Softball Live Blog: No.1 Oklahoma Opens Massive Series Against No. 4 Texas in Austin

The top-ranked Sooners will put their perfect Big 12 record on the line against No. 4 Texas in the series opener on Friday at Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin.

AUSTIN, TX — Ryan Chapman offers his real-time observations from Red & Charline McCombs Field in Austin as Patty Gasso’s top-ranked Sooners open their massive weekend series against Mike White’s No. 4-ranked Texas Longhorns. Just keep the browser open and refresh often for Chapman’s updates throughout today's contest.

7:48 p.m.

Of course it was Tiare Jennings. 

Cooly fielded a deflection and fired it over to Cydney Sanders to close out the victory. 

Oklahoma doused any nerves to get a huge win in Game 1 in Austin. 

Read the full game story here.

7:45 p.m.

Big moment for Kelly Maxwell. She’s put two aboard and Katie Stewart represents the tying run with two outs. 

Red & Charline McCombs Field is about to come unglued, by far the loudest the fans have been all game. 

7:43 p.m.

The Longhorns get another on a sacrifice fly, but Oklahoma is one out away from ending the day with a 5-2 win. 

7:37 p.m.

Texas finally gets on the board, but Patty Gasso is sticking with Maxwell here in the seventh with no outs. 

Karlie Keeney now warming up for the Sooners in the bullpen. 

7:31 p.m.

Once again, Estelle Czech did her job. 

She retired Rylie Boone for the first time all evening to help put OU down in order. 

Last chance saloon for the hosts. 

7:23 p.m.

What more can be said about Maxwell. 

She’s suffocating Texas, now up to 10 strikeouts on the night. 

The Longhorns haven’t touched second base. 

7:18 p.m.

Estelle Czech is giving Mike White some nice work in relief, but the Texas offense is running out of time. 

Six outs to erase the five-run deficit. 

7:09 p.m.

Maxwell’s no-hitter bid ends at 4 2/3 innings, but still no real Texas threat. 

Sooners take a 5-0 lead into the sixth looking to add. Coor-Sanders-Hansen due up.

7:03 p.m.

Really nice work by Texas reliever Estelle Czech there. Entered the game with runners on the corners and OU was on the verge of putting the run-rule on, but Czech got a pair of quick popups to keep the deficit at five. 

None of that will matter if the Longhorns can’t get a hit off Maxwell, however. 

6:52 p.m.

Jayda Coleman knew it was out the second it left the bat. 

OU’s star center fielder absolutely crushed Mac Morgan’s 2-2 pitch and held her finger up before the ball cleared the outfield. 

The three-run shot silenced the burnt orange-faithful here in Austin, with OU’s parent section bringing all the noise.

Oklahoma on top 5-0 here in the fifth. 

6:41 p.m.

Let’s put it this way... the fans gathered at Red & Charline McCombs Field are officially talking about *it* as it pertains to Kelly Maxwell’s performance. 

She’s struck out seven Longhorn batters. 

In Maxwell’s last outing, she retired 20 Kansas batters before allowing a hit (a solo home run). 

Twelve Texas batters down in Austin. 

6:33 p.m.

Texas turned near-disaster into momentum in the top of the fourth. 

A miscommunication between Longhorn center fielder Kayden Henry and shortstop Viviana Martinez let to Alynah Torres’ popup getting dropped, but it was shallow enough to fire to second in time to throw out Ella Parker after she stopped to tag up at first base. 

Then Mac Morgan made a nice catch on Kasidi Pickering’s line-drive back up the middle and she fired back to first to throw out Torres and complete the double play. 

Crowd here at Red & McCombs Field came alive, inserting some energy back into the complex. Kelly Maxwell’s dominance in the circle has mostly kept the crowd out of the game up until this point, now it’s on Texas to find a breakthrough and keep the momentum rolling. 

6:26 p.m.

Have a day, Kelly Maxwell. 

The dominant left-hander fires another pair of strikeouts in the third inning to keep OU’s momentum rolling. 

She’s fanned six Texas batters through three innings. 

6:16 p.m.

Mike White’s challenge only delayed the inevitable. 

Boone still reached on a single, and the National Player of the Week did the damage. 

Jayda Coleman’s single brought Maya Bland home, putting Oklahoma officially on top 1-0 in the top of the third. Smart moves on the bases meant Boone was on third as well, and Alyssa Brito doubled the lead on a sacrifice fly. 

Tiare Jennings’ turn with two outs and Coleman on second. 

6:11 p.m.

Oklahoma nearly broke the deadlock. 

First, noted 8-hole hitter Kinzie Hansen smokes a single through the right side that advanced Maya Bland from first to third. Looked as if the ball may have deflected off Bland’s cleat, but the umpires called it fair. 

Then Rylie Boone singled through virtually the same exact spot to bring the true freshman home and move Hansen from first to third. 

Mike White has asked for a review to see if Hansen left early, and the Texas coach was correct. 

Boone steps back into the box and Bland will head back to third, and Hansen is out. Boone will slot back into a 2-1 count with one out. Fun happenings in the top of the third!

6:01 p.m.

Texas drew a two-out walk, but couldn’t do anything with it. 

The Longhorns are having trouble with Kelly Maxwell’s rise ball right now. Oklahoma’s ace has four strikeouts already in two innings. 

5:52 p.m.

Sooners go down in order in the top of the second, but contact in every at-bat. 

Tuesday, Patty Gasso said she’s confident the Sooners will have success if they make good contact and put hard-hit balls in play. Getting that early, though nothing has found a gap. 

Reese Atwood gets her first look of the series at Maxwell to lead off the bottom of the second. 

5:47 p.m.

Exactly the start you want from Kelly Maxwell in the circle. 

A pair of strikeouts and a harmless popup into shallow right field. 

She allowed just one three-run blast against the Longhorns last year in Austin for Oklahoma State. 

5:36 p.m.

No defensive issues for Texas in the top of the first. Sooners put three hard-hit balls in play in the infield, but the Longhorns turned two to get out of the frame without any damage. 

Only OU base runner was Alyssa Brito. She reached on a really tough play for Mac Morgan, who had the ball rocket straight back at her. 

Kayden Henry, Mia Scott and Joley Mitchell due up for the Longhorns.

5:22 p.m.

Patty Gasso and Mike White are done with their pregame meeting at home plate. 

National Anthem up next, and then the softball gets rolling. 

5:05 p.m.

We’ve been served an absolutely perfect evening for softball here in Austin. It’s going to be 85 degrees with the sun shining here at first pitch. A decent breeze blowing straight out to center field. 

Kelly Maxwell will start in the circle for Oklahoma, and she’ll battle Texas’ Mac Morgan. 

Kinzie Hansen is back in at catcher for the Sooners, she will bat eighth. Alynah Torres got the nod as second base from Patty Gasso, and true freshman Kasidi Pickering joins Jayda Coleman and Rylie Boone in the outfield. 

Coleman is in the leadoff spot, followed by third baseman Alyssa Brito and shortstop Tiare Jennings.