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Texas softball advances to WCWS championship thanks to wild fifth inning

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook06/07/22josephcook89
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(Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

In the first few innings of Texas softball’s elimination game at the Women’s College World Series, chances to score were tough to come by against Oklahoma State pitcher Kelly Maxwell. The Longhorns trailed 5-3 in the top of the fifth, their only three runs the result of a Courtney Day homer.

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Another opportunity for Texas, who had defeated the Cowgirls earlier in the day to set up a game with a spot in the championship series on the line, presented itself in the fifth. Jordyn Whittaker walked then Mia Scott singled with one out to bring up Bella Dayton.

Texas made the most of its second opportunity, and even had some help from the Cowgirls.

Dayton’s single set the wheels in motion for OSU to commit multiple pivotal errors. When the ball left Hayley Busby’s hand in an attempt to get Scott, it had no chance of being fielded until it got to the left field wall. Dayton motored all the way around to score the go-ahead run, giving Texas a 6-5 lead.

That one run was all Hailey Dolcini needed. She was masterful in the pitcher’s circle in relief, throwing 5.0 innings of one-hit ball, allowing two earned runs, walking none and striking out three.

Texas, who entered the NCAA tournament unseeded, had to make it through the Seattle regional and the Fayetteville super regional in order to even make it to Oklahoma City. Now, they are the first unseeded team and first Texas team to ever make the championship series. The Longhorns’ win over the Cowgirls was their sixth in an elimination game of the postseason.

In an attempt to win the program’s first national title, head coach Mike White’s team will have to defeat the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners in a best two-of-three series. The Longhorns are 1-4 this year against the Sooners but are one of three teams to have defeated OU this year, and the only to do so in the regular season.

The Longhorn softball program began in 1997. White is the second head coach in program history. In Texas’ sixth Women’s College World Series appearance, the Longhorns now have their first chance at a national title.

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