Oklahoma
Kats take down Oklahoma State on Opening Night
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats had the ideal formula in place on Opening Night, getting strong pitching and timely hitting in a 7-2 win over Oklahoma State at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Kats (1-0) got 5.0 strong innings from starter Coltin Atkinson and 4.0 shutdown innings of relief from Logan Hewitt, while Walker Janek and Jeffrey David had a pair of RBI to help the Kats open up its weekend series and the 2024 season on the right foot.
Atkinson did not issue a walk and struck out six Cowboys (0-1) on his way to picking up the win, his first of the year and the 20th of his career. Hewitt then took the ball in the sixth after Sam Houston had retaken the lead and went on to allow just two hits and strike out five in 4.0 shutout innings for his third career save.
OSU starter Sam Garcia was the first of five Cowboys to take the mound, taking the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 4.1 innings of work.
Easton Loyd and freshman Blake Brown had two hits apiece on the offensive side, but it was Janek and Malachi Lott who each delivered RBI singles in the opening inning to give the Kats an early 2-0 advantage.
That lead held up, thanks in large part to Atkinson, who struck out OSU sluggers Carson Benge and Nolan Schubart with runners in scoring position to end a possible rally. Two innings later, though, OSU took advantage of getting each of its first two hitters on by scoring on a sac fly and an error to tie it up.
That deadlock did not last for long as Loyd delivered an RBI single to score Jace Martinez in the bottom of the fifth to put the Kats back up 3-2. The Kats added another run off the bat of Janek later in the inning, and an inning later Brady Christensen delivered a pinch-hit RBI single of his own to up the lead to 5-2.
David then put the game away in the seventh, following an intentional walk to Janek by lining the first pitch he saw into the left-field corner for a 2-run double that gave the Kats a comfortable 5-run lead with only six outs to go.
The Kats and Cowboys will tangle again on Saturday in the middle game of the series with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m. The game can be heard via audio on the Bearkat Sports Network.
GAME NOTES
– Sam Houston has now won each of its last two games vs Oklahoma State, having defeated the Cowboys in Arlington in 2022.
– Coltin Atkinson was the winning pitcher for the Kats, picking up the 20th of his career. He’s the first Kat to reach 20 career victories since Hayden Wesneski finished his career in 2019 with 25 victories.
– Sam Houston started a pair of true freshmen on the left side of its infield, Blake Brown (3B) and Jace Martinez (SS). The duo reached base in five of combined eight plate appearances, including a 2-for-3 night from Brown which included his first career double.
– Logan Hewitt earned his third career save, going 4.0 innings to close the game. It was the fifth time in the past three seasons he has turned in a relief appearance of at least 4.0 innings and the first time he’s done it to complete a save since doing so vs Texas Southern in 2022.
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Oklahoma
Texas Softball Avoids the Sweep vs. Oklahoma in Walk-Off Fashion
The Texas Longhorns headed into Sunday looking for anything with the Red River Rivalry series already lost, as the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners headed to Austin and took the first two games of the series.
The Longhorns would be shut out for the first time since 2024, dropping the first game of the series on Friday, 3-0, and dropping the series in a frustrating 4-3 loss on Saturday. Looking to avoid the sweep, headed to the diamond looking to beat both the rain and Oklahoma to salvage some momentum.
And Texas would get exactly what it needed on Sunday, getting one back on Oklahoma, taking game three in a back-and-forth 8-6 affair.
Texas Comes Up with the Clutch Hits when Needed
The Longhorns, while dropping back-to-back series this season, have put an end to a four-game losing streak.
“We lost the series, but anytime you beat an Oklahoma team, you’ve done something,” head coach Mike White said. “I think, look at the volume of the work in the three games over the weekend, I thought we played very well.”
For the second straight day, the Longhorns would strike first against the Sooners, with Texas this time flexing its power as junior Kayden Henry got the day started for the Longhorns with a three-run home run, giving Texas its biggest lead of the series.
However, the Sooners would not go away quietly as they looked to sweep their rival on their home field, with Oklahoma battling throughout the middle innings, making the Longhorns lead 3-0 to a minimal 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning.
The Longhorns hung onto a lead through the back half of the game until the seventh inning, in which Texas held a 5-3 lead. However, needing just three outs to steal the win, the lead would evaporate quickly with Oklahoma blasting a two-run home run to even things out at five, forcing extra innings.
In extras, the Sooners would flip the script of the ballgame, scoring a run and taking their first lead of the game. The Sooners are forcing the Longhorns to respond, trailing 6-5 and down to their last three outs.
And in a weekend when the Longhorns were unable to come up with the big hit, they found them on Sunday. As the rain threatened to pour down in Austin, the home runs poured at Red and Charline McCombs Field with Texas winning a slugfest that featured seven home runs, five of which came from batters in burnt orange.
“I thought that our resiliency today, after two tough losses,” White said. “It could’ve been easy just to say you know we were close, but we couldn’t have done it.”
In that eighth inning, Texas found two home runs to steal game three of the series. The first homer was brought by freshman Hannah Wells, who came into the ballgame as a pinch hitter in the crucial moment and managed to get a ball to fall right over the left field fence to even up the game at six.
Making herself the hero of the game was junior Katie Stewart. She settled into the batter’s box with a runner on base and on the third pitch of the at-bat crushed a pitch for the walk-off two-run bomb to seal the ballgame.
“I just knew it off the bat,” Stewart said. “And so knowing that the game was over and that we had won, just like a wave of emotions came over.”
The Longhorns will head back on the road, making their way up to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in their next action. The three-game tilt is set to start on Saturday April, 18 at 3:00 p.m. CT.
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Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s Transfer Players Reviews Are In — ‘This is a Real Team, Real Brotherhood’
NORMAN — The transfer portal has given players a clearer view of what truly separates programs.
Even better, it lets outsiders like us — beyond the fortified walls of the sport’s football factories — gain real insight when players leave one school for another.
When players transfer away, you hope they have nothing but nice things to say following their exits. The last thing you want to hear is that the grass was in fact greener on the other side.
With Oklahoma’s new faces, the reviews thus far have been golden.
“This is the first time I’ve been in a tight end room where it’s straight family,” Hayden Hansen said on Thursday. “It’s a straight brotherhood in there. We all care about each other.”
It would be naive to hear Hansen say that and assume his three seasons at Florida were miserable. Yes, he chose to enter the transfer portal and leave the Gators — and yes, he’s thriving as a Sooner so far. Sometimes, things don’t work out.
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That doesn’t mean Florida was inherently worse, just that Hansen’s found a better fit for what makes him thrive in Norman.
But it does stoke the fire of Brent Venables’ program. A head coach whose passion burns bright is building an organization that self-sustains, and gives a true sense of belonging to a generation of players more geared to the lifestyle of the wanderer.
For Hansen, he became enticed with Oklahoma while the Sooners played their way into the College Football Playoff last season.
As he sat on the couch following the end of Florida’s season, he looked at OU and thought something most players would think — why are they there and we aren’t? He found his answer quickly upon arriving in Norman.
“And in probably about one week (after arriving) it was clear to me why they were there and we weren’t,” Hansen said. “This is a real team, a real brotherhood in the locker room. These guys go out there, and they die for each other.
All these guys, they hang out outside the game, they learn together, they suffer together—it’s a true brotherhood,” Hansen added.
Cole Sullivan can attest to the locker room vibe under Venables.
Coming from a blue-blood power himself, Sullivan already knew the aura of Owen Field from the opposite side. During Michigan’s 24-13 loss last season, Sullivan understood the Big House wasn’t the only football cathedral in college football.
“It’s a great atmosphere to be here, I love it here, but when you’re playing, for me at least, it’s just put the ball down and play,” Sullivan said on Thursday. “It could be in the parking lot, it could be here in one of the greatest stadiums in the country, but for me it’s just all about zoning in and locking into ball.”
It doesn’t hurt to have great first impressions. Nor is it a negative to be proud of building something that people feel connected to. So far, even with two bad seasons under his belt, Venables has slowly built Oklahoma as a place that attracts players from across the country.
Both from the high school ranks and from the blue bloods.
Oklahoma
182 inmates relocated after issue at Oklahoma prison
A total of 182 inmates were relocated early Saturday morning after a structural issue was identified inside a housing unit at the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Taft.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said inmates housed in the D East unit were moved to other facilities as a precaution after a compromised area was discovered on the second floor. Officials said at no point were the inmates in danger.
Officials said the issue was discovered early April 11, prompting an immediate decision to relocate inmates.
This morning, 182 inmates housed at JDCC were moved to other facilities out of caution due to a compromised area on the 2nd floor. The unit, built in 1935, will be inspected by an engineer to determine if repairs can be made. ODOC’s priority is the safety of those in its care. pic.twitter.com/SvOrp0ixTR
— Oklahoma Department of Corrections (@OklaDOC) April 11, 2026
The affected unit, originally built in 1935, is among the older structures on the facility’s campus.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said a structural engineer will inspect the building to determine whether repairs are possible and to guide next steps.
Inmates who were moved will be placed in more permanent housing as space becomes available across the prison system.
The agency said safety and security remain its top priority and that updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
Officials also noted they appreciated the cooperation of the inmates during the relocation process.
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