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 Oklahoma's sweep of Kentucky helped the Sooners out in the polls.

This weekend figures to have chance to have a big effect as well.

Patty Gasso's team jumped a spot to No. 2 in the NFCA/GoRout coaches' poll Tuesday, behind top-ranked Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders received 26 of 31 first-place votes, with Oklahoma receiving one and Alabama and Texas two each.

The Crimson Tide, who beat the previously No. 1 Longhorns in two out of three games last weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala., jumped up to No. 3 in the rankings, followed by Texas and Florida State.

The Sooners (38-3, 11-1 SEC) will take on Texas, the defending national champions, in a three-game series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday in Austin, Texas.

Florida checks in at No. 6, with Nebraska, Arkansas, Tennessee and UCLA rounding out the top 10.

Other ranked SEC teams include Mississippi State at No. 13, Texas A&M at No. 14, Georgia at No. 16, and LSU at No. 21.

Other ranked OU opponents this season include No. 12 Arizona, No. 18 Duke, No. 19 Oklahoma State, No. 22 Washington and No. 23 Arizona State.

The Sooners take on the Cowgirls at 8 p.m. April 15 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

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The Sooners also jumped to No, 2 in the D1Softball poll, with the top four the same as the NFCA poll. Nebraska is No. 5 in that poll.

The Softball America poll is different at the top, with Alabama atop those rankings, Texas Tech at No. 2, Oklahoma remaining at No. 3, followed by Texas and Nebraska.

Oklahoma enters the pivotal weekend series against the Longhorns on a five-game winning streak, while Sooners freshman catcher Kendall Wells is on the cusp of history.

Wells tied the NCAA — and program — record for home runs by a freshman with her 30th in Saturday's 12-2 series-finale win over the Wildcats.

Oklahoma leads the nation with 144 home runs, needing three to tie last year's Ohio State team for the fifth-most in NCAA history.

The Sooners figure to move up on the program list for most runs in a season, entering the weekend with 485, sixth-most in program history. This year's OU team is two behind the 2015 team for No. 5 on the list, and 16 away from the 2023 team. The program record is 638, set in 2021.


This article first appeared on Oklahoma Sooners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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