No. 1 Oklahoma avenged its only loss of the season -- a February 19 game against Baylor in a nonconference tournament -- by not only sweeping the Bears this weekend but not allowing a single run. The Sooners' three wins came by scores of 7-0, 4-0, and 2-0.
No. 7 Texas swept a three-game series from No. 3 Oklahoma State, with first-year Longhorn catcher Reese Atwood coming up with walk-off hits in Games 1 and 2. In Friday's series opener, Atwood's eighth-inning single drove home the game's only run, giving Texas a 1-0 victory.
Then on Saturday, in the first game of a doubleheader, the Longhorns trailed 2-0 as they came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh. It was Atwood again, delivering a three-run bomb (video) to give Texas a 3-2 win. In both Friday's game and Saturday's first game, Cowgirl pitchers had taken no-hitters into the bottom of the seventh. Saturday's second game wasn't as dramatic, with UT completing the series sweep by a 5-2 score. The two Saturday games are summarized here.
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The Big 10 (B1G) has experienced somewhat of a decline on the national softball stage, with No. 17 Northwestern being the highest-ranked team in the conference currently. Michigan, meanwhile, is unranked in Year 1 of the post-Carol Hutchins era. The Wolverines had shown some recent improvement, however, winning consecutive conference series over Nebraska, Illinois, and Purdue. This past weekend's Northwestern at Michigan series, during which UM's facility would be renamed Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium, would thus provide a good barometer on the Wolverines' progress this season. After the teams split the first two games -- Northwestern taking the opener 4-3 in 11 innings and Michigan storming back for a 15-0 rout in Game 2 -- the Wildcats took the decider, 3-0.