's going to look like. It's going to be a fight on our side to say we will not surrender for anyone or anything. So that's how we're going to approach it.''

Oklahoma's Sam Landry earned the win Sunday with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. She allowed two hits, struck out six and walked one after stepping in for starter Kierston Deal.

''I think for the whole team it was the change of speeds,'' Oregon's Paige Sinicki said. ''She was mixing really well ... we really had to pick one or the other. That's why we were getting beat by the end of the day.''

Landry transferred from Louisiana to Oklahoma before this season. Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco is in his first year with the Red Raiders after leaving Louisiana. Several of Landry's old teammates followed Glasco to Tech.

''I think I'm a completely different pitcher, person, player than I was when I was at Louisiana,'' Landry said. ''We're still going to work it like any other game, get the scout on them, find some holes and go through it. Just keep it like any other game and not make it too big.''

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