It's Time: Oklahoma vs Texas: Red River Rivalry in Austin in '24

[OUBeliever56A]

The much awaited Oklahoma at Texas 3-game series in Austin was circled on most people's schedule when the schedules were released. Texas set the softball world on fiee early in the season and have since cooled quite a bit. Oklahoma starter a bit slower than Texas but the last four weekend or so, the Sooners have played much better.

I think the 29-5 Longhorns in 2024 is the best version of the Longhorns since maybe 2019. (2020 does not count.) In the most recent three seasons the Sooners have won 8 of 9 games. In 2021, the Sooners left the Longhorns in a pile of rubble at Marita Hynes Field as the Sooners won the three games by a 30-3 margin in three 5-inning run-rule games. In 2022, the Longhorns rode their transfer pitcher, Dolcini, in the 3rd game of the series with a 4-2 win. OU won the other two games 3-0 (Dolcini took the loss) an 9-1 in a 5 inning run-rule sooner victory. In 2023 in Marita Hynes, OU swept the Longhorn with a combined score of 22- 6. OU won game 8-1, the second game 4-3 with Morgan pitching well for Texas before Coleman and Hansen stepped up in the 7th inning with a walk-of Sooner win. Game #3 was a 10-2 run-rule win in 6-innings for Oklahoma.

On offense, these are the numbers:
Oklahoma - 9.3 Runs/Game, .394 BA, .495 OB% and .733 Slug%, 63 doubles, 3 triples, 78 HRs, 41 steals in 46 attempts.
Texas - 7.7 Runs/Game, .377 BA, .453 OB%, .609 Slug%, 55 doubles, 12 triples, 43 HRs, 58 steals in 60 attempts.

In the circle, these are the numbers:
Oklahoma - Team ERA - 1.40, Runs Allowed per Game = 1.40, Innings = 210.0, Allowed a .180 BA, 16 shutouts and 7 complete games, 32 EBH allowed.
Texas - Team ERA - 1.41 - Runs Allowed per Game = 1.85, Innings = 213.0, allowed a .173 BA, 13 shutouts and 12 complete games, 28 EBH allowed.

On defense, these are the numbers:
Oklahoma - 13 errors for a .985 Fielding% with 7 unearned runs allowed.
Texas - 38 errors for a .961 Fielding% with 20 unearend runs allowed.

The difference in defense is the biggest difference in the series between OU and UT. Texas defense has been their undoing for a while now. I look for the Texas problems on defense to play a part in one win this weekend for OU. The playing surface at Red McCombs Field is very quick. That will probably play a part in some way this weekend. Balls in the gap in the outfield become doubles quickly. Ground balls in the infield get by quickly also. Outfield play will matter this weekend I think. No one is better than Oklahoma defensively in the outfield.

New players for Texas, Mitchell, Henry and Stewart has help Texas. Mitchell is a one-year transfer from Notre Dame has made a difference with her bat and speed and has solidified 1B for Texas. Henry (a freshman) has given Texas a legit CF and speed at the top of the lineup and a good hitter. Stewart has a potential big bat for Texas and is playing a solid role for Texas as a freshman. I think the three additions give Texas their best complete lineup that have had. If Scott (3B), Martinez (SS) and Washington (2B) could play better defense, they could be better though. In the circle, Kavan, another freshman, has been their best pitcher overall, but she has faltered in two big games against LSU and OSU in recent weeks. Gutierrez might be the most trusted pitcher for Texas though. Morgan is a solid third pitcher for Texas. Czech is a left who has been up and down over her Texas career. Simpson is potentially good but has pitched the least for Texas in 2024. Other than Kavan, Oklahoma has hit all of the Texas pitchers. Morgan did pitch a good 6 innings against OU in Norman, but that was about it for her.

I think that the 34-1 Sooners will be led on offense by the five most experienced Sooners, Coleman, Jennings, Brito, Hansen and Boone. Those are five potential All-Americans in every way. If Torres, Sanders, Parker and Pickering can add something to the big five above each game the Sooner offense should handle the Texas pitching well this weekend. I think the Sooner hitters should fair better than the Texas hitters will fair against Oklahoma's pitching. The Sooners just have better hitters and more of them than Texas.

I also think that OU will pitch better than Texas this weekend. Here is why.

Maxwell has thrown a lot against Texas in her OSU career (44.2 IP). But she has a 2.19 ERA over those innings. May has thrown less innings with 10.2 but also has a good ERA at 1.31 against Texas. Deal has not pitched against Texas, Keeney has pitched one as a freshman in 2020 against Texas. Monticelli pitched 4 innings against Texas last season. I think that OU's big 4 pitchers, Maxwell, May, Deal and Keeney will pitch effectively against Texas. But I would say, that if I could just give Texas 3 runs a game this weekend, I would take it. I would bet OU will score at least 4 runs per game to win all three. I do believe that OU could hold Texas to less than 3 runs a game, but they will have to pitch well to do so as Texas is good on offense. they have 4 starters that hit .400 while OU has 7 starters that hit over .400.

I am confident that OU will win the series. I also think that Oklahoma will probably sweep the series. I think one game will be close and decided in the last couple of innings. The Texas defense could play a negative part of this game and a loss for Texas. I do not think there will be a run-rule victory unless the Texas defense collapses and OU has a big inning due to that.

I am looking forward to the 3-game seires. It is always fun in Austin except for the traffic and the drive from Ft. Worth to Austin to get there.

The game times, due to TV will be a bit different this weekend. The Friday game is at 5:30 PM on ESPNU. The Saturday game is at 7 PM on ESPN and the Sunday game at 1 PM on the LHN. (I will be very glad when the LHN goes away next year.) The quick turnaround from Saturday night to Sunday at noon, will make pitching choices more difficult. The Saturday starter may be the most important choice by both teams.

[Edit: (BTW, I just noticed and heard that the Sunday game is also on ESPN+.) I am not sure this is true. I heard Chris Plank talking about the ESPN+ broadcast on Sunday but I do not see it on the schedule.]

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Red River Rivalry series with Texas this weekend.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/4/4/ ... er-rivalry

Boomer Sooner!

[humblesooner]

We will be there this weekend.
Looking forward to the weekend.

[AustinTXSooner]

Better late than never...

Hitting Comparison

#	Player	Yr	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	HR	BB	RBI	K	GO	FO	OPS
23	Jennings, Tiare	Sr	.446	.520	1.000	101	32	15	19	47	6	17	36	1.520
33	Brito, Alyssa	Sr	.426	.504	.931	101	43	14	17	37	10	17	29	1.435
24	Coleman, Jayda	Sr	.466	.589	.818	88	45	8	30	27	3	15	34	1.407
1	Sanders, Cydney	Jr	.328	.521	.875	64	19	11	24	33	13	8	23	1.396
40	Torres, Alynah	Sr	.408	.494	.761	71	16	7	12	23	4	14	25	1.255
5	Parker, Ella	Fr	.415	.515	.720	82	36	6	18	34	14	20	11	1.235
9	Hansen, Kinzie	Sr	.377	.436	.725	69	17	7	8	17	6	12	24	1.161
7	Pickering, Kasidi	Fr	.403	.505	.623	77	28	4	18	25	9	17	21	1.128
0	Boone, Rylie	Sr	.455	.500	.602	88	23	1	7	20	2	27	17	1.102
30	Ludlam, Riley	Sr	.346	.500	.538	52	18	3	17	20	9	10	13	1.038
12	Bland, Maya	Fr	.333	.429	.500	12	17		2	4	2	4	2	.929
43	Lilio, Quincee	So	.190	.433	.429	21	5	1	7	5	3	5	9	.862
82	Hodge, Avery	So	.270	.364	.378	37	15		6	6	3	15	11	.742
27	Coor, Hannah	Jr	.194	.229	.355	31	8	1	1	6	5	10	11	.584
-	Totals	-	.394	.495	.733	894	322	78	186	304	89	191	266	1.228

Texas

#	Player	Yr	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	HR	BB	RBI	K	GO	FO	OPS
12	Hunter, Victoria	Fr	.444	.545	.815	27	5	2	3	10	3	7	5	1.360
9	Mitchell, Joley	Sr	.450	.535	.775	80	32	5	18	23	9	22	15	1.310
3	Quiroga, Vanessa	Jr	.400	.500	.800	5	4		1	2	2	1		1.300
14	Atwood, Reese	So	.400	.434	.829	105	21	12	8	52	11	27	29	1.263
25	Brown, Ryan	Fr	.286	.444	.714	7	1	1	2	2	1	1	3	1.158
10	Scott, Mia	Jr	.393	.505	.629	89	34	2	20	25	4	22	29	1.134
21	Henry, Kayden	Fr	.404	.451	.654	104	31	6	9	22	16	36	11	1.105
20	Stewart, Katie	Fr	.354	.481	.598	82	28	5	20	24	19	15	17	1.079
11	Washington, Alyssa	Sr	.333	.379	.643	84	22	6	6	24	8	22	30	1.022
6	Dayton, Isabella	Sr	.385	.512	.492	65	25		19	11	8	18	16	1.004
44	Cimusz, Katie	Jr	.378	.442	.541	37	8	1	5	8	7	7	9	.983
7	Maloney, Ashton	So	.424	.480	.439	66	15		8	7	5	25	10	.919
23	Martinez, Viviana	So	.315	.361	.438	89	17	2	5	19	13	19	27	.799
43	Goode, Leighann	So	.283	.340	.370	46	10	1	4	10	6	11	11	.710
5	Whitaker, Jordyn	Sr	.250	.300	.250	8			1	2	2	1	3	.550
-	Totals	-	.377	.453	.609	896	263	43	129	241	116	234	215	1.062

[AustinTXSooner]

Pitching Comparison

#	Player	Yr	App	GS	ERA	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/7IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
85	Geurin, SJ	Fr	8		0.72	1	10	10	2			9.7	3.0	6.52	0.72	.194	.242	.437
8	Keeney, Karlie	Sr	17	3	1.11	3	57	27	4	1	1	38.0	2.8	4.05	1.05	.263	.277	.540
11	Deal, Kierston	So	10	9	1.22	3	28	41	7			34.3	2.9	6.52	1.11	.271	.262	.533
17	Monticelli, Paytn	So	14	1	1.29	1	9	16				16.3	3.7	9.43	1.10	.277	.200	.477
28	Maxwell, Kelly	Sr	17	10	1.59	5	64	44	10		1	61.7	3.1	7.83	0.96	.250	.254	.504
19	May, Nicole	Sr	14	12	1.68	5	46	43	11			50.0	3.6	7.98	1.18	.286	.314	.600
-	Totals	-			1.40	18	214	181			2	210.0	3.2	7.03	1.05	.265	.270	.534

Texas

#	Player	Yr	App	GS	ERA	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/7IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
99	Simpson, Sophia	Jr	10		0.81		11	10			1	17.3	3.1	12.52	1.10	.250	.182	.432
77	Gutierrez, Citlaly	So	11	9	1.17	3	79	31	6		1	47.7	4.7	4.11	0.82	.220	.260	.480
55	Morgan, Mac	Jr	15	8	1.26	1	101	24	8			50.0	2.2	2.80	0.88	.223	.204	.428
17	Kavan, Teagan	Fr	17	13	1.84	5	60	72	11	2	2	68.3	5.4	7.17	0.94	.234	.246	.480
22	Czech, Estelle	Sr	12	4	1.89	3	38	36	4	3		29.7	3.0	2.83	0.91	.231	.283	.514
-	Totals	-			1.41	12	289	173			4	213.0	3.8	5.29	0.91	.230	.239	.469

[AustinTXSooner]

Pitching is very good. Not sure why Simpson doesn't pitch more. I've always felt that her relationship with White wasn't good, however, she hasn't portaled, so it must not be that bad either...at least not yet. Czech doesn't seem to be getting many innings either. I've always felt that she was solid, but not great.

Kavan just doesn't walk anybody.

[1KCSoonerFan]

Post game #1 vs Texas WIN for the Sooners!!! How do you evaluate the outcome? Did game #1 play-out as you imagined, hoped, or anticipated?

I am very happy for the win on a "hostile" field, especially when that field is anywhere in Texas.

[OUBeliever56A]

Few Words: Jayda Coleman and Kelly Maxwell - OU 5, UT 2.

Jayda Coleman - 4 RBIs HR

Kelly Maxwell - 7.0 IP, CG, Win, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks 10 Ks.

Tiare Jennings made a couple good plays and Sanders had a good stretch or two at 1B.

That is enough said.

[SoonerGirl1201]

Jayda was exceptional. Kelly was exceptional until the 5-6th innings - she had a no hitter going until the last out in the 5th. I thought it was a great game and that Kelly just got a little tired with all the pitches. She had well over 100 by the end.

I'm anxious to see the matchup tomorrow. I think OU is the better team and just hope our experience continues to lead when we need it.

[OUBeliever56A]

Jayda was exceptional. Kelly was exceptional until the 5-6th innings - she had a no hitter going until the last out in the 5th. I thought it was a great game and that Kelly just got a little tired with all the pitches. She had well over 100 by the end.

I'm anxious to see the matchup tomorrow. I think OU is the better team and just hope our experience continues to lead when we need it.

I think Maxwell was exceptional thru six innings. 10 Ks with only 1 little looper to LF for a hit and 84 pitches thru 6 innings is exceptional. Only one hard hit ground ball right at Hodge at 2B for an easy toss to Jennings at 2B.

The sixth did get a bit nervous with her reaching 30 pitches in the innings. The two walks in that inning was, well, more nervous, especially the last one that brought the lead run to the plate. Even the double was a Baltimore-chop over Brito.

But Maxwell was up to the challenge. I will take a 5-2 CG WIN by a pitcher game anytime against the #2 team.

[TN Sooner]

I’m glad you included the defensive effort in your exceptional recap - short and sweet.

Tiare made 2 plays on deflections off Brito’s glove, including 1 from deep in the hole. Also in Tiare - Plank said her hit was her first hit ever in Austin - 0-12 or 0-13 I think he said. That’s a wow for me.

Maxwell did tire a bit in the 7th - her pitches that were catching the corners in 1-6 were just off the plate in the seventh. It is easy for a pitcher in that situation to “hang” one over the plate and give up something big - Kelly didn’t do that - great effort by her.

Mike White has disappointed me as he appears to be holding his tongue and his temper this year. If he’d lost the challenge on that foul ball, I believe he would have (legitimately) lost his mind. Maybe we can get to home today

Final thought - our base runners have to be better at NOT leaving the bag early.

[TropicalSooner]

Jayda doing Jayda things.
You go girl!

Proud of Maxwell's performance. She hung in there and in the end fed the ball to the defense behind her. Probably more comforting to her than the defenses she's had to rely on in years past.

And not to be in an echo chamber....but yeah, clean up the dang baserunning. That's gone on way too long for our team.

Edit:
Let me add this about when Hansen left early. Yeah, she's a veteran and should know better. But I'm wondering if two things are coming into play here....1) there is instant replay for challenges being used a lot more now, and 2) It seems like there is a lot more of an effort or a focus now to call this specific error. It may also be something that Hansen (and a whole lot of other players) have always gotten away with in the past and now it's catching up with them?--and old habits can be hard to break.
Of course, I really don't know if that was going on or not. It's just a thought. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can correct me on this.
But in any case, it still needs to be cleaned up.

[TN Sooner]

If you listened to the ESPN broadcast, you could hear the piercing whistle as Kelly threw the ball - it was less noticeable on the Plank radio call, but still noticeable.

Per SJ, it’s a Texas bench player.

[AustinTXSooner]

I watched the game twice. Once live with Plank's broadcast and the second one was with the ESPN announcers. I never noticed it with Plank. It was annoying as hell on the ESPN broadcast.

[inconnu]

It's as annoying as just about ANY sound can be. I probably would be annoyed even it was done when a txasswhorn was pitching.