Tag: Oklahoma State Cowgirls

Big 12 Softball Championship: Sooners set to take on the Longhorns for Big 12 title

After the final weekend of the regular season, the Big 12 tournament seeding and schedule is set with the Sooners the No. 1 seed.

Both the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns breezed through their semifinal matchup with run-rule wins to get to the Big 12 championship game on Saturday.

It’s a top-15 matchup for the league’s tournament title. Oklahoma has dominated the series in recent years, including a three-game sweep of the Longhorns the first weekend in April.

Texas had to overcome a four-run deficit to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Thursday to reach the semifinal. This after getting swept in their regular season series finale over Baylor. With the 9-1 win over Kansas, it looks like the Longhorns have righted the ship heading into a Red River Showdown for the Big 12 title.

Results Updated 8 pm 5/12/2023

Jordy Bahl battles, Cydney Sanders erases early deficit in Sooners 8-3 win over Oklahoma State

Jordy Bahl locked in after allowing a first inning home run, and Cydney Sanders continued her hot run going 3-for-5 with a three-run home run, in Oklahoma’s 8-3 win over Oklahoma State.

The Oklahoma Sooners took advantage of a tight strike zone against Oklahoma State Cowgirls ace [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] to get on the board in the top of the first.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] walked, and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] moved her to second with a single. With two outs in the inning, [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] earned back-to-back walks to bring Jennings in to take a 1-0 lead.

However, that 1-0 lead was shortlived as the Cowgirls put pressure on Jordy Bahl in the bottom half of the inning. Oklahoma State’s [autotag]Rachel Becker[/autotag] led off with a walk, and [autotag]Kiley Naomi[/autotag] earned a one-out walk to put two on for outfielder Cheyenne Factor. Factor took the first pitch she saw from Jordy Bahl and launched it to left center to give the Cowgirls a 3-1 lead.

[autotag]Katelynn Carwile[/autotag] earned a two-out walk, a third of the inning for Bahl, and [autotag]Morgyn Wynne[/autotag] followed that with a double to put runners on second and third. Bahl locked in and struck out Taylor Tuck on three pitches to end the threat.

The Sooners came out strong in the top of the first in an effort to reassert their first inning lead. Rylie Boone led off with a walk, and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] was hit by a pitch following Sophia Nugent’s strikeout. After a fielder’s choice by Tiare Jennings moved Boone to third, Coleman was put out at second, leaving runners on first and third with two outs.

Continuing to trend in a positive direction for the Sooners, sophomore Cydney Sanders took a 2-0 offering to right center field to give the Sooners a 4-3 lead and they wouldn’t look back.

Bahl responded from her difficult first inning to shut the door with the help of some excellent defense from the Sooners. The sophomore pitcher allowed just four base runners the rest of the way.

 

Alynah Torres provided an insurance run in the fifth inning and Oklahoma added a run in the sixth on Alyssa Brito’s team-tying 13th home run of the season. But Oklahoma wasn’t done there, putting a pair of runs across the plate in the seventh to put the game out of reach for the Cowgirls with the way Bahl was pitching.

Jordy Bahl struck out eight in the complete game effort, scattering five hits, four walks, and a hit by pitch across her seven innings of work. The first inning home run was the first run allowed for the USA Softball National Player of the Year finalist since March 31 vs. Texas. Bahl improved to 15-1 on the season and her ERA is sitting at 1.19.

Cydney Sanders continued her hot stretch of the season, posting a 3-for-5 effort with the three-run home run and a run score. Back on April 1 against Texas, Sanders’ batting average dropped to .214 on the season. She’s raised it to .294 over the last five weeks, batting .400 with four home runs, 12 RBIs, and 11 runs scored.

In addition to the offensive outburst from Sanders and Brito, the two combined for an incredible defensive effort in the bottom of the fourth.

The Oklahoma Sooners extended their winning streak to 39 games and are now 16-0 in Big 12 play and 47-1 on the season. Game two of the series can be seen on ESPN on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.

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Oklahoma Sooners unanimous No. 1 in NFCA USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

After a 5-0 weekend in the Hall of Fame Classic, the Oklahoma Sooners are the unanimous No. 1 in the NFCA USA TODAY Sports coaches poll.

The Oklahoma Sooners have won 19 in a row and have beaten seven ranked teams along the way. On a roll as they close non-conference play, the Sooners are the unanimous No. 1 in this week’s NFCA USA TODAY Sports coaches poll.

Last week, the Oklahoma Sooners beat No. 6 Florida State, No. 21 Auburn (twice), and No. 24 Northwestern.

Patty Gasso’s crew continues to set the standard for college softball as they get set to enter Big 12 play. Conference play will have its challenges, as it does every year.

Oklahoma State remains No. 2 in this week’s poll with their 25-2 record. Kelly Maxwell and the Cowgirls pitching staff has been phenomenal this season. They got a series win over Florida State last weekend and then went 4-0 at the OSU Mizuno Classic in Stillwater. They picked up wins over Minnesota, Arizona State, and future Big 12 foe UCF.

UCLA remained at No. 3 in the poll after a series win over Washington.

A team to watch is the Tennessee Volunteers, who come in at No. 4 in the poll. They’re 24-1 on the season and feature a trio of pitchers with ERAs lower than 1.01. They boast the best team ERA on the season.

In the Big 12, Texas comes in at No. 10, and the only team to hold a win over the Sooners, Baylor is No. 20.

The Sooners open Big 12 play with a road series in Ames to take on Iowa State this weekend. The Cyclones are 11-13 on the season.

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Oklahoma Sooners heading west in latest ESPN Women’s NCAA Tournament Bracketology

Despite winning a share of the Big 12 regular season title, the Sooners are just outside of a host seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.

The Oklahoma Sooners left Stillwater with a Bedlam sweep and a share of the Big 12 championship with their 80-71 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the end-of-game drama that transpired, the Sooners can hold their heads high. They accomplished something that hadn’t happened in Norman in more than a decade. 2009 was the last time the Sooners won a Big 12 title.

That’s quite the feat.

And as they prepare for the Phillip’s 66 Big 12 championships in Kansas City, they’re on the verge of owning a host seed in the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

According to the latest bracketology from ESPN, the Oklahoma Sooners would be a five seed if the tournament started today. A good showing in the Big 12 tournament, namely winning it, or beating Texas along the way, could prove enough to bump them to a four-seed.

Why does that matter?

As the four seed, the Sooners would host the first two rounds of the Women’s NCAA tournament. If this latest bracketology holds up, Oklahoma would head west to Los Angeles, joining a foursome hosted by UCLA, which also would include UNLV and Long Beach State.

That would basically be like home court for Oklahoma’s opponents.

Oklahoma’s opportunity to improve its resume and earn a higher seeding starts with the Big 12 tournament, which starts later this week. As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, they’ll wait on the winner of Kansas vs. TCU in the 7-10 matchup. Texas, the No. 1 seed, awaits the winner of the 8-9 matchup featuring Texas Tech and Kansas State.

The Sooners’ postseason will tip-off at 5 p.m. CT on Friday evening in Kansas City, Mo.

Oklahoma Sooners No. 1 in USA TODAY NFCA Coaches Poll, but UCLA still garners a first place vote

After blasting UCLA 14-0 in the finale of the Mary Nutter Classic, the Oklahoma Sooners took over the top spot in the USA TODAY Sports NCFA Coaches Poll. UCLA still garnered 1 first-place vote.

The Oklahoma Sooners bounced back from their first loss of the season to the Baylor Bears in ferocious fashion, going 5-0 at the Mary Nutter Classic. Their weekend in California included four run-rule wins and a 14-0 shellacking of the UCLA Bruins, who took over the top spot ever so briefly.

After outscoring their Mary Nutter opposition 50-4, the Oklahoma Sooners returned to their rightful place on top of the USA TODAY Sports NFCA Coaches Poll. This is a day after regaining the top spot in the D1 Softball top 25 yesterday.

UCLA, who has had a tremendous season in its own right, was the only other team to receive a first-place vote.

But how?

Sure, they’d played great until they ran into the buzzsaw that was the Sooners, but they had no answers for Oklahoma’s lineup in the circle or at the plate against Alex Storako.

Had it been a close win for Oklahoma, it would feel justified, but the Sooners erased any doubts as to who were still the queens of college softball.

The Sooners were joined by three other teams in the top 25. Baylor, who holds the only win over Oklahoma this season, moved up four spots to No. 21 after another phenomenal week. Texas held steady at No. 9 and Oklahoma State moved up a spot to No. 3 in the nation.

Here’s a look at the USA TODAY Sports NFCA Coaches Poll.

Oklahoma Sooners reclaim top spot of D1 Softball top 25

The Oklahoma Sooners are back on top of D1 Softball’s rankings after a brief stint at No. 2

The Oklahoma Sooners clearly took umbrage with being dropped to No. 2 for the first time in 29 polls in last week’s rankings. They proceeded to take out their frustrations on No. 1 UCLA. After Sunday’s statement win over the Bruins, the Sooners are 13-1 and back on top of this week’s D1Softball rankings.

OU went 5-0 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with four run-rule victories. Along with UCLA, the Sooners run-ruled Cal State Fullerton, Texas A&M, and Loyola Marymount. The tournament was held in Cathedral City, California, a two-hour drive from Los Angeles.

The Pac-12’s UCLA was bumped down to No. 2 in this week’s rankings, with Oklahoma State at No. 3. Baylor and Texas are the only other representatives from the Big 12 at No. 10 and No. 15.

The Sooners return home to Marita Hynes field for the OU Tournament with two games against both Illinois-Chicago and Kentucky. Kentucky comes to Norman ranked No. 14 in the nation.

At the beginning of the season, there were some outside concerns that the OU bats weren’t quite awake yet. After this weekend’s events, it’s safe to say that the Sooners are looking just as imposing as ever.

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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.

Red River National Title Showdown: Oklahoma to face the Texas Longhorns for WCWS Championship

Texas won two elimination games on Monday to set up a Red River National Championship Showdown with the Oklahoma Sooners.

The stage is set and while Oklahoma City will be the site, this year’s Women’s College World Series Championship will feature a Red River flair. The Texas Longhorns won two elimination games on Monday to overcome the odds and advance to the title series where they’ll face the juggernaut that is Patty Gasso and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Back in April, the Longhorns were the first team to beat the Sooners, snapping their 40-game win streak and record-breaking start to a season. Oklahoma avenged that loss with a 7-2 win on Saturday to advance to the semifinals where they beat UCLA.

Texas had to overcome a 5-0 deficit in game two on Monday. Trailing entering the fourth inning, the Longhorns chipped away scoring three in the frame on a Courtney Day three-run home run. They then added three more in the fifth to take the lead.

On the deciding play, Oklahoma State committed three errors to allow Texas runners to advance and ultimately take the lead and win the game.

Sometimes a team needs a break to get to advance to a championship and the Longhorns certainly got that on Monday night against Oklahoma State.

The Red River National Title Showdown will begin on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CST and can be seen on ESPN.

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Relive the Oklahoma Sooners 15-0 win over UCLA through incredible images

Relive the Oklahoma Sooners’ dominant 15-0 win over UCLA with these stunning still photos.

Tiare Jennings and Jocelyn Alo led the way at the plate and Hope Trautwein collected her eighth complete game shutout of the season as the Oklahoma Sooners rebounded from their first loss of the NCAA tournament with a 15-0 win over UCLA. The win puts Oklahoma through to the Women’s College World Series championship for the third-straight time and eighth time in program history.

The Sooners started fast with three-run innings in the first two frames and then exploded for eight runs in the fifth to secure their 40th run-rule win of the season in dominating fashion.

UCLA is arguably the greatest program in softball history and after the Sooners’ first loss of the postseason, made them look like newcomers to the Women’s College World Series. Their 15-0 win marked the largest win in WCWS history.

Now the Oklahoma Sooners move on to face the winner of the other WCWS semifinal featuring Oklahoma State and Texas. Texas picked up a 5-0 win over the Cowgirls to force the deciding game between the two sides. However, before we get to the championship series for the Oklahoma Sooners, let’s take a look at their incredible performance over UCLA with these stunning still images.

Social Media reacts to Oklahoma’s 15-0 win vs. UCLA to advance to WCWS

Social media reacted to Jocelyn Alo and Hope Trautwein’s big day as the Sooners set the record for largest win in WCWS history.

The Oklahoma Sooners bounced back from their 7-3 loss earlier in the day to the UCLA Bruins with a dominating performance in game two to clinch their spot in the Women’s College World Series championship.

It was an incredible start as the Sooners opened up with a three-run home run from Tiare Jennings in the first and a three-run shot from Jocelyn Alo in the second to jump out to an early 6-0 lead.

Hope Trautwein allowed a double in the top of the first, but nothing else until the bottom of the fifth inning. But by that time the Sooners had built a 15-0 lead after an eight-run inning put the game completely out of reach for the 12-time national champion-UCLA Bruins.

Jocelyn Alo was 4-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBIs, including a grand slam that closed the game.

Oklahoma will now move on to face the winner of Monday night’s matchup between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. Texas will need to win twice to advance while Oklahoma State can advance to the championship series with a single win over the Longhorns.

The sports world was in awe of the Sooners’ incredible performance to clinch their eighth Women’s College World Series berth in program history and third straight. Let’s take a look at some of the best reactions.