Texas Tech has made the "Final Four" of the Women's College World Series in their first year participating in the event. Only two teams in history have done that Oklahoma (2000, Won the Title) & James Madison (2021).....can Texas Tech take down the four-time defending Champion and dynasty of the sport Oklahoma to punch their ticket to a WCWS Championship Series?! WHY NOT US!
Logistics:
Game time: 6 pm | 8:30 PM (if necessary)
Broadcast: ESPN
Radio: Double T 97.3
Texas Tech is 2-0 and therefore needs one win today to advance. Oklahoma meanwhile has a loss to their record and must sweep the doubleheader today to win. Tech will be the home team in game one.
Full Day Schedule:
11 am - Texas vs Tennesse Gm 1
1:30 pm - Texas vs Tennessee Gm 2 (if necessary)
6 pm - Texas Tech vs Oklahoma Gm 1
8:30 pm - Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma Gm 2 (if necessary)
Know the Opponent:
Even people who are new to the sport of softball know the name Oklahoma as the 4-time defending champs and eight time overall, they have ran the sport for the last decade. Every dynasty has to end and Texas Tech has a chance to knock of blue bloods Florida State, UCLA and now OU in the same postseason run if they can find a way to do it in front of a very much pro Sooner crowd with Norman a mere uber ride away from OKC.
Oklahoma won the regular season SEC title in their first season in the league and shared the SEC Tournament title with Texas A&M after the championship game was rained out. Overall they are 52-8 on the season with a 17-7 conference record and 6-1 NCAA postseason record.
Hitters of Note:
Ella Parker - .424 avg, 19 2B, 15 HR, 53 RBI, 9 SB
Kasidi Pickering - .401 avg, 14 2B, 1 3B, 19 HR, 2 SB
Gabbie Garcia - .357 avg, 9 2B, 1 3B, 20 HR, 58 RBI, 3 SB
Nelly McEnroe-Marinas - .344 avg, 15 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 48 RBI, 2 SB
Abigale Dayton - .325 avg., 8 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 12 SB
**keep an eye on Cydney Sanders towards the bottom of their lineup who has been heating up in OKC as well**
Pitchers of Note:
Sam Landry - 1.89 ERA, 25-5, 180 K, 185 IP, 58 BB
Pitch % Breakdown: Drop (37%), Changeup (24%), Screw (15%), Rise (15%)
Kierston Deal - 3.42 ERA, 10-2, 50 K, 77.2 IP, 31 BB
Pitch % Breakdown: Curve (43%), Rise (28%), Changeup (11%)
Audrey Lowry - 3.09 ERA, 6-0, 40 K, 43 IP, 3 BB
Pitch % Breakdown: Drop (35%), Curve (32%), Rise (18%), Changeup (13%)
Isabella Smith - 3.25 ERA, 9-1, 44K, 56 IP, 20 BB
Pitch % Breakdown: Rise (41%), Drop (29%), Curve (13%), Changeup (12%)
Quick Thoughts:
They have good team speed in areas but overall have only 59 stolen bases on season.....in large part to them just hitting bombs all the time and not wanting to take the bat out of their hitters hands. Over 50% of their runs this year have come via the home run ball as they have hit 120 on the season, 2nd in the nation behind Ohio State.
In the circle it will be a familiar face for many on the Texas Tech team, especially head coach Gerry Glasco as Sam Landry was his star pitcher at Louisiana the last three seasons before he took the job at Texas Tech. There is no bad blood here, in fact they are very close and Landry sought Glasco's advice during the transfer process when considering Oklahoma. Obviously with six UL transfers on this team as well those players will have quite a bit of familiarity with Landry and vice versa from years of practice together. It is of note that Landry has significantly improved her Drop ball this year and throws it at a higher percentage than she ever has.....something Texas Tech will need to prepare for. That drop mixed with her self professed favorite pitch the change up coming from the exact same release point is a tricky combination to face as a hitter. Texas Tech just saw the Drop/Change combo on Thursday with Ole Miss's Aliyah Binford and it took some time for them to break through on her, let's hope having just seen that their eyes can adjust quicker if Landry is who gets the nod in game one.
Additional fun fact? Louisiana beat #1 OU in Norman last year with Chloe Riassetto in the circle. A lot of players on this team have beaten goliath before so hopefully that helps them go in without the usual in awe of looks some teams have playing OU. Texas Tech hasn't looked scared against anyone all year. I don't see that happening today either.
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