Joley Mitchell addresses Texas' mindset after dropping Game 1

After dropping Game 1 of the championship series of the Women’s College World Series to Oklahoma on Wednesday night, Texas has its back against the wall, needing two wins in two days to win a national title. But Longhorns infielder Joley Mitchell isn’t feeling like there’s anything extra on her or her teammates’ shoulders.

For one, Texas has been in pressure-filled situations before, including needing to win two games in a row in Super Regionals last weekend, doing just that to make the WCWS. All the Longhorns need to do, Mitchell said, is keep shifting the momentum.

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“I think we’ve done a good job of shifting the momentum,” Mitchell said. “We’ve done it regular season series, against Texas A&M in the super regional. We’re a tough team. As long as we stay together, do the job, we’ll be just fine the next two games.”

Texas might have gotten the momentum going the right way late in Game 1, despite the loss. After trailing 7-1 entering the bottom of the 6th inning, the Longhorns tacked on a pair of runs and were applying some pressure to the Sooners before the threat ended.

The margin at that point was just too big, and Oklahoma added a run in the top of the 7th, but it might’ve been a spark to show the Longhorns that this series is far from over after just one game.

Mitchell also downplayed any mind games

Mitchell and other Texas players denied Oklahoma is in the Longhorns’ heads. After losing Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series, it’s easy to make that assumption.

Going into the finals, the two teams split four meetings, but Oklahoma got the last laugh with the Big 12 Championship win. Now with the Big 12 and soon-to-be SEC rivals facing off for the national title, Oklahoma got another win.

If the Sooners aren’t in Mitchell and other’s heads, then the Longhorns should be able to get a Game 2 win and force the winner-take-all Game 3.

“I mean, we have a lot of respect for them,” Mitchell said. “We talked about them in our postgame meeting. You just have to respect the opponent. It’s not necessarily that we’re intimidated by them. I think it’s just that we have to stay within ourselves. We don’t need to worry about anything else. It’s just the game of softball. We have to play Texas softball.”

Katie Stewart echoed Mitchell’s comments. Texas is just on to the next game, looking to stay alive.

“I think like she said, we got a lot of respect for them,” Stewart said. “I think that just made us put a lot of pressure on ourselves to succeed and execute. Just remembering that we’re a good team also and that we’re meant to be here I think is going to be important to remember as we go see ’em again tomorrow.”