Mike White on being the underdog vs. Oklahoma: 'I like being in that position'
No. 2 Oklahoma won 8-3 over No. 1 Texas in the opening game of the championship series of the Women’s College World Series. That leaves the Sooners one victory away from a fourth consecutive national title and the Longhorns being one loss away from elimination and their ultimate goal.
Mike White assessed where his team was at following the five-run loss at Devon Park on Wednesday. To start, he didn’t have much of an opinion on how the fast start, which had Oklahoma up 5-1 through three innings, impacted his team and their mindset during the rest of the game.
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“Well, I would have said it probably played a lot more into it,” said White. “Coming back with that one run straightaway was a pretty good answer. But I think the third and fourth runs were the ones that got to us spread out a little bit.”
“I’m not there. I’m not in their minds. I don’t know what they’re thinking,” White added. “Like you said, they’re young. 18- to 22-year-olds. There’s a lot of stuff going on. They haven’t experienced that much yet.”
Now, with that game behind them, all that Texas can do is face elimination with the right mindset. They’re now the underdog, even as the top overall seed in the tournament, which is a place that White doesn’t mind being at now.
“Again, I’m hoping it’s not so much we had a loss. It’s what we learn from it. Can we create some new opportunities, go out there and create some pressure on them,” said White. “Now it’s theirs to lose in some respect. They have to win one of the next two games.”
“I like being in that position, sometimes being the underdog. We were the top dog for a little bit, so to speak, but were we? They’re three-time national champions,” White said. “It’s a mind game. Champions reframe. How can we reframe from this loss, what we’re facing right now, come out, and have a better game and see if we can play some good softball?”
For reference, Texas is now 2-3 overall against Oklahoma this season with the Red River pairing being the top two teams in the country. The Sooners took the opener of their regular-season series in Austin before the Longhorns won it in total by taking the last two, which is a welcome example of what they would now have to do in the WCWS. However, they’ve also lost the last two meetings. They had 5-2 defeat in the Big 12 Championship as well as the one that they dropped on Wednesday.
Approach is everything from here for Texas. They’re already at a disadvantage at a game down and will need to win each of the next two to attain what they came there for in OKC.
How will they answer against their bitter rivals? It’s up for the Longhorns to decide tonight and, if necessary, on Friday with a title on the line for both.