No.1 Oklahoma Sooners (57-3) is the sixth national championship in the history of the program, the second consecutive title, with the aim of adding an exclamation mark at the end of the historic season.
It is a familiar enemy that gets in the way of them.
The Best 2/3 of the Women’s University World Series It also serves as the latest version of Red River rivals with higher than normal stakes. Oklahoma vs Texas? It’s like David vs. Goliath. Who will come on Friday (or Thursday) night and hold the highest award for competitive softball?
Arguably the most dominant softball program in 10 years, Wednesday is OU’s third consecutive championship series, the seventh in the last decade and the eighth in history.
Oklahoma won consecutive titles in 2016 and 2017 (a feat achieved only by UCLA, Arizona, and Florida).
Meanwhile, the Longhorns (47-20-1) rushed towards the first championship series, waking up and happily breaking the bracket. With a comeback victory at the 7th Oklahoma State on Monday, Texas made it to the finals as the first unseeded team in NCAA history. The Texas 4-1WCWS record (7-2, which dropped only one match to Oklahoma on June 4th) is in stark contrast to the 5-7 record, which begins the season.
Other keys to the success of Jocelyn Alo and Oklahoma
The OU leads the NCAA in batting average (.368), runs (553, 131 more than Arkansas in 2nd place), and home runs per game (2.45). At Joslyn Alo, the Suners have the best batter college softball ever seen. She is NCAA’s best-ever 120 homer hitter, Became the first player to record more than 30 home run seasons three times During WCWS (against Texas!). Her batting average this season is enough to be second with NCAA .509.
Oklahoma’s leadership within the circle is also a clutch. RHP Hope Troutwayne, who moved from North Texas to Norman this year, allowed only 14 runs in 121 innings. On Monday night, she hit 6 in 5 innings, beating UCLA 15-0. This is the biggest win in WCWS history and Oklahoma’s 40th rule win of the season (also a record, doubling the next best Division I mark, 20; by Louisiana). The victory was Trout Wayne’s 21st time, and the winning percentage rose to .954. The OU as a whole has the lowest NCAA ERA of 0.97
Why you can’t count Texas
It’s hard to imagine anyone but the Snurs holding the championship trophy by the weekend, but it doesn’t seem wise to completely dismiss the Longhorns. One of Oklahoma’s three defeats this season was from Texas (4-2 in Austin, admitting OU defeated UT at the other three meetings). The Longhorns gained momentum with three consecutive victories and are backed by the great Texas Cat Osterman. And even if they’re late, the Longhorns have made 18 comeback wins this season, so no one knows how close this series is.
Increasing popularity of WCWS and softball
History has been created regardless of who wins. Historically superior softball is played in front of a historic number of eyes.
ESPN reported Thursday broadcasts in Oregon-Florida and Northwest-Oklahoma Average 901,000 viewers.. Prior to that, the average number of super regionals between Texas and Arkansas was 1.02 million. Saturday’s doubleheader set a daily record for 12,533 fans in Oklahoma City.
Network said Game 1 of the semi-final series between Oklahoma State and Texas had 1.25 million viewers. Game 2 has risen to 1.3 million.
The debut of the Prime Time series at ESPN on Wednesday at 8:30 pm (the only time slot worthy of such a match) could promise more.
