Texas stunned No. 1 Oklahoma softball 4-2 on Saturday, handing the Sooners their first loss of the season following an NCAA-record 38-0 start in 2022. The win stops OU’s overall winning streak at 40 games that began at the end of last season — and marks the first loss in more than 300 days.
Hailey Dolcini started and blanked OU for 6.1 innings with three strikeouts and just two hits allowed, quieting the most lethal offense in the NCAA and perhaps one of the best of all time. OU didn’t put up their two runs until the bottom of the seventh when Kinzie Hansen hit a two-run homer. Dolcini had tears in her eyes when the Longhorns secured the win.
“A lot of adrenaline, a lot of fight, a lot of emotions,” Dolcini said after the game.
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The Longhorns scored the first run of the game in the fifth inning on an Mary Iakopo single. An OU error allowed a runner to score and the Longhorns took a 1-0 lead. The next few, though, were earned. Mia Scott blasted three-RBI double to give the Longhorns a 4-0 lead heading into the seventh. From there, Dolcini closed it out.
UNDEFEATED NO MORE#HookEm pic.twitter.com/M5QR5L9cyv
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) April 16, 2022
This result is not just any win for Texas. It’s a rarity. Here’s why:
- Oklahoma had just run-ruled Texas yesterday. YESTERDAY! Just as they had in 30 other games this season in the 38-0 start.
- Before the Texas series, OU has outscored its opponents 354-27. That is a huge margin, so a loss for them is a big deal.
- Texas had not beaten its rival Oklahoma in 23 games, dating back to 2014.
- This marked OU’s first loss since the WCWS Finals to Florida State. The Sooners would still go on to win the title
- Lauren Chamberlain hadn't even broken the NCAA career HR record the last time OU lost to Texas. Since that 2014 game, Chamberlain set the record and another Sooner, Jocelyn Alo, broke it.
- OU won three national titles since the last loss to Texas.
The craziest part of it all, though, is this situation feels very similar to last season. The Sooners were undefeated as well, winning 40 games in a row when they were defeated by Georgia on April 20, 2021.
