NORMAN — Patty Gasso was interested in how her team would respond when adversity hit in conference play. That adversity hit on Friday against No. 10 South Carolina.

Fortunately for the Sooners, veteran catcher Isabela Emerling answered the call.

With the Sooners trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the second, Ailana Agbayani stepped to the plate and hit a leadoff double. Emerling immediately followed, blasting a two-run shot to left field to cut the deficit to 5-3.

But Emerling and the Sooners weren't done there. After Kasidi Pickering and Nelly McEnroe-Marinas hit back-to-back singles to open the third inning, true freshman Gabbie Garcia stepped to the plate in the third inning and delivered a three-run home run to give the Sooners a 6-5 lead.

The Gamecocks weren't going away so easily. They responded with a run in the top of the fifth inning that tied the score at six runs apiece.

Again, Emerling responded, this time with the knockout punch. The veteran blasted her second two-run bomb of the day in the fifth inning, which pushed the Sooners' lead to two runs. Hannah Coor added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"Watching Bela swing the bat lately has been — she’s been working really hard, doing some things with JT and making adjustments," Gasso said. "It’s like watching another level when she swings."

That clutch hitting proved to be the difference, as the Sooners rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Gamecocks 10-9 at Love's Field.

"Tonight was a big moment for everyone," Gasso said. "It was a big moment for our pitchers, and you could feel their tension a little bit. But it's good because they did it. They won it and they go through it. It was a big moment for our freshmen to feel the tension of this and the battle back and forth."

Emerling and Garcia's home runs were pivotal, considering the Sooners struggled to slow down South Carolina's offense.

The Gamecocks scored five runs in the second inning to take a four-run lead on the back of four hits, two OU errors and three wild pitches from Kierston Deal.

Deal settled down in the third and fourth innings, retiring six of eight batters to keep the Gamecocks scoreless in the frames. Isabella Smith entered the circle in the fifth inning, allowing a sacrifice fly that tied the game before keeping the Gamecocks scoreless in the sixth inning.

However, the Sooners had to deal with adversity one more time in the seventh inning. The Gamecocks opened the frame with back-to-back walks before Lexi Winters hit a three-run bomb to left field off of Smith, which cut the OU lead to one. But Smith stayed in the fight, delivering a strikeout, a groundout and a fly out to escape the jam and seal the win.

"I think people questioned our challenges so far in our season," Gasso said. "I’ve watched these guys at practice do this. They want to win. They want to beat each other. They want to win. I was really pleased to see that. I didn’t know what to expect tonight. I didn’t expect that so many runs were going to be scored. But there is something special that this team showed me tonight that we can do a lot of good things with."

With the win, the Sooners improve to 20-0 on the season and secure a win in their SEC opener.

— A big focus this series is on former OU player Quincee Lilio, who came into the weekend leading the country in on-base percentage and batting average. While the Gamecocks found offense in other spots, the Sooners shut down Lilio, who went 0-for-4 at the plate.

— In addition to the huge home runs from Emerling and Garcia, the Sooners received a fantastic performance from Ailana Agbayani. The junior second baseman went 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk.

Pickering and McEnroe-Marinas also recorded two hits each.

— It was a mixed bag for Smith and Deal in the circle, who combined for seven hits, six earned runs, five walks and three strikeouts.

— Apparently there was a mix-up on Garcia's home run. Gasso signaled for her to swing away but Garcia couldn't find the signal on the call sheet on her arm.

Garcia decided to go for the full swing.

"I was going literally right up to the count and I just could not find it on my card," Garcia said. "I'm not gonna lie, I kind of guessed."

— The Sooners committed three errors as a team. Two of them came in the second inning.

"Our second inning was very uncharacteristic for us," Gasso said. "I was a little concerned about that. Once that happened, we scored two and then scored three so we made up for it from the offensive side. I was really proud of that."

— For the lineup, Gasso went with Coor in centerfield, Abigale Dayton in right field, Garcia at short stop and Ella Parker as the designated player.

— Up next: The two teams will play a double header on Sunday beginning at 1:30 p.m.

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