Tag: Oklahoma State Cowgirls Softball

Updated Big 12 softball standings heading into final week of the regular season

What do the Big 12 standings look like heading into the final week of the regular season?

The Oklahoma State Cowgirls were nipping at the heels of the Oklahoma Sooners for much of the 2023 season. After being swept by Texas following Oklahoma’s sweep of the Longhorns, the Sooners created enough distance to clinch their 11th consecutive Big 12 championship.

The Sooners are 15-0 in Big 12 play as they prepare for their final weekend of the regular season, a road trip to Stillwater to take on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. Oklahoma State’s playing for seeding this weekend and hoping to overtake the Longhorns, who will face Baylor.

Neither Texas nor Oklahoma State want to see Oklahoma in the semifinals of the Big 12 championships. They’d like to put that matchup off for as long as possible.

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Here’s a look at the Big 12 standings ahead of the final week of the regular season.

Big 12 standings update: Oklahoma sweeps Baylor, Longhorns sweep Oklahoma State

What do the Big 12 standings look like after Oklahoma and Texas completed their three-game sweeps in conference play?

The Oklahoma Sooners went on the road and swept a tough opponent to open their lead in the Big 12 standings to 3.5 games over the Texas Longhorns and four games up on Oklahoma State.

That provides the Sooners an opportunity to clinch the Big 12 regular season title when the Kansas Jayhawks come to town this weekend. With just two Big 12 series remaining before the Big 12 tournament, the Sooners are peaking with the postseason approaching.

The Sooners Tuesday night matchup against the Wichita State Shockers was canceled due to inclement weather.

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Here’s a look at the Big 12 softball standings after the weekend’s action.

Updated Big 12 standings: Sooners only unbeaten team in Big 12 play after weekend’s upsets

Oklahoma remains the only unbeaten team in conference play after Oklahoma State dropped their Sunday matchup to last place Iowa State.

The Big 12’s bottom three teams, Texas Tech, Kansas and Iowa State were able to take a game from the teams that are two through four in the standings: Oklahoma State, Texas and Baylor.

Though each of the favorites earned series wins, it was surprising to see Iowa State take a game from Oklahoma State in extra innings and Kansas beat Texas by six runs.

Oklahoma State’s extra-inning loss to Iowa State prevented the Cowgirls from keeping pace with the Sooners and holding a four-game lead on the Texas Longhorns. Instead, the loss set up an opportunity for the Longhorns to catch the Cowgirls this weekend in their three-game series in Austin.

With less than a month to go in the regular season, here’s a look at the Big 12 standings ahead of some big-time matchups in conference play.

Updated Big 12 standings: Sooners sweep Texas Tech, Oklahoma State continues to roll

The Oklahoma Sooners continued to roll in Big 12 play, Baylor beat No. 4/5 Tennessee twice. Here’s an updated look at the Big 12 standings

The top four teams in the Big 12 had quite the weekend. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas each went 3-0 in Big 12 play, while the Baylor Bears went 3-0 with a pair of top 5 wins over Tennessee.

There’s still much to be determined in the conference landscape, but Oklahoma and Oklahoma State appear on a collision course to decide the Big 12 regular season championship. Again.

Oklahoma State biggest conference challenge remaining is Texas, and the Sooners still have to face Baylor, the only team to beat Oklahoma this season. However, with the way these two programs are performing on the diamond, it feels like an inevitability that the in-state rivals will contend with each other for the Big 12 title.

With week three of conference play in the books, let’s take a look at the up-to-date Big 12 standings and what’s on the horizon for each program.

Updated look at the Big 12 standings after Oklahoma’s sweep of Texas

An updated look at the Big 12 standings heading into week three of conference play.

Week two of conference play is behind us, and the Oklahoma Sooners are beginning to separate themselves from the pack after their three-game sweep of the Texas Longhorns.

The series sweep of Texas put the Sooners in the driver’s seat in the conference and put a sizable gap between them and their Red River rival. The Longhorns would need some help to get back into the Big 12 regular season title race.

With Oklahoma State on a bye last week, the Sooners are 1.5 games up on the Cowgirls in the standings but hold three more wins currently.

There’s a clear top three teams in the conference with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas.

Here’s a look at the latest Big 12 standings heading into week three of Big 12 play.

Bedlam squads lead latest NFCA USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Having fantastic seasons, the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowgirls lead the way in the latest NFCA USA Today Sports Coaches Poll.

The Oklahoma Sooners continued their impressive dominance over Texas with a three-game sweep of the Longhorns.

As impressive was the turnout for the Friday night affair at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The regular season showdown set a new attendance record, with nearly 9,000 fans pouring into the stadium to witness the top 10 clash.

The Sooners outscored Texas 22-5 in the three-game sweep and are now 5-0 against top five opponents. In those five wins, Oklahoma has outscored the opposition 41-9.

For their efforts this weekend, they remain the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation in the NFCA USA TODAY Sports top 25.

Sitting just behind the Sooners at No. 2 are the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. OU’s Bedlam foe has had a remarkable season in their own right. Their two losses on the season include the series opener to Florida State and an 11-6 loss to Maryland on the opening weekend of the season down in Mexico.

They look like a legitimate threat to the Sooners’ national champion reign.

Here’s a look at the top 10 teams in the latest NCFA USA TODAY Sports poll.

Big 12 Softball standings after first weekend of conference play

Taking a look at the updated Big 12 standings and what’s on deck for the conference this weekend.

The first weekend of Big 12 play saw the top of the conference hold serve as Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas each pulled off three-game sweeps on the opening weekend of Big 12 play.

There were a few tight ball games in Austin, Ames, and Stillwater, but the talent among the teams ranked in the top 10 was too much for Baylor, Texas Tech, and Iowa State, who dropped to 0-3 in Big 12 play.

This week features more intriguing matchups, headlined by the top 10 clash between Oklahoma and Texas. The Red River Rivals will meet at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in a rematch of last year’s Women’s College World Series championship.

Here’s a look at the updated standings ahead of week two in Big 12 play.

Big 12 softball standings ahead of conference opening weekend

A look at where the Big 12 stands ahead of the start of conference play this weekend.

The Oklahoma Sooners completed the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 5-0 weekend at the Hall of Fame Classic. At 27-1, and in the middle of a 19-game winning streak, the Sooners are playing some great softball.

In recent weeks, the Sooners have picked up big wins over top 10 opponents like UCLA and Florida State. Heading into Big 12 play, Oklahoma remains the favorite in the conference, but several challengers have emerged that could derail their title hopes.

Oklahoma State, Texas, and Baylor have had strong starts to the season and will be on the Sooners’ heels in the push to the Women’s College World Series.

Here’s a look at where the teams stand ahead of Big 12’s opening weekend.

Oklahoma Sooners unanimous No. 1 in ESPN/USA Softball preseason top 25

The Oklahoma Sooners were voted the unanimous No. 1 team in the USA Softball preseason top 25.

To the surprise of no one, the Oklahoma Sooners were unanimously voted the No. 1 team in the nation in the ESPN/USA Softball poll as voted on by coaches across the sport.

Oklahoma has now spent more than a year atop the rankings after being selected the preseason No. 1 team prior to 2022. The Sooners will open the year with No. 19 Duke and play No. 14 Stanford and No. 16 Washington in the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, Calif. on February 9.

They’ll play a total of nine teams ranked in the preseason top 25, including No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Oklahoma State, and No. 4 Florida State.

The two-time defending national champions are the prohibitive favorite despite losing all-time home run leader Jocelyn Alo. They boast an incredibly deep lineup, which includes the last two national freshmen of the year in Tiare Jennings and Cydney Sanders. Their pitching staff is deep with returning All-American Jordy Bahl and transfer addition Alex Storako, who logged 200 innings and 300 strikeouts in 2022.

Here’s a look at the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason top 25.

Oklahoma Sooners top Big 12 softball preseason poll

Oklahoma pulled six of seven first places to land atop the Big 12 preseason poll for the 11th straight season.

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is gearing up to defend their national championship and work toward a three-peat. The 2021 and 2022 national champs look to be the favorite yet again with the 2023 season just a few weeks away.

For the 11th straight season and the 14th time in the last 15 seasons, the Sooners landed atop the preseason Big 12 poll. Oklahoma received six of the seven first-place votes given out by the coaches, with Oklahoma State garnering the remaining first-place vote. The Cowgirls, who won the Big 12 tournament title in 2022, are second in the preseason poll. They’re followed by Texas, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and finally the Kansas Jayhawks.

While there’s no replacement for home run queen Jocelyn Alo, Patty Gasso and her staff have done a tremendous job in the transfer portal to mitigate the loss. This offseason, Oklahoma welcomed Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres from Arizona State and Hayley Lee from Texas A&M. To mitigate the loss of Hope Trautwien, Oklahoma added [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] from Michigan.

Even without those additions, the Sooners would have been the prohibitive favorites in the Big 12 and in the national title conversation with [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], and [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag]. But those portal reinforcements put Oklahoma in a position to replicate their offensive production over the last two seasons and match their pitching prowess from the circle.

The Sooners will open the season February 9 in Irvine, Calif. for the Mark Campbell Invitational. They’ll face four teams that made the NCAA tournament in 2022, starting with Duke. They’ll open the season at home on March 3 vs. Incarnate Word and Kentucky.

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