No. 4/5 Softball beats No. 1 Oklahoma, 2-1 - University of Texas Athletics (2024)

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Game Recap: Softball | 04.07.2024 | Chris Allen Brown

Texas halts Sooners’ 40-game Big 12 winning streak and 17-game overall winning streak.

AUSTIN, Texas –Everything — the throw, the tag, the ability to not obstruct the base runner — had to be perfect in the closing seconds of the 2-hour, 5-five minute for No. 4/5 Texas to seal its 2-1 victory over No. 1/1 Oklahoma and snap the Sooners' 40-game Big 12 Conference winning streak.

It was the perfect throw from center fielder Kayden Henry from a step-in front of the deepest part of Red & Charline McCombs that gave shortstop Viviana Martinez the ability to make the relay throw from a step on the outfield grass to give catcher Reese Atwood an opportunity to apply the tag on Oklahoma's Maya Bland at the plate for the final out in the top of the seventh and close out the game.

how we feelin' Longhorn Nation ⁉️🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/C3obYcl2Wl

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) April 7, 2024

But the momentous play was just the latest in an eventful night in front of 2,084 in attendance and thousands watching around the world on ESPN.

After Oklahoma (35-2, 13-1) took a one-run lead on a Tiare Jennings two-out single in the top of the first, Texas starting pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez (7-0) settled in and gave her offense an opportunity to respond by retiring the next 11 consecutive Sooner batters before a one-out single to left field snapped the streak.

But as Gutierrez was putting up zeroes in the Oklahoma run column, Texas (30-6, 10-4) were collecting base runners off Sooner starter Nicole May (11-1). Mia Scott became the first with a two-out walk in the first inning. Martinez became the second an inning later with a one-out double down the left-field line. Then the duoreallyleft their mark on the game in the fourth.

Scott, again, reached base by sending an 0-1 pitch back up the middle for a single. Then, following back-to-back swinging strikeouts, Martinez sent the first pitch of her fourth inning at bat to the left-center field gap to score Scott from first and tie the game at 1-1. But the score did not remain tied for long as Katie Stewart mirrored Martinez' plate appearance with her own run-scoring double to the left-center field gap to plate Martinez from second and give Texas a 2-1 lead.

Gutierrez, now pitching with a lead, worked around the fifth-inning single. She also worked around a scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth after Ella Parker was hit by the first pitch of the frame, then advanced to second on a wild pitch two pitches later. But the Longhorns' sophom*ore right-hander induced a pop up for the inning's second out then forced Jennings to ground out to Scott at third to leave Parker on base.

Texas was presented with an opportunity toreallyballoon its lead in the bottom of the sixth after Atwood, Victoria Hunter and Martinez all reached base to open the inning. But a two-run single off the right field wall from Katie Stewart was erased after Oklahoma challenged Hunter leaving second base early.

Following the Sooners' successful challenge, Stewart popped up for the second out. Henry drew a four-pitch walk to re-load the bases, but pinch hitter Katie Cimusz grounded out to second base to end the opportunity.

Gutierrez started the top of the seventh by recording back-to-back outs before Kinzie Hansen, who had the fifth inning single, sent a 1-2 pitch back up the middle for the Sooners' fifth hit of the night. However, Hansen's pinch runner Bland was thrown out at the plate attempting to score the game-tying run on a double to center field off the bat of Rylie Boone to end the game.

the final out 🤘#HookEm | @atwood_reese pic.twitter.com/orSwwHNDZo

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) April 7, 2024

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"There's never a dull moment (in softball) that's for sure, especially when you're playing OU; they're always so tough. The biggest thing I told the girls was playing the game the right way and making it a great game to watch. And I thought tonight's game was a great game to watch. It was very exciting with a lot of really good plays and pressure moments. There was a lot of good pitching mixed in there as well. I'm just proud to be a part of that game. When you look back, there are, obviously, some things we still need to work on. I have to give credit to both teams, though. The Sooners always have that 'never say die' attitude and we just had to execute a great play at the end."

GAME NOTES

• By earning the win during Saturday night's game, the Texas Longhorns handed Oklahoma pitcher Nicole May her first career loss against a Big 12 Conference opponent.
  • May entered Saturday's game with a 44-1 record since 2022 and a 59-3 career mark with her last loss occurring on June 6, 2022 against UCLA.
• Texas pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez has now earned back-to-back seven-inning complete game victories against Big 12 Conference opponents for the first time in her collegiate softball career following her performance against the Sooners on Saturday night.
• The victory for Texas is the first against a top-ranked team since the Longhorns knocked off then-No. 1 Oklahoma, 4-2, in Austin on April 16, 2022.
• With her single to left field to open the bottom of the fifth, Ashton Maloney extended her active hitting streak to 10 consecutive games, joining Katie Stewart and Kayden Henry as the only Longhorn softball student-athletes to have a hitting streak of 10-or-more games this season.
• Saturday's game marked the first time Viviana Martinez was credited with three hits in a single game since recording a career-high four hits at then-No. 8/10 UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024.

UP NEXT

• Having bounced back from Friday evening's game with Saturday's outcome, Texas will look for its first series win over Oklahoma since the 2009 season, when the Longhorns took both of the season's regular season matchups on March 28 and 29, respectively, when the two teams take the field at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.

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.