OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma – There are two ways to watch Saturday’s first game on the Women’s College World Series list. One is that seed number 1, a historical dynasty, is playing a seedless underdog who has gotten hot at the right time.
Or more simply, it’s Oklahoma vs. Texas (15:00 ET, ABC and ESPN app).
The 55-2 Sooners could certainly have expected to be here, bringing together one of the most dominant seasons in the history of the sport. Meanwhile, in February, the Longhorns were 0-5 at St. Louis. Pete / Clearwater Elite Invitational and the fans were not exactly booking hotel rooms in Oklahoma City.
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But it moves quickly through June, and the Longhorns face the Sooners in the group of winners at OKC after a 7-2 win over UCLA No. 5.
In between, the unthinkable happened: on April 16, behind the arms of Hailey Dolcini, Texas defeated Oklahoma, breaking the 40-game winning streak of the Sooners and a 23-game winning streak against the Longhorns. It was not a cure for the Texas season; the Longhorns still lost all three games in a series against the state of Oklahoma about a week later, and lost again to the Cowgirls in the Big 12 tournament. But in the Seattle Regional and the Fayetteville Super Regional, the Longhorns were left with a 5-2 win over Washington No. 11 and Arkansas No. 5, the latter a confident victory over a decidedly local crowd.
Sound familiar?
The Longhorns will receive a large dose of crimson and cream on Saturday, playing against defending champion Sooners just 20 miles from their Norman campus.
When Texas surprised Oklahoma earlier this season, it was behind Hailey Dolcini’s arm. Photo by AP / Sue Ogrocki
Prior to the Horns’ first-round game against UCLA, four-time All-American Texas star Janae Jefferson knew what awaited her team.
“I don’t expect to get much support from the OU fans out here,” he said, before saying the Longhorns fans were still ruinous in Arkansas. “We need this secure support. We are ready.”
The story is not on the side of the Longhorns either. The Sooners have won five national championships, including last season. Texas, meanwhile, has only made six overall appearances at the WCWS, and this was the first since 2013. This was the year of the only previous clash between Texas and OU in Oklahoma City, where the Sooners dominated the Longhorns 10-2.
But Dolcini is the reason for Texas ’hopes for a second win over OU this year. In two starts against the Sooners this season, he has only allowed five runs in total, conceding three in a 3-0 defeat on April 14, and two more in a 4-2 victory two days later.
Two of Oklahoma’s biggest threats, Tiare Jennings and Jocelyn Alo, have not hit 13 gowns against Dolcini this year, according to ESPN Stats & Info. And while the Sooners had three hits at least three times throughout the season, two were against Dolcini.
“I was really attacking them without fear,” Dolcini said. “You have to be confident that your best things will surpass their best swings and keep the ball low for a team that hits a lot of long balls.”
It was a notable introduction to the Red River Rivalry for Dolcini, a super senior transfer from Fresno State facing the Sooners for the first time with burnt orange in that series.
“It’s not always the best team that wins,” Texas coach Mike White said Wednesday. “It’s the team that plays best, and that particular day we played better than them. They had their number 1 pitcher. [Jordy Bahl] pulling against us. It was a 0-0 game for a while, and we were able to score a big hit at the right time, and Hailey threw a great game, and that’s what you have to do.
The Sooners don’t need a miracle with the machine that coach Patty Gasso has built. But they also come out of a first-leg game that included the return of Bahl, who had been out with a sore arm since May 6.
Oklahoma’s powerful offensive was led by Jana Johns ‘grand slam in Sooners’ WCWS opening win over Northwestern. Brett Rojo / USA TODAY Sports
“We need her, but these two pitchers (Hope Trautwein, 19-1, 0.51 ERA; and Nicole May, 15-0, 0.99) have been crushing her,” Gasso said Thursday. “So adding Jordy (21-1, 0.95, 199 strikeouts in 132⅔ innings) to the mix and getting yourself trained now for three different pitchers instead of two is difficult for teams.”
Oklahoma’s great Alo, the all-time leader in the sport, says the loss of Texas earlier in the season was also a major factor in the Sooners’ career so far.
“I’ve played with a lot of very special teams,” Alo said Wednesday. “I’ve been here for five years, so I’ve had my fair share. I think this is the best team I’ve been on just because of being complete and because of the union we’re in. Again, I’ve never seen it. A throwing stick like this, and they love to dice us in training, so I think that’s what makes us good. I just sharpen iron every day. in the right direction, I think, after losing against Texas, and I just saw how to get out of some very difficult places and handle it with grace and passion. “
A Texas team at its peak and an Oklahoma team at the height of historic greatness. Two weeks ago, Texas’ No. 4 women’s tennis team outscored Oklahoma’s No. 2, which was 32-2 and set a record for the program’s national title victories.
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“I’ve always said that a good pitching outweighs good shots, especially in pressure situations, and Hailey was able to put together one of the best games of her career, and that’s the way to do it,” White told earlier this week. “Hopefully we can do it again someday.”
Now they have their chance.