By Taylor Thomas
As the famous Ron Burgundy said, “boy. That escalated quickly.” The same is probably being said by the Lady Mavericks of UT-Arlington after what took place at Love’s Field last night as the No.1 Oklahoma Sooners rolled to a 12-1 run rule victory. After a slow start, Oklahoma exploded on offense in the second inning that powered them to the big victory that now puts the team’s record at 28-1 as the Sooners prepare for a very talented No. 19 ranked Baylor Bears squad that will come into Norman looking to shock the Sooners for the second straight season. We will recap both the UTA victory and also preview the pivotal Big 12 matchup here as Oklahoma plays host to Baylor beginning this Friday night at 6pm at Hall Of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Karlie Keeney took the ball on Wednesday night against UT-Arlington and worked around a first inning error that gave the Lady Mavericks the first run of the game. Keeney settled back in after giving up two hits in the first and was able to work three innings while only giving up the one unearned run. The UTA lead was short-lived however as Alynah Torres came to the plate in the second inning looking to continue her hot streak. Torres did just that as she sent a ball into the garden in dead center field to give OU a 2-1 lead. The Sooners were far from done in the inning as they executed a two-out rally that saw fifteen hitters come to the plate, highlighted by two Torres home runs and a grand slam by Alyssa Brito that left the entire stadium and may have landed by our friends on the right field berm at L. Dale Mitchell Park to give OU a 10-1 lead after two innings. From there, the Sooners would cruise to another run-rule victory as both SJ Guerin and Paytn Monticelli each recorded a scoreless inning to give the No.1 ranked Sooners the 11-1 victory.
It’s no secret that the matchup against the Baylor Bears is a matchup that has been circled both inside and outside the Sooner softball program all off-season long. Last year in a non-conference matchup, Baylor handed the Sooners their only loss of the 2023 season and ignited the historic win streak that followed by Oklahoma. No. 19 ranked Baylor has been a program on the rise under Head Coach Glenn Moore, who enters his twenty-fourth season at the helm in Waco. The Lady Bears enter this matchup with a 17-8 record, four of those to No. 7 ranked Tennessee and No. 6 Oklahoma State. Baylor will be looking to rebound off of a surprising sweep against an up-start Kansas Jayhawks team on top of the extra juice each opponent brings when facing OU. The Bears are ranked in the Top 20 for good reason as their lineup features five different hitters with an average over .300, and are led by Shaylon Govan, who enters with a .500 average along with 3 home runs and 14 RBI. The junior is coming off a 2023 season where she was named to the All-Big 12 first team and is well on her way to picking up that honor again this season. In the circle, the name that first comes to mind is Dariana Orme who has been a staple for the Lady Bears the past two seasons. Orme has battled some injuries and has been limited to just eight innings, however it has been the duo of RyLee Crandall and Aliyah Binford that have picked up their play in the absence of Orme. Crandall has been phenomenal to start her sophomore season and enters with a 1.31 ERA and 51 K’s in 59 innings so far this year. Binford has very similar numbers as well to back up Crandall, as she enters with a 2.64 ERA and a team high 71 strikeouts in 58.1 innings. These two aces have a great contrast in styles and will need to continue their hot starts in order to pull off the upset again this weekend.
As mentioned previously, Game 1 of this highly anticipated three game series will take place under the lights at Hall Of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City at 6pm this Friday night. Sooner fans will remember the run-rule victory of the Texas Longhorns that set a regular season record for attendance in women’s softball with 8,930 fans. This year, I personally expect that number to be shattered as Oklahoma fans will have revenge in their mind against the No.19 ranked Lady Bears. If you cannot make it to Love’s Field this season, Friday night will be the prime chance in the regular season for Sooner fans to see their beloved softball team in action. You can once again catch all of the action on ESPN+ with Game 1 beginning Friday at 6pm, and then back in Norman on Saturday at 2pm before finishing up back at Love’s Field on Sunday at 1pm.
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