OU Softball: Oklahoma to Battle Texas Again for Spot in WCWS Semifinals

Oklahoma’s reward is another familiar foe. 

The battle through the SEC continues with 6-seeded Texas. 

Two of the last three years have ended with Gasso’s team getting the better of Mike White and their Red River Rivals in the Championship Series. 

In fact, Saturday’s meeting between OU and Texas (2 p.m., ABC), will be the sixth matchup for the foes at the WCWS in the last four years.

Oklahoma has won all of those battles, as well as all three games in the regular season series in Norman last month. 

The Longhorns got their own perfect start to the WCWS by downing 3-seeded Florida 3-0 on Thursday. 

Ace pitcher Teagan Kavan was excellent, and the Longhorns got enough offense to win in comfortable fashion. 

Now, the teams will dig back into the scouting reports assembled for the regular season, as they know each other than perhaps any other team in the country.

“It goes both ways, no doubt. They know our pitching staff inside and out, and we know theirs,” White said on Thursday. “So it's going to come down to the team that executes the best. It's going to be a fun game to watch.”

OU outscored Texas 23-16 across the three-game set in Norman, and the Sooners belted six home runs as a team. 

How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Texas

• When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
• Where: Devon Park, Oklahoma City
• Channel: ABC

Both Gabbie Garcia and Ailana Agbayani amassed five RBIs in the series, and Ella Parker added three more RBIs against the Longhorns’ pitching staff. 

The struggles north of the Red River have predated the White Era, too. 

Texas hasn’t beaten Oklahoma in the Sooner State since 2014.

Saturday’s winner between the Sooners and the Longhorns will need just one more win to reach the 2025 WCWS Championship Series. They would take on either Tennessee, Texas Tech or UCLA on Monday, and would have to lose twice on Monday to fail to reach the Championship Series. 

The loser of Saturday’s contest will return on Sunday to play the loser of the Texas Tech and UCLA in an elimination game.

Both Gasso and White know the SEC gauntlet has prepared their teams for the Saturday spotlight, and now it’ll be down to who can deliver in the clutch moments in the season’s fourth installment of the Red River Rivalry. 

“It's fun right now to be in that conference and playing such softball and seeing success that all softball is having right now, to tell you the truth,” White said.