OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — There are two ways to look at Saturday’s first game of the Women’s College World Series slate. One is that the No. 1 seed, a historic dynasty, is playing a scrappy unseeded underdog that has gotten hot at the right time.
Or more simply: It’s Oklahoma vs. Texas (3 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN App).
The 55-2 Sooners certainly could’ve expected to be here, putting together one of the most dominant seasons in the history of the sport. Meanwhile, in February, the Longhorns went 0-5 in the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational and fans weren’t exactly booking hotel rooms in Oklahoma City.
But fast-forward to June, and the Longhorns are facing the Sooners in the winners bracket in OKC after a 7-2 win over No. 5 UCLA.
In between, the unthinkable happened: On April 16, behind the arm of Hailey Dolcini, Texas beat Oklahoma, snapping the Sooners’ 40-game winning streak overall and a 23-game winning streak against the Longhorns. It wasn’t a cure-all for Texas’ season; the Longhorns still dropped all three games in a series against Oklahoma State about a week later, and they lost again to the Cowgirls in the Big 12 tournament. But in the Seattle Regional and the Fayetteville Super Regional, the Longhorns went on a tear, going 5-2 with series wins over No. 11 Washington and No. 5 Arkansas, the latter a confidence-building victory before a decidedly home crowd.
Sound familiar?
The Longhorns will get a heavy dose of crimson and cream on Saturday, playing the defending champ Sooners just 20 miles from their Norman campus.
Before the Horns’ first-round game against UCLA, Texas star Janae Jefferson, a four-time All-American, knew what was in store for her team.
“I’m not expecting us to get much support from the OU fans out here,” she said, before saying the Longhorns’ faithful were still rowdy in Arkansas. “We’re going to need that support for sure….
Source : espn
