After beating OU, Texas faces No. 25 Texas State

The Texas softball team made a statement to Oklahoma, the Big 12 and the national pollsters this past weekend by handing the top-ranked Sooners their first series loss in 13 years.

But most of all, the Longhorns made a statement to themselves.

“I think we did what a lot of people thought was impossible and that was beat Oklahoma two days in a row,” Texas coach Mike White said after his team's 2-1 win Sunday that clinched the series 2-1. “I think we learned a lot about ourselves this weekend.”

Freshman Katie Stewart, one of the heroes from the Oklahoma series, agreed. She said beating the threetime defending champion Sooners in itself marks a major achievement. But coming on the heels of a series loss at Oklahoma State validates some of the hype that has surrounded Texas, which has been ranked in the top 10 all season in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.

“I feel like getting these two wins is really big as a bounce back,” said Stewart, whose two-run homer Sunday accounted for Texas' runs. “And, you know, we always get told that we're such a good team. Just how we executed this week, I really think it kind of proves that.”

Texas' Estelle Czech proved the most effective member of a deep pitching staff against the Sooners. In six innings of work in the series, she didn't allow a single run to the nation's highest-scoring offense while earning both the Big 12 pitcher of the week and Wilson/NFCA pitcher of the week awards.

Things don't get much easier for Texas this week. The No. 2 Longhorns (31-6, 11-4 Big 12), who still trail Oklahoma (35-3, 13-2) in the USA Today/NFCA poll and in the Big 12 standings, face No. 25 Texas State in a nonconference game Wednesday before a three-game series with a Baylor team that also received votes in the poll.

In this week's USA Today/NFCA poll, the Longhorns fell four points short of the top spot despite their series win over Oklahoma. Texas tallied 766 points and nine first-place votes in Tuesday's poll compared to 770 points and 12 firstplace votes for OU. Duke (33-3) is the third team in what is currently a threeteam race for the top spot; the Blue Devils racked up 760 points and 10 firstplace votes.

Texas moved ahead of Oklahoma to No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll.

KAILA JONES/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Texas' Bella Dayton celebrates after reaching base safely against Oklahoma in the Longhorns' 2-1 win Sunday that clinched the series.