No. 9/8 Softball drops Saturday’s game at No. 1 Oklahoma

Saturday, April 1

Norman, Okla.

11 a.m.

University of Texas

30-7-1, 0

Oklahoma

32-1, 0

Texas

Oklahoma

Photo by: Texas Athletics

No. 9/8 Softball drops Saturday’s game at No. 1 Oklahoma

04.01.2023 | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Oklahoma rallies to score three in the bottom of the seventh to upend Texas’ upset bid

By: Chris Allen Brown

NORMAN, OK – In a day that contained countless emotions, it was heartbreak the Texas Longhorns felt following its 4-3 loss at Oklahoma on Saturday.

Excitement was the first emotion to take over when Reese Atwood scored from third on a fielding error by Oklahoma shortstop Grace Lyons with two outs in the top of the second. Atwood's run pushed the Longhorns ahead of the Sooners by a run for the second straight game.

The emotion was ramped up three innings later when the Texas lead was extended by a run when Ashton Maloney scored from third on a fielder's choice off the bat of Mia Scott. But Oklahoma responded in the bottom half of the inning with an unearned run on a two-out Longhorn fielding error.

However, Viviana Martinez answered right back with a two-out, solo home run to left field in the top of the sixth to give Texas a 3-1 lead over the reigning national champions.

With the Longhorn faithful — needing just three outs for the win — on the edge of their seats as the bottom of the seventh began, a leadoff single through the right side proceeded a two-run, game-tying home run moments later. Then the next two Sooners reached base, before an intentional walk loaded the bases with only one out.

Four pitches later, Kinzie Hansen broke the hearts of the visitors by singling a 1-2 pitch into left-centerfield to cap a three-run bottom of the seventh for the Sooners.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"Today was a big experience for a lot of the team. Being ahead by a couple of runs in the bottom of the seventh against the reigning national champions, it's hard to replicate what's going on there. Unfortunately, it just came down to a couple of pitches and a couple of plays here and there, which we talked about after the game, but hats off to (Oklahoma). They're a good team and never give up and just keep fighting, so we want to be able to find things that they did today into our game moving forward."

GAME NOTES

With her sixth-inning home run off Alex Storako, Viviana Martinez becomes the third different Longhorn freshman student-athlete to hit a home run during a Big 12 game this season, joining Leighann Goode and Reese Atwood.
Viviana Martinez finished Saturday's game with two hits in three official plate appearances, marking the first multi-hit game for Martinez since the Longhorns' win at South Florida on March 19, 2023.
- Martinez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored against the Bulls.
When she made a pinch-hit appearance with two outs in the top of the third, Jordyn Whitaker appeared in her first regular season game against Oklahoma.
- Whitaker had two official at bats against the Sooners during last season's postseason run.
Mia Scott was also credited with her team-leading 14th stolen base after taking second with two outs in the top of the fifth.
- It was Scott's first stolen base since Texas' victory at South Florida on Sunday, March 19, 2023.
By virtue of its second inning run Saturday afternoon, Texas became the first softball team to hold a lead against Oklahoma in back-to-back games this season.
- In total, the Sooners have trailed seven times throughout the 2023 season with two of those times coming against the Longhorns in back-to-back games.
The Texas offense forced Oklahoma, which entered the day as the best fielding team in the Big 12 Conference, to commit two errors, which tied its season high set against Liberty on Feb. 9, 2023.

UP NEXT

Texas (30-7-1) will conclude its three-game series at Oklahoma on Sunday, April 2, when the two programs square off at 11 AM CT on ESPN2.
- Following Sunday's game, the Longhorns will turn around to play a three-game series at Iowa State beginning on Thursday, April 6.

FOLLOW US

For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasSoftball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TexasLonghorns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.