Texas drops first Big 12 series with OU up next
One pitch proved the difference against Oklahoma State on Saturday as the Texas softball team dropped its first Big 12 series of the season.
Oklahoma State’s Caroline Wang hammered a 3-run home run off Texas starter Estelle Czech in the bottom of the first Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., and that one hit was enough to lift the Cowgirls to a 3-0 win and a 2-1 triumph in the three-game series.
Texas (29-5, 9-3 Big 12) won’t have to wait long for a chance for redemption since No. 1 Oklahoma visits McCombs Field for a three-game homestand beginning Friday.
What happened against Oklahoma State?
After Texas had a seven-game winning streak snapped in a 5-0 loss to Oklahoma State on Thursday, the Longhorns rebounded with a hard-fought 2-1 win Friday to set up the series rubber match.
However, the Texas bats again couldn’t get going Saturday against pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl, who also shut out the Longhorns in the first game of the series. No more than one Texas batter reached base during the same inning, and infielder Vivi Martinez was the only batter to reach second base during the game.
For the series, Texas hit just .226 and endured its first two shutout losses of the season.
Texas had better numbers from its pitching staff. Czech and Mac Morgan allowed just a combined one hit in Saturday’s loss, and Citlaly Gutierrez improved to 6-0 on the season while earning a complete-game win Friday.
Freshman starter Teagan Kavan took the loss on Thursday after allowing four hits and three earned runs in 21⁄3 innings.
“The depth of our staff is the strength of our staff,” Texas coach Mike White said. “Mac Morgan is throwing pretty well right now. Estelle Czech did a great job with the exception of the one mistake. And, of course, Citlaly pitched real well (Friday) and Teagan will bounce back. And we always have Sophia (Simpson) as well, so what we have to take is that we can pitch well in these situations.”
What’s at stake against Oklahoma?
Nothing less than Texas’ chance at its first regular-season Big 12 softball title in 14 years. Top-ranked Oklahoma (34-1, 12-0) is on pace to win its 12th consecutive regular-season title with a threegame cushion over Texas and Oklahoma State (29-6, 9-3). A series win by the Sooners would all but remove Texas from title contention, considering the Sooners’ record of dominance against the rest of the conference.
The series begins Friday at 5:30 p.m. with the second game scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday. The final game of the series starts Sunday at 1 p.m.