NORMAN — With Friday's game heading into extra innings, and offense hard to come by for both Oklahoma and Tennessee, the night was likely to be settled with a heroic moment at the plate.

That moment emerged for Tennessee, and it came from a familiar face for the Sooners.

After Tennessee landed a base runner with a single, Sophia Nugent blasted a two-run home run to right field off of Sam Landry to give the Volunteers a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning.. Nugent spent two seasons with the Sooners before transferring to Tennessee prior to the 2024 season.

Nugent's home run was already a massive moment in the game. Then the Vols added a run on a wild pitch from Landry.

Those runs proved to be too much for the Sooners, who fell to the Volunteers 5-2 at Love's Field to open the three-game series.

It was a tough game for the Sooners, as opportunities were there despite both offenses struggling.

“I thought it was a good game. It was really exciting and we played hard, both teams played hard," OU coach Patty Gasso said. "It was a fun game. It was fun to watch, fans were engaged, they were tremendous."

The Volunteers struck first in the second inning. Landry gave up a walk on a hit by pitch to start the frame, then gave up a two-run home run to Amayah Doyle to give the Volunteers a 2-0 lead. After Gabby Leach logged a double on the next at-bat, it looked like it might be a long night for Landry in the circle.

However, Landry predictably bounced back. She gave up just one hit over the final five innings of regulation, and the defense tightened up behind her. But Landry eventually ran out of gas in the eighth inning.

The Vols went with Sage Mardjetko in the circle instead of ace pitcher Karlyn Pickens, yet the Sooners went scoreless with one hit through the first two innings. However, the Sooners loaded the bases in the third inning, and Gabbie Garcia brought Hannah Coor home on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Sooners tied the game in the fourth inning on a home run from Abigale Dayton, marking her second home run of the season.

However, the Sooners missed their opportunity in the seventh inning. With the game tied at 2-2 the Sooners managed three base hits but couldn't bring any runners in, which forced extra innings.

With the loss, the Sooners drop to 30-2 on the season and 8-2 in SEC play.

"This is a good challenge for us, we have not lost our first game in a series yet," Gasso said. "And I'm anxious. I told them I can't wait to see what you look like tomorrow. Because that's the fighter mentality, it has to come out. But I was really proud of how they kept fighting and scoring and answering and so forth.”

— Ella Parker went 0-for-4 at the plate and is now 2-for-26 in conference play.

OU coach Patty Gasso indicated that Parker has been dealing with an injury, and she just hasn't looked comfortable at the plate. It'll be interesting to monitor her status the rest of the weekend.

"I will not take her out of this lineup because she is one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen," Gasso said. "Maybe you’re not seeing it the way you want to see it or I’m not seeing it the way I want to see it right now but it doesn’t change my belief in who she is and what she can do with one swing.

"I have no problem with what’s she doing right. She’s going to get there. You have to give them a chance to figure out how to deal with some of the pain that is going on right now. I believe in her. I’m not going to make that change."

— The Vols went to Pickens in the third inning. Pickens, who leads the country in ERA and opponent batting average, allowed six hits but just one run in 5.1 innings, and she added six strikeouts.

— Both teams finished with eight hits. Pickering led the Sooners with three hits on three at-bats, while Dayton went 2-for-3.

— The biggest what-if moment came in the seventh inning. With Hannah Coor on second base, Pickering hit a single to right field as Gasso waived Coor home. But Tennessee's Gabby Leach made a great play, throwing the ball home to beat Coor.

"We had some opportunities, they made a really good play at home plate. I mean I had to send the runner," Gasso said. "And I thought we had a good chance, she did a really good job with her throw and we had the right runner. We had Hannah Coor. So they made big plays when they needed to and for us it's timely hitting and I was pretty proud of these guys for squaring up both pitchers enough to win."

— Landry (obviously) got the start in the circle, but now it'll be about how the Sooners manage her workload the rest of the weekend. She's appeared in four consecutive games and has started three of them, and she threw 141 pitches against the Volunteers.

"I think I'm not saying something Sam wouldn't say, she's been better and she would tell you that," Gasso said. "We can't live on her shoulders. We just can't. We've gotta find ways to win for her, because she's finding ways to win for us."

— Up next: The Sooners look to draw even in the series at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Not an OUInsider.com premium member? Sign up today to get loads of inside information on Oklahoma football, softball, basketball, and recruiting, all for just a few dollars a month. Click HERE to get started!

Follow us on Twitter @OUInsider and on Instagram @ouinsiderofficial!

Subscribe on YouTube by clicking here for daily video content on all things Oklahoma!