Despite a valiant effort on the road against the Big 12’s top team, the Longhorns fell to the Sooners during both games of a doubleheader Friday. The first matchup was a 9-8 defeat for Texas, followed by a 5-3 loss in the second game.

Texas falls to 27–12 and 2–5 in Big 12 play after dropping both games. The Longhorns’ defense faced Oklahoma’s conference-best hitting offense and struggled keeping the Sooners off the board.

Already trailing 2-0 in the second inning, disaster struck for Texas. The Longhorns gave up two runs on an obstruction play, and Oklahoma stole home to go down 4-0 early on.

Texas, however, regrouped after pulling junior pitcher Tiarra Davis for sophomore Paige von Sprecken then scoring two runs off of a double by Celina Felix in the third inning.

Oklahoma responded with a pair of runs in the fourth inning, taking what seemed to be an insurmountable 6-2 lead.

But the Longhorns offense answered with an strong fifth inning. Sophomore first baseman Holly Kern launched a grand slam to centerfield to immediately tie the score. The Longhorns could never pass through to the lead.

Oklahoma’s three-run shot in the sixth inning ultimately placed the clamps on the game. Texas fought back and brought in two runs in the final inning to cut the deficit to 9-8, but Oklahoma pitcher Paige Parker struck out Texas’ Reagan Hathaway to end the game.

Parker pitched a complete game for Oklahoma, allowing a season-high eight runs.

Game two, however, was not the offensive battle the first game was.

Both teams combined for ten hits in the latter matchup, paling in comparison to the 19 in the previous 17-run game. Texas held a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning off of an RBI single by senior centerfielder Lindsey Stephens, but Oklahoma one-upped Texas again, reclaiming a 2-1 lead on a two-run single to finish the inning.

After a series of runs scored in the fifth inning, Texas entered the seventh inning tied with the Sooners but went down in the inning on five pitches. Oklahoma responded with a two-run home run by Erin Miller to win 5-3.

Miller finished the doubleheader with six runs scored and four RBIs. Texas’ pitching, which allows 2.77 runs per game, gave up 14 runs during the two-game span. Davis started both games, but both losses were handed to von Sprecken, who moves to 9–3 on the season.

Texas concludes the series in Oklahoma on Saturday.