NORMAN — After Friday's loss to Tennessee, Patty Gasso made it clear that the Sooners couldn't keep relying on Sam Landry to bail them out.

Somebody else had to step up.

On Saturday, Kierston Deal answered the call.

Deal was outstanding in the circle. She kept the Vols offense completely out of rhythm, giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out five batters. She retired the side in order twice, and the Vols marched more than four batters to the plate in only one inning.

In the seventh inning, Deal struck out the first two batters and Ailana Agbayani snagged an impressive catch in the outfield to retire the side in order.

It was the exact type of outing that both Deal and the Sooners needed. Deal came into the game with a 4.81 ERA in conference play, and she surrendered six hits and six runs in 2.1 innings in Wednesday's midweek game against Wichita State.

But against the Vols, the junior was very effective and brought stability. It was one of the biggest reasons why the Sooners walked away with a 4-1 win against the Vols, setting a rubber game on Sunday to decide the series.

“I think the highlight of our day was KD (Deal), and I think after her situation out in Wichita, to come here and look completely different… Coach Rocha said it, we all felt like we had the boss on the mound. And she controlled everything,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “Never got rattled. Threw quality pitches.

“If I'm on our pitching staff, I'm looking at this and I'm getting very inspired by what I witnessed and thinking, okay, hand me the baton. Give it to me. Give me the ball so I can show you I can do the same thing. I think this performance was very inspiring for our pitching staff.”

With Deal pitching well, the Sooners just needed a few timely hits on offense. They got that in the third inning.

After Gabbie Garcia reached on a fielder's choice, Ella Parker forced a two-out walk to set the Sooners with two base runners. Cydney Sanders stepped to the plate and delivered a three-run home run to push the lead to 4-0.

"It finally fell," Sanders said on her home run. "That was all I needed. Really, that was what was going through my head."

It was an explosive moment in a game that saw both offenses struggle to generate consistent hits. OU's only other run came in the first inning — Gabbie Garcia hit a fly out to right field, but the ball dropped and allowed Garcia to find third and Kasidi Pickering to find home.

The Vols' only explosive moment came in the fourth inning, when Taylor Pannell hit a leadoff home run off of Deal. But Deal responded, retiring the next three batters to limit the damage.

"We're doing other things besides hitting the ball off the wall," Gasso said. "I think the last play on defense was indicative of if maybe our offense isn't on all cylinders, your pitching and defense can win you games. So we relied on that. We did take some good swings. They did play some good defense on the other side as well. So I'm not worried about our hitters. It's finding a way to win, and that's what we did."

With the win, the Sooners improve to 30-2 and 9-2 in SEC play.

— Parker, who went 0-for-4 on Friday, didn't log a hit as her struggles continue at the plate. But she did generate two walks, an area that had been missing over the last few games.

— Pickering went 3-for-3 at the plate and is now 6-for-6 over the last two games.

The Sooners needed the sophomore to consistently found her offense, and she has responded.

— The Vols finished with four hits, while the Sooners had five. The Sooners' two hits outside of Pickering came from Gabbie Garcia and Sanders.

— Saturday marked a season high in both total pitches (104) and in total innings pitched.

Deal on her performance: "I would just say full trust in the process and trusting my pitches and everything like that. I think my mentality has been there but it’s just the full trust in throwing pitches and throwing my game and trusting my defense. Having amazing plays like Ailana finishing the game like that, a pitcher doesn’t have to worry about much other than throwing strikes."

— Up next: The Sooners will look to secure the series victory at 1 p.m. Sunday (SECN+).

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