Oklahoma and Texas Set to Renew Hostilities at the Women's College World Series

OKLAHOMA CITY — For the fourth time this season, Oklahoma and Texas meet.

But this time, the stakes are massive, as the winner will move within one game of a berth in the Women’s College World Series championship series.

Patty Gasso’s top-seeded Sooners won the regular season series over Mike White’s Longhorns in April, but OU didn’t escape Austin unscathed.

In Game 3 against Oklahoma, right-hander Hailey Dolcini powered Texas (44-19-1) to an upset victory over the Sooners (55-2), snapping OU’s 40-game win streak in the process.

Oklahoma’s offense will have a chance to avenge the loss on Saturday, as Dolcini did a nice job quieting the OU bats back in April.

How to Watch:

Oklahoma vs. Texas: Saturday, 2 p.m., ABC

In 14 combined innings of work, Dolcini only allowed five hits while holding the Sooner offense to five runs.

Despite Dolcini’s strong performances against OU earlier in the year, Gasso said it’s a positive to square off against a familiar foe at the Women’s College World Series.

“I think it's a benefit,” Gasso said Thursday after Oklahoma’s win over Northwestern. “We know what we're dealing with. We know what to work on. We've seen it three times. Yeah. I definitely think it's a benefit.

“There's no surprises here.”

However for this go-round, the Texas pitching staff will have to handle an OU offense firing on all cylinders.

The Sooners have run ruled three of their six opponents so far in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 65 runs in the process.

On opening day of the WCWS, Oklahoma hit not one but two grand slams courtesy of Tiare Jennings and Jana Johns to erase an early deficit.

The Longhorns not only have to overcome that explosive offense fueled by the pro-OU crowd, but the Sooners are now fully healthy yet again.

True freshman star Jordy Bahl hadn’t pitched in the postseason for Oklahoma until arriving at the WCWS, where she made a brief cameo to record the final out of the game.

Bahl matched Dolcini’s performances in the regular season, giving up 12 hits and four runs across 13 innings back in April.

Even if Bahl doesn’t get the ball in the circle on Saturday afternoon, her reintroduction is just another variable White and his coaching staff will have to consider.

“Adding Jordy to the mix and making you now train for three different pitchers instead of two is difficult for teams,” Gasso said Thursday.

The Sooners and the Longhorns will battle again on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ABC, and the winner will be just one game away from a berth in the WCWS Championship Series.

While OU looks to avenge its lone regular season loss, Texas’ head coach is just hoping his team can replicate the magic from the regular season series finale.

“It's not always the best team that wins,” White said on Wednesday ahead of the WCWS. “It's the team that plays the best, and on that particular day we played better than they did.

“… I've always said good pitching beats good hitting, especially in pressure situations, and Hailey was able to put together one of the best games of her career, and that's the way to do it. Hopefully we can repeat it.”

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