Texas
OU Softball: Oklahoma ‘Excited’ to Clash With Texas for Big 12 Tournament Title
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma got its wish for the weekend — a shot at revenge.
The No. 4-ranked Sooners dropped their first conference series since 2011 last month to the now-No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
OU could level the season series at 2-2 on Saturday and win the Big 12 Tournament in the process.
The Red River Rivals have dominated softball during their tenures in the Big 12.
Patty Gasso has won 23 conference titles — 15 regular-season titles and eight tournaments — in the Big 12.
Texas has another nine championships — five in the regular season and four tournament crowns.
The Longhorns won’t be able to defend their regular season title in the SEC next year, and neither will the winner of the Big 12 Tournament.
“We were kind of hoping for this opportunity,” Gasso said on Friday after OU dispatched BYU. “Just, one, to face Texas and two, to get better from it. So, yeah. I think everybody’s going to be really excited about the matchup.”
Both teams have dominated in Oklahoma City to set up Saturday’s tilt.
OU manhandled Kansas 10-1 on Thursday before downing BYU 13-2 on Friday.
Texas hammered Texas Tech 13-4 in the quarterfinals, and the Longhorns followed up that performance with a 14-3 drubbing of Baylor on Friday night. That puts the tournament’s top two seeds both at a plus-20 run differential in their first two games.
“They’re a very tough team,” Texas coach Mike White said of Oklahoma on Friday night. “They’re getting hot again. They always play well at home so we’re expecting a good matchup.”
White’s offense is humming, something that he said was influenced in part by watching the Sooners over the past three years.
“We have to take control … be aggressive,” White said. “… That’s what’s been so impressive about Oklahoma over the last several years. That’s what they do. So a rising tide lifts all boats and we’re just trying to catch up and play the game that they’ve been playing.”
There was little to separate the two rivals across three game in Austin.
The Longhorns won both the second and third games of the series 2-1, but OU outscored Texas 7-6 across all three games at Red & Charline McCombs Field.
Oklahoma appears to have snapped out of its offensive funk over the past three games.
Gasso has returned to the basics to get the bats on track. She’s gone back to her roots by returning to small ball to keep her hitters locked into an aggressive mindset, and the decision has looked like a masterstroke.
Through OU’s struggles, she never lost faith that the Sooners would round into shape when the postseason got underway.
“I’ve had frustrating moments for sure,” said Gasso, “where I would go home and go, ‘I don’t have any idea what to do here.’ But we’re not built that way.
“We’re always going to find a way to get something to click, somehow, some way and we’re not going to stop until we figure it out.”
Freshmen hitters Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering are riding a hot streak to pair with OU’s wealth of experience in center fielder Jayda Coleman, shortstop Tiare Jennings, third baseman Alyssa Brito, outfielder Rylie Boone and catcher Kinzie Hansen.
Gasso has all her pitchers at her disposal as well heading into the title game.
Kelly Maxwell started against Kansas and Kierston Deal mowed through BYU, leaving senior Nicole May fresh alongside Bedlam star Karlie Keeney, who hasn’t pitched yet in the 2024 Big 12 Tournament.
“We just want them to just compete like nobody’s business and not get caught up in outcomes,” Gasso said on Friday. “… Keep your mind free, take your breaths, get in there and throw a competitive pitch every time your arm swings around in a circle because when you do that you’re going to win. More times than not you’re gonna beat that hitter.”
The season’s fourth meeting between Oklahoma and Texas gets underway from Devon Park, formerly Hall of Fame Stadium, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
“I feel really good,” Gasso said. “I think all hands are on deck.”
Texas A&M will be without its leading scorer for this weekend’s top-10 matchup against Alabama. The Aggies listed senior point guard Wade Taylor IV as out in its SEC-mandated availability report on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Alabama will be without backup guard Houston Mallette, who was listed as out for the matchup against Texas A&M. Earlier on Friday, Alabama head coach Nate Oats said Mallette is having his knees evaluated as the team decides whether or not to sit him for the rest of the season and apply for a medical redshirt.
Taylor leads Texas A&M in both scoring (15.7 points per game) and assists (4.8 per game. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior has scored in double digits in all of his 13 games this season. During Texas A&M’s 100-75 loss at Alabama last year, the Tide held Taylor to 10 points and five rebounds on 4 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 5 from beyond the arc.
According to a report from KWKT FOX 44, Taylor experienced knee tightness during Texas A&M’s 80-60 win over Texas on Jan. 4. The guard left for the locker room during the second half against the Longhorns but was able to return to action, finishing with 13 points on 25 minutes. Taylor did not play during the Aggies’ 80-78 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday. He was replaced by senior Manny Obaseki in the starting lineup.
With Taylor out, Texas A&M leaned on senior guard Zhuric Phelps, who scored a career-high 34 points against Oklahoma, making 11 of 25 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Alabama (13-2, 2-0 in the SEC) is set to tip off against Texas A&M (13-2, 2-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT inside Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. The game will be televised on ESPN.
On Friday night, two of college football’s iconic programs will meet with a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship game on the line.
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns have their fingerprints all over the sport’s history yet somehow have squared off only three times.
A Fiesta Bowl meeting after the 2008 season. A home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006. That’s all the history the Buckeyes and Longhorns share on the gridiron — until they take the field in the CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday.
Here’s how each of those three matchups played out.
Jan. 5, 2009: Texas 24, Ohio State 21
Although the 2009 Fiesta Bowl experienced a low-scoring first 30 minutes (the Buckeyes led 6-3 at halftime), the fourth quarter offered an ending to remember.
First, Ohio State roared back into the lead with 17 unanswered points after entering the final period trailing 17-6. With just two minutes to respond, Texas put together an impressive 11-play drive that culminated in quarterback Colt McCoy finding wide receiver Quan Cosby for the winning touchdown with 16 seconds remaining.
The McCoy and Cosby connection dominated all game, with the pair linking up 14 times for 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Sept. 9, 2006: Ohio State 24, Texas 7
McCoy’s first encounter with Ohio State wasn’t as pleasant as the Fiesta Bowl.
In a battle of the then-No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the land, it was the top-ranked Buckeyes who made an early-season statement against the defending national champion Longhorns on the road in Austin. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy that season, threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes scored in all four quarters of the win.
Sept. 10, 2005: Texas 25, Ohio State 22
The first meeting between the Longhorns and Buckeyes came with nearly the same high billing as the 2006 contest, with the two squads squaring off as the No. 2 and No. 4 teams in the country, respectively.
As in 2006, it was the higher-ranked visiting side that came out on top, although the game itself proved to be much closer. Texas jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but Ohio State battled back and eventually entered halftime, and then the fourth quarter, ahead.
Said final quarter, however, belonged to the Longhorns. Quarterback Vince Young’s 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Limas Sweed proved to be the winner, with Texas adding some insurance in the game’s final moments with a safety-inducing sack of Troy Smith in the end zone.
The top-five win was the Longhorns’ first major statement in a campaign that would end with a national championship.
NORTH TEXAS – This week’s snow event will end with a “few flurries” during Friday’s morning commute, according to CBS News Texas meteorologist Jeff Ray.
“But roads will have frozen over,” Ray said.
Expect hazardous road conditions in the morning, as it will be “the worst” the roads have been since the event started on Thursday morning, Ray said.
Late in the morning, temperatures will rise above freezing, which will “help drivers get around the Metroplex,” Ray said.
A cold front is expected Friday, he said.
“We are going to have wind chills in the 20s all day,” Ray said. “By nightfall on Friday, temperatures will drop quickly and water will re-freeze on the roads across the evening. This ice will remain until mid-morning on Saturday before the sun and warmer temperatures in the mid-40s clear the roadways.”
CBS News Texas will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.
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