OU Softball: No. 1 Oklahoma Drops Second Straight to No. 4 Texas, Loses First Big 12 Series Since 2011

Katie Stewart's two-run bomb in the fourth inning was enough to push Texas past Oklahoma for the Longhorns' first series victory over OU since 2009.

AUSTIN, TX — Clutch hitting escaped Oklahoma again on Sunday. 

The Sooners stranded eight runners, and OU was again unable to decipher Texas left-hander Estelle Czech. 

Down a run headed into the seventh, Oklahoma had Ella Parker, Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings due up — exactly the part of the order Patty Gasso would have wanted. 

Czech bowed up, however, inducing a pair of harmless popups before Jennings singled. 

OU third baseman Alysa Brito had the chance to play hero, but she flew out to end the contest. 

Final Box Score

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Unable to cash in on base hits and walks, Oklahoma fell to the Longhorns 2-1 for the second day in a row at Red & Charline McCombs Field.

“Pretty much a replay of yesterday,” Gasso said after the game. “…  The Texas pitchers were outstanding this weekend and they came at us, they were confident, you could feel all that, and we just left too many opportunities. We weren't getting our swings off.”

The series loss in the Red River Rivalry was OU’s first conference series defeat since losing to Missouri in 2011, and the first series the Sooners dropped to Texas since 2009.

On both occasions, OU was swept in two games. It was the first three-game Big 12 series defeat Oklahoma has ever suffered. 

WATCH: Texas Postgame Press Conference

WATCH: Oklahoma Postgame Press Conference

The top-ranked Sooners fell to 35-3 on the year and to 13-2 in Big 12 action, while Texas improved to 31-6 overall and 11-4 in conference play, blowing the race at the top of the league wide open.

“What I'm looking forward to — we needed this. We needed to feel this,” Gasso said. “Are we broken, are we shaken? Absolutely not. What we need to do, and we know, is go back to Norman and reset. 

“… We also got some things handed to us in the way of us going back and saying, 'OK, we need to have  abetter mindset going forward to find a way to win games.' So this is coming at the right time.”

Parker broke up the pitcher’s duel between Oklahoma’s Kelly Maxwell and Texas starter Teagan Kavan in the third inning.

The OU freshman crushed a solo home run to put the Sooners on top, 1-0.

Coleman then drew a walk, putting the pressure on Texas’ freshman starter. 

Kavan got Jennings to fly out, but Brito singled down the left field line to put a pair aboard. 

Kinzie Hansen and Rylie Boone were unable to add to the lead, however, as Kavan induced a pair of fly balls to get out of the inning.

Then it was Coleman’s turn to make a play in the field. 

Maxwell retired the first two Longhorn batters of the third, bringing Joley Mitchell to the plate. 

Mitchell hammered Maxwell’s second pitch straight to the wall in center field and appeared destined for at least a double. But Coleman closed ground on the wall and leapt to make a fully-extended catch at the wall, ending the third and sending crimson-clad fans above OU’s dugout into a frenzy. 

Kasidi Pickering drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, and two batters later Texas coach Mike White opted to withdraw Kavan in favor of Czech. 

Parker singled to put runners on first and second with two outs, but the Sooners were again unable to capitalize. Coleman flew out to strand OU’s fifth and sixth runners of the afternoon.

“We didn't adjust when we knew that they were making adjustments themselves,” Brito said. “They did a really great job of constantly changing up their plans. We knew we were better than that and what we showed and how we responded. But also I just think we needed to stay within us.”

Issuing free passes got the best of the Sooners in the bottom half of the inning. 

Maxwell needed just three pitches to record the first two outs, but then she hit Viviana Martinez. 

The Martinez-Katie Stewart connection sunk OU on Saturday, and Stewart returned to torment the Sooners. 

She belted a two-run home run that just pushed beyond the top of the wall in left field, putting Texas on top 2-1.

OU left one aboard in the each of the fifth and sixth innings, but was unable to conjure any of the seventh-inning drama from Saturday night. 

“(Czech’s) really tough on all hitters, but especially lefties,” Gasso said. “And we've got some crucial, critical lefties in the lineup. We’ve just gotta learn. She was really good. She took that role, and you could see it in her face. She wanted that opportunity to finish and close.”

The Longhorn pitching staff combined to hold Oklahoma to seven total runs across the three games, the lowest scoring output OU has had in a series since Baylor contained the Sooners to seven runs in 2012.

The loss to Texas marked the first time the Sooners had lost back-to-back games since OU’s defeat to UCLA in the 2019 Women’s College World Series Championship Series. 

Oklahoma will return to action on Tuesday at Wichita State before returning to Big 12 play this weekend in Norman against BYU.