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No. 1 Oklahoma Takes First Two from Texas (with Update)

Oklahoma, which ascended to the No. 1 spot in the national polls after UCLA dropped one of three to Oregon a week ago, has taken the first two games of its Big 12 series with Texas. Scores of the Sooners' two wins over the Longhorns were 3-1 on Thursday and 4-3 (8 innings) on Friday.

OU's Game 2 win over Texas had a particularly wild finish, regarding both how the Sooners scored their two runs in the top of the eighth to break a 2-2 tie, and the Longhorns scored one run but were denied a tying second run in the bottom half.

A play-by-play sheet is available here. In short, in the top of the eighth, Oklahoma went up 3-2 as Sydney Romero tagged up from third on a liner to right that was caught, barely getting her hand on the plate. Then, while the Longhorns were arguing the call, Fale Aviu, who began the play on second base, came home, to make it 4-2.

In the bottom half, UT put together a pair of two-out hits -- by Kaitlyn Slack to center and M. K. Tedder to left -- each a liner barely landing in front of the respective outfielder. Janae Jefferson, described on the Longhorn Network broadcast as the greatest offensive threat in team history (including a .392 batting average a year ago), surprised with a bunt. She was safe, as the throw got away from OU's first-baseperson. Slack was safe at home, making it 4-3 OU, but Tedder, the potential tying run, was thrown out at the plate.

Video highlights of Game 2 are available here.

UPDATE: Saturday's finale was a lot less dramatic, with OU completing the sweep over Texas, 9-2.

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