OKLAHOMA CITY — Things simply looked dire for Oklahoma.

The offense wasn't moving the needle through the first two innings after six of eight batters were retired. The Sooners struggled defensively, too, as two errors led directly to two runs for Oklahoma State. In the third inning, Rosie Davis sent a solo home run off of Sam Landry to push the Cowgirls' lead to 3-0.

In the blink of an eye, the Sooners turned things around. They scored 11 unanswered runs over the next three innings, turning a three-run deficit into an eight-run lead.

It was that rally that propelled the Sooners to an 11-3 win (five innings), securing the Bedlam rivalry win Wednesday night at Devon Park.

With 9,529 people in attendance, the game set a new NCAA record for a regular-season game.

"I’m really excited to bring the team to this venue, about three-fourths of them have not been in this situation," OU coach Patty Gasso said. "I think I heard we broke a record, which is awesome. They've not been introduced to that until tonight, so I think you could see it in the nerves a little bit in the first couple of innings. And then once we started scoring, we didn't stop."

Offensively, it started in the bottom of the third inning.

True sophomore Maya Bland got things started with a leadoff walk. On the next at-bat, Kasidi Pickering brought her home with a two-run home run, cutting Oklahoma State's lead to 3-2.

The Sooners weren't content to stop there. They immediately picked things back up in the bottom of the fourth, as Abigale Dayton and Ailana Agbayani opened the frame with back-to-back walks. Then Bland again came to the plate with a momentum-changing play, as she blasted a three-run home run that gave the Sooners a two-run lead.

It was the second career home run for Bland, who made just her sixth start of the season. Bland has mostly been utilized as a pinch runner this season, but she flourished in her big opportunity with a home run, a walk, two runs and three RBIs.

"Being able to have an opportunity was amazing," Bland said. "Our team was talking about passing the bat, being there for each other, not making the moment too big. I know (OU hitting coach Jt Gasso) talks to us a lot about trusting your swing, trusting the pitch you wanna get. So getting that felt awesome. (Running) back to my teammates celebrating was the best thing ever."

Ella Parker and Gabbie Garcia followed Bland's home run with back-to-back RBIs, pushing the Sooners' lead to 7-3 heading into the fifth inning.

Even as Oklahoma State pulled pitcher Ruby Meylan, the Sooners kept things going in the fifth inning. Hannah Coor, Kasidi Pickering and Parker each had RBIs to push the lead to 9-3.

Gabbie Garcia delivered the knockout blow, sending an RBI double to centerfield that scored two runs and secured the run-rule victory.

As the offense took off, Landry and the defense tightened up. The Cowgirls logged just two hits and scored zero runs over the final two innings, and Landry escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning with a lineout, a strikeout and a groundout.

With the win, the Sooners improve to 35-3 on the season. The Cowgirls fall to 23-12.

"I felt a big momentum opportunity that we grabbed, and I'm really excited to see where we go with this," Gasso said. "This was a big-time win for us."

— A big reason why the Sooners' continued to push the lead came from a highlight defensive play in the fourth inning.

After the Cowgirls loaded the bases with zero outs, Agbayani snagged a line drive out of the air that secured the first out and halted Oklahoma State's momentum.

"It’s big. It’s huge," Patty Gasso said. "But we get used to it because she’s doing that at practice. She is a really outstanding infielder and she loves that stuff and she wants to be fed that at practice all the time."

— Parker continues to show she's progressing with her injury, finishing 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a walk.

— Landry's final line: five hits, three runs, one earned run, two walks, four strikeouts in five innings.

It was a rough start for both Landry and the defense, but she eventually (and predictably) found her footing late.

"It was definitely amazing," Landry said. "There were a lot of people here. It was really loud. I think the loudness is something we kind of deal with at Love’s (Field) as well, but I think today I kind of let it get to me a little bit too much at the beginning of the game and I was trying to fight the nerves and anxiety I had versus playing with it. But I think after the first few innings I kind of found how to play with it, play through it and take in the moment.

— Pickering also continues to flourish. She finished 2-for-4 at the plate and has now logged 16 hits in her last 21 at-bats.

Next up: The Sooners return to SEC play this weekend with a three-game series at Alabama. The series begins Saturday at 3 p.m. (ESPN2).

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