David Pierce would not serve on the NCAA’s choice committee.
He is too busy as of late with teaching the Texas baseball crew anyhow. Nevertheless, Pierce was prepared to call Austin as a regional host web site for the NCAA Match on Saturday night time after his Longhorns earned a 9-2 win over Oklahoma State at Globe Life Subject.
That win superior Texas right into a matchup with rival Oklahoma within the championship sport on the Massive 12 Match. The Longhorns additionally improved their report to 42-18 and maintained a top-15 RPI.
“I believe we’re particular hosts, I actually do,” Pierce mentioned. “Résumé says it. We’re enjoying in the championship of the Massive 12. I undoubtedly assume we should always host.”
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Extra:Sidelined in 2021, Texas pitcher Andre Duplantier II is working his means again on the mound
Pete Hansen and Lucas Gordon weren’t going to pitch within the semifinal showdown. Hansen had thrown 122 pitches in UT’s opener in Arlington on Wednesday whereas Gordon had a 108-pitch begin the next day.
However after the Cowboys pressured a decisive sport within the double-elimination competitors with an 8-1 win over UT on Saturday morning, Pierce mentioned that each different participant on his pitching workers was out there. 5 pitchers then made an look in opposition to the Cowboys.
Andre Duplantier II, Jared Southard and Luke Harrison obtained Texas by means of the sixth inning whereas every throwing between 37-40 pitches. Marcus Olivarez labored the subsequent two periods earlier than Tristan Stevens closed out a event sport for the third time this week.
In complete, Oklahoma State was held to 5 hits and two runs. The Cowboys have been averaging 7.3 runs and 10.1 hits per sport.
“The story of the sport for me is our bullpen,” Pierce mentioned. “We pieced it collectively and I am actually pleased with them as a result of they’ve had some hits this 12 months. Truthfully, they did their jobs and did an important job.”
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Extra:Issues persist within the Longhorns bullpen as Texas is swept by Oklahoma State
Seven of the eight runs that have been scored over the primary three innings belonged to Texas. It’s unlikely that UT thought of that lead was secure, although. The Longhorns have been lower than a month faraway from a 10-8 loss to the Cowboys during which Texas squandered a seven-run benefit. Southard, Harrison and Oliveras all pitched in that debacle.
However on Saturday, the Longhorns fared a lot better. Oklahoma State mustered three hits, drew 5 walks and scored simply as soon as in opposition to the relievers who adopted Duplantier.
The closest that Oklahoma State obtained to forcing a sense of déjà vu was within the fourth body. With two outs in that inning, Harrison relieved Southard however instantly issued a bases-loading stroll. The freshman left-hander rebounded and obtained Oklahoma State energy hitter Jake Thompson to floor out.
“This bullpen has taken some hits all through the course of the 12 months however we simply maintain telling our workers to maintain believing in one another and to maintain going,” Stevens mentioned. “If there is a time to place all of it collectively, why not now heading into postseason.”
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Offensively, Texas completed with 11 hits and 5 Longhorns drove in a run. In its earlier setback on Saturday, UT struggled offensively and was solely capable of drive in one of many seven leadoff hitters it obtained aboard.
“Everyone knows what needed to be accomplished and I assume as a crew, we understood that,” Texas shortstop Trey Faltine mentioned. “Going into the sport, we knew what was at stake and what was at stake for tomorrow. We simply got here out and performed our sport.”
Key play: After Texas loaded the bases with no outs within the third inning, Oklahoma State beginning pitcher Hueston Morrill hit a batter and earlier than reliever Kale Davis struck out two Longhorns. Faltine then blew the sport open with a three-run double that gave Texas a 6-1 benefit.
Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday later referred to as that hit “a clutch double.” Faltine completed with three hits, 4 RBIs and two doubles.
Notable quantity: 2. Morrill dedicated two fielding errors within the first three innings. These errors led to 5 unearned runs.
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Up subsequent: Texas and Oklahoma (36-20) will play for the Massive 12’s title at 5 p.m. on Sunday. This marks the fourth time that the Purple River rivals have meet at Globe Life Subject this season. Texas gained two of the three video games that it performed in early April in opposition to OU on the ballpark in Arlington.
The regional websites for the NCAA Match are set to be introduced at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. That announcement will seemingly come throughout the OU-Texas sport.
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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