ARLINGTON — Whereas Ivan Melendez was topped on Sunday night, the Oklahoma Sooners seized the throne.
A tumultuous third inning doomed Texas in an 8-1 defeat in opposition to Oklahoma within the title sport on the Massive 12 Match. Through the lopsided loss at Globe Life Subject, Melendez turned UT’s single-season dwelling run king.
The championship was Oklahoma’s first since 2013. Texas was final the final staff standing at this convention competitors in 2015.
“It wasn’t the outcome we needed however we fought laborious and we performed numerous good baseball general,” Melendez stated. “On the finish of the day, you simply take a look at it and we misplaced the championship, it’s what it’s, we transfer ahead and we have now numerous baseball arising.”
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Earlier than Sunday, Texas and Oklahoma’s baseball groups had performed 222 occasions. Solely 22 of these conferences had taken place exterior of the Austin and Norman metropolis limits. None of these video games determined a convention champion.
It did not take lengthy for Sunday’s showdown so as to add one other historic footnote.
Extra:As Ivan Melendez nears Texas historical past, Kyle Russell ‘wanting ahead to tossing the baton’
Roughly six minutes after the primary pitch from Oklahoma’s Cade Horton was delivered, Melendez hit an opposite-field dwelling run into the Texas bullpen. The 407-foot dwelling run was the twenty ninth of Melendez’s season. That broke a tie within the UT file books with Kyle Russell, who had established the varsity customary in 2007.
“It is nice to see my laborious work repay and to go deep at a significant league ballpark however I am a staff man,” Melendez stated. “I was most likely the least productive this complete weekend from a staff standpoint.”
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That dwelling run by Melendez and a powerful begin by Travis Sthele gave Texas an early increase. However that momentum shortly shifted.
After retiring the primary six batters that he confronted, Sthele bumped into command points within the third inning. He threw eight straight balls to open the inning and that arrange a game-tying single for Kendall Pettis out of the ninth spot within the Oklahoma batting order.
Earlier than Sthele threw his subsequent pitch, he was known as for a balk that introduced a runner dwelling from third base. Whereas arguing the decision, Texas coach David Pierce was unceremoniously ejected by second base umpire John Brammer.
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Pierce known as for reliever Aaron Nixon earlier than his ejection however that call led to 4 straight Sooners reaching base. The third Longhorn who pitched within the third inning — senior Tristan Stevens — instantly gave up a three-run blast.
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By the point that Texas (42-19) lastly bought out of the inning, Oklahoma (37-20) had constructed an 8-1 lead. Sthele, Nixon and Stevens mixed to permit 5 hits and three walks within the body. Neither Sthele nor Nixon recorded an out.
“Video games like this, you are all the time making an attempt to determine when a man’s performed, working out of juice,” UT assistant coach Sean Allen stated. “Simply making an attempt to determine the place’s the Magic 8 Ball? Clearly if we checked out it, (Sthele) dominated for 2 innings and we felt we may sneak one other one out.”
Down by seven runs, Texas was unable to rally. The Sooners restricted Texas to 4 hits, two of which have been recorded with two outs within the ninth inning.
Key play: Texas was instantly given the chance to answer Oklahoma’s offensive outburst when two Longhorns moved into scoring place with one out within the fourth inning. Horton bought out of the jam with strikeouts of Skyler Messinger and Silas Ardoin.
Horton, who entered the sport with a 7.94 ERA, ended up putting out 9 Longhorns over 5 1/3 innings of two-hit baseball. In whole, Texas struck out 16 occasions on Sunday.
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Notable quantity: 7. Sunday marked the seventh time that Oklahoma and Texas met in one of many Massive 12’s championship contests. The Sooners at the moment are 4-3 in these matchups.
Up subsequent: Through the eighth inning of the Massive 12’s championship sport, the NCAA introduced that Austin had been named a bunch web site for the regional spherical of the NCAA Match. Texas will discover out the three groups it’s internet hosting throughout Monday’s choice present.
The Gophers football program addressed a need in the middle of its defense for the 2025 season with Oklahoma State linebacker Jeff Roberson on Thursday night.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound graduate transfer from Choctaw, Okla., totaled 58 tackles, including 8.5 for lost yards, three sacks and one interception in 12 games in 2024. He had a middling 57.7 grade from Pro Football Focus, along with 19 pressures, but also 11 missed tackles last season.
Roberson played 670 snaps last season, but only 107 across 2021 and 2023. He played special teams as a freshman in 2020 and missed the 2022 season with injury.
Roberson will help fill the void left by leading tackler Cody Lindenberg; the Anoka native declared for the NFL draft after the regular season and skipped the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Maverick Baranowski and Devon Williams top the U’s depth chart at linebacker going into next season.
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The Gophers have added 15 total players via the NCAA transfer portal since early December and are still looking for help at cornerback and possibly defensive line.
The Cowboys went to the SEC to pick another linebacker out of the portal.
Ole Miss transfer Trip White, who was listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds last season, pledged to Oklahoma State, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. White played in all 13 of the Rebels’ games this past season, his redshirt sophomore year. He made one tackle, primarily playing special teams.
White played in three games while maintaining a redshirt as a true freshman in 2022. He appeared in five games in 2023, and to this point has totaled nine career tackles.
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Out of Parkview Magnet in Little Rock, Arkansas, White was a three-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class and chose Ole Miss over offers from Arkansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Indiana and others. The 247Sports Composite system tabbed White as the No. 1,103 player in the class, the No. 109 linebacker in the class and the No. 12 player from Arkansas in 2022. He also started as his team’s quarterback as a high school senior, throwing for 2,035 yards and 19 touchdowns to go with 445 rushing yards and seven more scores.
White becomes the third linebacker the Pokes have grabbed out of the portal, joining Bryan McCoy (Akron) and Brandon Rawls (Saginaw Valley State). White’s addition comes a few days after Jeff Roberson hopped in the portal. With Roberson, Nick Martin, Collin Oliver and Kendal Daniels all gone from last season’s squad, OSU’s linebacker room — like most position rooms — will look quite a bit different heading into 2025. Kap Dede is set to coach that group, with new OSU defensive coordinator Todd Grantham bringing him in from Western Kentucky.
The Oklahoma Sooners will open the 2025 softball season on Feb. 6 against the CSUN Matadors in San Diego. After a historic season, Oklahoma faces a lot of turnover after losing a number of fixtures in the lineup to graduation.
The Sooners certainly aren’t lacking for talent, however, as a trio of players were named to Softball America’s preseason All-American teams on Tuesday.
Sophomore outfielder Kasidi Pickering and Utility/DP Ella Parker were named to Softball America’s first team. Newcomer Abby Dayton was named to the second team.
Parker led the Oklahoma Sooners with a .415 batting average from the utility role. She also had 13 home runs and 62 RBIs as a true freshman. Parker hit .500 over Oklahoma’s final four games to clinch their fourth-straight national title.
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Pickering hit .389 with 12 home runs and 51 RBIs as a true freshman for the Sooners. In the Women’s College World Series final against Texas, she had home runs in both games against the Texas Longhorns to win the championship.
Abby Dayton is one of a number of impact transfers for the Oklahoma Sooners this season. She led the Pac-12 in batting average, hitting .431 and also had an on-base percentage of .510 for the Utah Utes.
The Oklahoma Sooners will have a new look, but led by this trio of stars, the defending national champions will be ready to compete in the SEC.
More: 5 Oklahoma Sooners included in Softball America’s top 100
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