No. 16 Softball falls to No. 7/8 Oklahoma State at Big 12 Championship, 6-1

Friday, May 13

Oklahoma City, Okla.

4 p.m. CT

University of Texas

38-17-1

#7/8 Oklahoma State

40-12

Texas

Oklahoma State

No. 16 Softball falls to No. 7/8 Oklahoma State at Big 12 Championship, 6-1

05.13.2022 | Softball

Box Score

The Longhorns will find out their NCAA Tournament road on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT live on ESPN2

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – On Friday afternoon in Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship action at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, No. 16 Texas softball (38-17-1) saw its league tournament run end in the semifinals with a 6-1 loss to No. 7/8 Oklahoma State (40-12).

Notes

Texas now awaits word on its road in the NCAA Tournament Field of 64 as the annual NCAA Selection Show will be broadcast live on Sun., May 15, at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
Texas dropped to 29-24 all-time over 19 appearances at the Big 12 Championship.
Senior second baseman Janae Jefferson went 1-for-3 to stretch her reached base streak to a career-high 22 games. That's tied with McKenzie Parker for the longest such skein by a Longhorns player this season.
Freshman third baseman Mia Scott registered her third career HR on a fourth-inning solo shot.

Major Players

Sophomore right fielder Courtney Day (2-for-3); freshman third baseman Mia Scott (1-for-3, run, HR, RBI); senior second baseman Janae Jefferson (1-for-3); sophomore center fielder Alyssa Popelka (1-for-2); senior catcher Mary Iakopo (1-for-3)

In the Circle

Senior pitcher Hailey Dolcini (19-8) took the loss after allowing four earned runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 5.0 innings. Freshman Sophia Simpson permitted one earned run on three hits, walked one and struck out one during a single frame of relief.

The Details

After Texas went down in order in the top of the first, Oklahoma State's offense got started immediately in the bottom half. A leadoff base knock from left fielder Chelsea Alexander and a bunt single by center fielder Chyenne Factor stationed Cowgirls on the corners with no outs. That's when things got controversial as OSU designated player Miranda Elish stepped into the box and hit a chopper back to the circle. Dolcini fielded her position and fired to Iakopo to start a rundown between third and home. Alexander eventually ended up tagged out while colliding into UT's catcher on a slide into the plate, but the call was reversed on replay review as obstruction. With Cowgirls at second and third and one out, third baseman Sydney Pennington hit a sinking liner to center. Popelka raced in and made the grab before Texas managed to double Elish off at second to end the frame. After another replay review, Factor was judged to have scored before the final out was secured to give OSU a 2-0 lead.

Trying to get something started, Iakopo registered the first Texas hit by driving a shot to left center in the second. The senior catcher made the turn around first and headed for second only to be thrown out by OSU center fielder Factor. The umpires went to the headsets for the third time in the contest for replay review and judged that the call stood.

With Dolcini having settled things down in the circle after the wild opening frame, Scott got the Longhorns on the board in the top of the fourth by blasting a solo HR out to left center to make it 2-1.

Back-to-back singles to open the fourth got Oklahoma State back in business. Following a sac bunt to move the duo into scoring position, a sacrifice fly to left center and a bunt single plated two more runs as the Cowgirls expanded their lead to 4-1.

Texas strung together a promising threat in the sixth by christening the frame with consecutive singles from Popelka and Jefferson. Unfortunately, the next three Longhorns went down in order on two fly outs and a fielder's choice to leave the duo stranded.

Oklahoma State eventually made it 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth on Factor's two-RBI single to center.

Facing one final chance to battle back in the game during the top of the seventh, Texas got a two-out Day single up the middle, but that was all as OSU finished off the victory.