Sports

Texas Softball Player Triggered Hypocritical Rival With Vicious Bat Spike After Walk-Off HR

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© BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images


The Texas softball team beat rival Oklahoma in dramatic fashion on Sunday to salvage a win in a three-game series. The final play of that contest triggered the Sooners.

Katie Stewart spiked her bat after a walk-off home run in the eighth inning. It sparked a reaction from the opposing fanbase, though the Sooners have done the same with the stakes much lower.

Their anger was misdirected after the loss. A storm of hypocrisy rained down in the response that followed.

Katie Stewart infuriated Oklahoma with bat spike.

The rivalry is one of the best in the sport. Oklahoma is arguably the most dominant program in softball, having won seven national titles since 2013. That includes a four-peat from 2021-2024.

Last year, the Sooners were unseated from the throne. They had to watch the Longhorns pick up their first national championship in school history.

Both entered this season with College World Series ambitions. Each was ranked inside the Top 5 at the time of their regular season meeting.

Oklahoma got the better of Texas in both Games 1 and 2 to take the series. The latter avoided a sweep on Sunday.

The Longhorns jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bat of the final contest. The lead was 5-3 upon entering the seventh. Oklahoma forced extra innings with two runs in the top of the frame. They then took a lead in the top of the eighth.

That set the stage for late-game fireworks. Katie Stewart prevented the sweep in the Longhorns’ final plate appearance, and she spiked her bat in celebration.

Oklahoma has no room to talk.

After Texas tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth inning, first baseman Katie Stewart sent the fans home happy with a walk-off bomb.

The home run was an absolute no-doubter. She knew it was gone as soon as the ball left the bat. It ended a seven game-skid in the rivalry. It was a big moment!

Her reaction to the towering shot enraged the Sooners. They believed it was over the top with the series already decided.

“Why did she slam the bat like Texas wasn’t on a losing streak and down 0-2 in this series?” one OU fan asked. Another called the actions “classless.”

Texas supporters quickly chimed in, and they brought receipts with them.

Two years prior, Oklahoma caught criticism for a similar bat spike at the WCWS against Florida. That, however, came following a walk with the team trailing by four runs.

Alyssa Brito slammed her bat to the ground after taking ball four in a full count. Her team trailed 7-3. Florida would go onto win, 9-3. The optics weren’t great.

The Sooners lost any credibility in an argument surrounding Katie Stewart’s bat spike this weekend.

The Longhorns deserved to celebrate an exciting moment in a rivalry series. History tells us that Oklahoma would’ve done the same.