Softball: Recapping the Texas Series

By Taylor Thomas

What a scene it was this past weekend as the No.1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners made their final trip as a member of the Big 12 Conference to Austin, Texas to take on the No. 5 Texas Longhorns. Drama, intensity, and passion filled the building on both sides of the crowd and within both dugouts, and all three games of the series absolutely delivered like we had expected coming into the heavyweight matchup. For the first time in thirteen years, Patty Gasso’s bunch dropped a Big 12 Conference series despite outscoring the Longhorns across the three game set. We will take a look back into all three games and dive into each key situation as the Sooners will now look to rebound on the road this Tuesday against Wichita State. 

Game 1 was a nationally televised contest on ESPNU, and boy did they get a show. Kelly Maxwell took the ball in her first taste of the Red River Rivalry, and you wouldn’t have been able to tell. The lefty was dominant from start to finish as she tossed a complete game with 10 strikeouts, 6 of which came before the 4th inning. The only real threat for the Texas offense came in the bottom of the 7th when they scratched across their only two runs, but other than that this game was all Sooners. Jayda Coleman got things started in the 3rd inning, driving home Maya Bland on an RBI single that was followed up by an Alyssa Brito sac fly. Both teams were held scoreless till the 5th, when Coleman stepped up again with two outs and sent a blast over the RF wall for a 3-run bomb that would extend the Sooner lead to 5-0. From there like mentioned earlier, it was all Kelly Maxwell as OU opened up the weekend with a 5-2 victory

Saturday night was given the primetime, 7pm CT slot on ESPN with the great broadcasting crew of Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, and Michelle Smith. Once again, the fans were given another incredible show that was highlighted by some controversy. Nicole May got the start and fired 4.2 strong innings to go along with 6 strikeouts. Oklahoma got things started in the first on an RBI single by Tiare Jennings. Citaly Gutierrez opposed May in the circle and was lights out, throwing a complete game while giving up just one earned run, and was able to work out of some big spots. Texas would take the lead off of May in the 4th on RBI doubles by Viviana Martinez and Katie Stewart and would hold that 2-1 lead until the top of the 7th inning, where mayhem ensued. You’ve all seen the play by now, but with 2 outs and the Sooners down to their last chance, Kinzie Hansen delivered a single to give OU life. Hansen was lifted for Maya Bland again, and Rylie Boone remained clutch yet again and sent a shot to the wall in center field just over the head of Kayden Henry. Bland was flying around the bases and heading home to tie the game up, however a bad relay throw took catcher Reese Atwood up the third base line, causing her and Bland to collide simultaneously as she was able to hang onto the ball and get the final out. Immediately, Patty Gasso challenged the call for obstruction, which has been called across the country all year and was even called on Kinzie Hansen during the Washington game back in February. This time however, the umpires upheld the call, giving the Sooners their first conference loss in 40 games as Texas stole a 2-1 victory to even the series.

Game 3 on Sunday was much of the same as the previous night, as Texas took another 2-1 victory to hand OU their first conference series loss since 2011. While OU got things started on a no-doubter by Ella Parker, Texas was yet again able to take advantage of some uncharacteristic mistakes by the Sooners to edge this one out. Kelly Maxwell once again got the start looking to pick up her second victory of the weekend, and delivered another great performance in the circle as she struck out 6 in 4.2 innings of work. Teagan Kavan started for the Longhorns and only gave up the solo HR to Parker in her 3.2 innings of work before giving way to Estelle Czech who pitched the final 3.1 innings of scoreless ball. In the 4th, it was once again Katie Stewart who played hero for the Longhorns as she hit a two out, two-run home run to left field after Vivana Martinez was hit by a pitch that gave Texas another chance in the inning. Czech was able to work out of some big time jams in relief, as the Sooners left eight runners on base and were unable to deliver on offense, giving the Longhorns the series victory.

Back to the obstruction call to wrap things up.. While myself and most people believe that the correct call was made at the plate to end the game on Saturday night, the complaint almost every softball fan has, not just OU fans, is the consistency in which the play is ruled to be obstruction or not. All across the country, we have seen numerous instances of an obstruction call either being called incorrectly or not being called at all, which has naturally brought some confusion to the world of softball. It can be tough at first to make the call, especially in a big moment like that, but with the luxury of replay now, it is surprising to not have the consistency with each outcome as we now sit on April 8th. Of course, that call was not the reason the Sooners lost, as throughout the entire series the team did not play fluid softball at all. With the quick turnaround on Tuesday against a very talented Wichita State team, let’s see how Patty Gasso and this team responds to uncharted waters. You can catch all of the action tomorrow, April 9th on ESPN+ at 6pm CT.