No. 1/1 Softball’s late-game rally falls short as Sooners take series-opening game - University of Texas Athletics (2024)

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Game Recap: Softball | 06.05.2024 | Chris Allen Brown

Longhorns unable to complete late-inning heroics to open WCWS Championship Series.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. –It appeared early on that The University of Texas would keep pace with The University of Oklahoma during the first game of the 2024 Women's College World Series Championship Series, but the Sooners answered a Longhorn run with five unanswered runs to take Wednesday's contest 8-3.

A two-run home run off the bat of Tiare Jennings gave Oklahoma an early 2-0 lead during the top of the first, before Mia Scott cut the deficit in half with a one-out solo home run in the bottom half of the frame. But back-to-back one-out home runs by Kinzie Hansen and Kasidi Pickering extended the Sooners' lead back to four at 5-1.

Oklahoma plated single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, on a two-out throwing error that allowed Hansen to score from third, and then a two-out, run-scoring single off the bat of Jennings to score Avery Hodges from third to push its lead out to 7-1.

Staying true to its postseason form, the Texas offense got the ball rolling in the bottom of the sixth as Katie Stewart drove in the Longhorns' second run of the game with a one-out single to right field that scored Viviana Martinez, who led off the inning reaching by a fielding error then advancing to third on the play. Two batters later, Joley Mitchell made it a four-run contest as she singled home Alyssa Washington from second to cut the score to 7-3. The scoring threat ended, though, with a two-out strikeout with runners on first and second.

The Sooners added an eighth run during the contest on a one-out Longhorn throwing error in the top of the seventh.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"Obviously, we started off on the wrong foot tonight; got down 2-0 straight away. Hats off to Oklahoma for creating that pressure straight away and (Kelly) Maxwell threw very well throughout the game. We got things rolling a little bit too late, but we got to see some pitches and score some runs, so we were able to take something away from that. Obviously, Mia Scott had a nice home run and made it close at 2-1, but we weren't good enough in all phases of the game. We didn't play well enough to be able to hold them down, but fortunately we have one more shot at them."

FROM SENIOR JOLEY MITCHELL

"I think we've done a good job of shifting the momentum. We've done it against OU during the regular season and then against (Texas) A&M in the Super Regional. We're a tough team, so as long as we stick together and put our heads together and do the job, we'll be just fine the next two games."

GAME NOTES

• With her first-inning, solo home run against Oklahoma's Kelly Maxwell, Mia Scott has now hit a home run in back-to-back Women's College World Series Championship Series (WCWS) games against the Sooners.
• By drawing the starting assignment in the pitching circle, Teagan Kavan became the first freshman pitcher in program history to start a WCWS Championship Series game.
• As a result of both teams scoring in the game's first inning, it marks the second consecutive game one of a WCWS Championship Series between Texas and Oklahoma that both teams scored in the first inning.
  • To begin the 2022 WCWS Championship Series, Texas scored one run in the top of the first, while Oklahoma plated five.
• By turning an inning-ending double play to close out the top of the third, the Texas defense has now turned 30 double plays throughout the 2024 season, which is now tied with the 2022 squad for the most in the program's single-season history.

UP NEXT

• Texas (55-9) and Oklahoma (58-7) will tangle, again, for the second game of the best-of-three 2024 Women's College World Series Championship Series at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, June 6.
  • The Longhorns have not lost back-to-back games this season since Saturday, March 30 at Oklahoma State before falling to Oklahoma in Austin on Friday, April 5, 2024.

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