Tag: Oklahoma softball

Could Texas Longhorns softball catch Oklahoma for Big 12 regular season title?

Currently on a 9-game winning streak, the Texas Longhorns softball team sits a game back of rival Oklahoma in the Big 12 softball standings.

After winning two of three contests against the former No. 1-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, who had a 40-game Big 12 Conference winning streak before that, the now No. 1 Texas Longhorns have buoyed those two wins into a current 9-game winning streak. Continue reading “Could Texas Longhorns softball catch Oklahoma for Big 12 regular season title?”

Texas softball wins series over No. 1 Oklahoma

After Oklahoma won the first of a three-game series 5-2 on Friday, the Longhorns registered consecutive 2-1 victories.

The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma Sooners have been the gold standard of college softball in recent seasons. At least for a weekend, the No. 5 Texas Longhorns had something to say about that.

After Oklahoma won the first of a three-game series 5-2 on Friday, the Longhorns registered consecutive 2-1 victories on Saturday and Sunday in Austin.

The Longhorns improved to 31-6 (11-4 Big 12), while the Sooners dropped to 35-3 (13-2 Big 12). Saturday’s win for Texas saw an end to Oklahoma’s 40-game Big 12 Conference winning streak.

“We probably did what most people thought was impossible and that’s to beat Oklahoma two days in a row,” said Longhorns head coach Mike White.

White pointed to the team’s pitching and defense as reasons for the victory.

In the circle, Texas’ Citlaly Gutierrez pitched an efficient game Saturday, giving up one run on six hits while striking out two batters, throwing 94 pitches. Texas got a combined effort from Teagan Kavan and Estelle Czech on Sunday as Katie Stewart’s 2-run home run proved to be the difference in Texas getting the series victory.

Longhorns, Sooners set for top-five showdown in softball

The No. 5-ranked Longhorns are getting national TV exposure for weekend series against the No. 1 Sooners.

The No. 5-ranked Texas Longhorns softball team is getting national TV exposure for weekend series against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners starting Friday on the networks of ESPN.

First pitch of Friday’s contest is set for 5:30 p.m. CT at Red & Charline McCombs Field, with ESPNU broadcasting the game. Saturday’s contest is set for 7 p.m. with ESPN broadcasting the game.

Sunday’s rubber match is set for 1 p.m. with Longhorn Network broadcasting the game.

It will be an opportunity for the program, who has started 29-5 (9-3 Big 12), to show how it stacks up against the defending Women’s College World Series champion Sooners.

Infielder Joley Mitchell leads the Longhorns with a .450 average. Catcher Reese Atwood leads Texas with 52 RBI and 12 home runs, batting .400. Outfielder Ashton Maloney boasts a .424 average while outfielder Kayden Henry’s average sits at .404.

In the circle, Teagan Kavan leads the Longhorns with an 11-2 record, starting 13 games. She has a 1.84 ERA. Citlaly Gutierrez leads Texas with a 1.17 ERA. She is 6-0 in 11 appearances with nine starts. Mac Morgan is 8-0 with a 1.26 ERA.

A closer look at Jordy Bahl’s softball career after season-ending injury

A Nebraska softball star will miss the entire 2024 season after suffering a season-ending injury.

A Nebraska softball star will miss the 2024 season after suffering a season-ending injury. Pitcher Jordy Bahl suffered an ACL injury in the Cornhusker’s season opener against the Washington Huskies in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Feb. 8.

The former Oklahoma Sooner announced the season-ending injury and her intention to redshirt on social media.

“With a heart thankful for God’s plan and timing, I will be redshirting this year, and looking forward to a season of growth and learning from a different point of view. I’m thankful for the support of my family, friends, coaches, and staff. I’m truly blessed to have so many wonderful and loving people in my life. I’m not going anywhere. See you in 2025.”

In her two seasons at Oklahoma, Bahl went 44-2 with a 1.00 ERA with 15 shutouts and five saves. In her two seasons in Norman, she was a 2x Women’s College World Series Champion, Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player, a 2x All-American, and 2x Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.

She transferred to Nebraska for the 2024 season. Bahl attended Papillion-La Vista Senior High School. During her career, she had a 95-3 record with a 0.63 ERA and 978 strikeouts en route to winning three state championships.

Find a photo gallery of Jordy Bahl’s college career below.

Jordy Bahl named D1Softball’s Pitcher of the Year

After a fantastic season Jordy Bahl was named D1Softball’s Pitcher of the Year for 2023.

After a slow start to the 2023 season, [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] finished with a bang. She closed the season and her Oklahoma Sooners career by pitching 24.2 scoreless innings at this year’s Women’s College World Series. She finished the year with a 0.90 ERA, which helped her earn the Pitcher of the Year honor from D1Softball.

She was named Most Outstanding Player at the WCWS, and her 0.90 ERA for the season was second in the country behind Stanford’s NiJaree Canady.

Bahl performed her best when the competition was at its best. She had wins against Florida State, Tennessee, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Washington, Utah, Duke, Texas and Clemson. She was the ace of a very good pitching staff.

Bahl stunned the softball world by announcing this week she is transferring from Oklahoma back to her home state of Nebraska. Though Oklahoma returns Nicole May and Kierston Deal, and we haven’t seen anything from another signee from their 2022 recruiting class, S.J. Guerin, Oklahoma is going to miss Bahl a lot.

In her two years in Norman, Bahl was 44-2 and recorded 397 strikeouts for the Sooners. In more than 288.2 innings pitched, Bahl allowed 153 hits and 47 runs scored.

Though Bahl’s time in Norman has come to an end, her impact in Norman and on the sport of softball will continue. When the games mattered most, Bahl rose to the occasion and led the Oklahoma Sooners to their third straight national title.

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Superstar Oklahoma pitcher Jordy Bahl hinted at a ‘return home’ after entering transfer portal

The Nebraska native didn’t make it too difficult to figure out where she may be heading next.

Oklahoma pitcher Jordy Bahl stunned the college softball world on Monday.

Just days after leading the Sooners to their third-straight national title, Bahl — a two-time First-Team All-American and the Most Outstanding Player from the 2023 Women’s College World Series — announced her decision to enter the transfer portal on Twitter.

We don’t know where the sophomore superstar will land next, but we certainly have a good idea.

In her announcement, Bahl, a native of Papillion, Nebraska, said she was “excited to return home” and wants to grow the game “in the home state.”

“I am excited to return home and be Jordy Bahl the softball player, but more importantly the person,” she wrote. “I am excited thinking about growing the game that has provided me so many opportunities for growth, in the home state, a current overlooked state for girls in softball at all ages, and I am excited to finish the softball journey right where it began.”

It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to see what that might mean. Indeed, according to ESPN’s reporting, Bahl is expected to transfer to Nebraska.

Coming out of high school, Bahl was the No. 1 player in the country. She initially committed to the Cornhuskers before flipping to rival Oklahoma and legendary coach Patty Gasso.

As the team’s ace for the past two seasons, she played a major part in the success that culminated in a 53-game winning streak to end the 2023 season. She was the national freshman of the year in 2022, and this spring, she finished with a 22-1 record and a 0.90 ERA, the second-lowest in the nation.

While we await an official decision from Bahl, a Nebraska team that went 36-22 in 2023 and finished with a 2-2 showing at the Stillwater Regional may be about to get a massive boost heading into 2024.

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How to watch Alabama softball vs. Stanford in elimination game at WCWS

Alabama softball is in a win or go home scenario in OKC. Here is how you can catch the Tide take on Stanford on Friday night!

Patrick Murphy and the Alabama softball team got off to a disappointing start at the 2023 Women’s College World Series out in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Thursday with a 10-5 loss to the Tennessee Lady Vols.

With the loss, the Tide move down to the loser’s bracket where they will now take on the Stanford Cardinal who dropped its first game in OKC to the top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners.

It is likely that Tide fans will get to see star pitcher Montana Fouts on the mound today since she did not see any action on Thursday.

Here is how you can catch all the action between Alabama and Stanford at the WCWS!

Oklahoma Sooners advance to super regionals with 16-3 win over Cal

The Oklahoma Sooners advance to the super regional round of the NCAA tournament after a 16-3 win over California.

Oklahoma’s offense got going right out of the gate and didn’t look back as they dominated the California Golden Bears 16-3 in five innings. The Sooners hit six home runs in the game, extending their winning streak to 46 games.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] got the scoring going in the first inning when she launched a homer to make it 1-0. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] doubled, and [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] hit a home run to put Oklahoma up 3-0. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] singled, and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] smashed a home run to extend the lead to 5-0. Jocelyn Erickson went back-to-back with Sanders with a solo shot to put the Sooners up 6-0 in the top of the first.

Jennings hit her second home run of the day in the top of the second to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead.

They kept the scoring going in the third inning. Rylie Boone brought in Hansen on an RBI single to make it 8-0 and put Oklahoma in run-rule territory. Coleman doubled to score Grace Lyons on an RBI, which made it 9-0. Jennings drove a double of her own to score Boone and Coleman and put the Sooners well out in front 11-0. Not to be outdone by Tiare Jennings, Alyssa Brito hammered her second home run of the day, a three-run shot to give Oklahoma a 14-0 lead after three.

Cal scored three runs on three hits in the third after loading the bases. Alex Storako wasn’t her sharp self, and Nicole May came in to limit the damage.

In the fourth inning, Grace Lyons hit a sacrifice fly that brought home Alynah Torres to make the score 15-3. Quincee Lilio then singled to right center and to score Jocelyn Erickson to extend the lead 16-3.

May was able to get the shutdown inning in the fourth inning before giving way to Kierston Deal who pitched a scoreless fifth.

Storako allowed five hits and three runs in 2.2 innings pitched. May and Deal combined to throw three innings of perfect ball, keeping the Golden Bears off the base paths once May entered the game.

Tiare Jennings went 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored. Brito was 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs. Haley Lee, Kinzie Hansen, and Jocelyn Erickson each had multi-hit games for the Sooners.

Oklahoma will now welcome Clemson for their three-game series in the super regional after the Tigers beat Auburn in a winner-take-all game Sunday afternoon. The Sooners’ 13 straight super regional appearances is the longest own the longest streak in the nation

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3 Oklahoma Sooners top 10 finalists for USA Softball’s National Player of the Year

Jordy Bahl, Jayda Coleman, and Tiare Jennings were named finalists for USA Softball’s National Player of the Year award.

Three Sooners were named as finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award. [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], and [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] lead the way for the Oklahoma Sooners, who had the highest number of players make the cut for the prestigious award.

UCLA and Tennessee are the only other schools with multiple athletes represented with two athletes apiece.

Oklahoma’s softball dominance has been on display in the USA Softball National Player of the Year discussion. They’ve had at least two finalists for five straight years and three finalists each of the last two years.

A Sooner has won the award in four of the last 10 seasons, with [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag] winning back-to-back Player of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022.

It’s Bahl’s second time on the short list for Player of the Year honors. She’s been the headliner for Oklahoma’s pitching staff over the last two years, which leads the nation in team ERA. Bahl has a team-best six shutouts and has a combined nine shutouts on the year too. She also has one perfect game on the year and combined on two no-hitters. Only a sophomore, Bahl is on an incredible run to start her Oklahoma career.

It’s Coleman’s first time being up for the award as a junior. She has a team-high 13 home runs and leads the Sooners with a .454 batting average. She’s slugging .862 and has a .575 on-base percentage. Coleman’s top 10 in the nation in batting average, slugging, and on-base percentages.

This is Jennings’ second time to be named a finalist. She has 12 home runs and 10 doubles on the year. She also has a team-high 49 runs batted in. She’s batting .435 and holds a slugging percentage of .786 and an on-base percentage of .506.

The top three finalists will be revealed on May 17 and the winner will be announced before the Women’s College World Series starts on June 1st.

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