OKLAHOMA CITY — Before these Women's College World Series finals began, Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso tried to co-opt the underdog role for her, ahem, three-time defending national champions. Yeah, those underdogs.

That didn’t truly take, however, as her powerful OU team set the tone Wednesday night with a first-inning two-run home run by Tiare Jennings — one of three homers that were hit by the Sooners — and steamrolled top-seeded Texas 8-3 in the first game of the best-of-three championship round.

But Texas coach Mike White said the shoe is now on the other foot. Or in the other dugout, as the two bitter rivals approach Game 2 on Thursday night. With two chances, OU is the clear favorite now to earn its eighth overall title.

At least so says White, who's making his seventh WCWS appearance as head coach of Oregon and now Texas. He’s also aware Game 1 winners have gone on to claim 14 of the 18 championships, including the 2021 OU club against Florida State.

"Now it's theirs to lose in some respect," White said of the Sooners. "They have to win one of the next two games. I like being in that position, sometimes being the underdog.”

Guess he got his wish. OU stands one win away from a fourth consecutive national title.

More: Texas softball faces a big uphill battle after getting rolled by OU in WCWS final | Bohls

Game 1 was a stark contrast in the two teams

The Sooners sure played like they’d been here before and done that. And done that. And done it again.

As poorly as Texas played in Game 1 in all aspects, White understands the psychology of the game and addressed the team’s mental approach after the lopsided loss.

“We were the top dog for a little bit, so to speak, but were we?” White scoffed a bit. "They’re three-time national champions. 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?”

As much swagger as the Sooners bring to the table, having just scored the third most runs in a WCWS championship game, Texas is a damn good team in its own right. And highly capable. It didn’t win 55 games by accident.

More: Replay: Texas softball falls to Oklahoma in Game 1 of their WCWS finals

But White is fully aware that the top of his batting order has to be more productive. Aside from No. 2 batter Mia Scott’s solo home run Wednesday, she and Bella Dayton, Vivi Martinez and slugger Reese Atwood were a collective 1-for-12 at the plate. That ain’t getting it done.

The Longhorns split four regular-season meetings with the Sooners, but have scored only eight runs in five games against them this season. Oklahoma, remember, put up 16 and 10 runs on Texas two years ago when the Longhorns finished as runners-up to the Sooners on this same WCWS stage.

In NCAA Tournament matchups, the Sooners have won all six matchups against Texas and have pummeled the Horns by a 55-14 margin.

Ouch.

Down a game? Texas has been there, done that

Texas is not unaccustomed to such pressure.

The Longhorns have dropped first games before, losing to the Sooners at McCombs Field in early April before winning the next two. And they found themselves in a similar hole in one of the classic super regional battles as they dropped Game 1 to Texas A&M and trailed in all three games before coming back to win the last two games and the series.

"I think we've done a good job of shifting the momentum," said Texas' Joley Mitchell, who had an RBI single in the sixth as did teammate Katie Stewart. "We're a tough team. As long as we stay together, do the job, we'll be just fine the next two games.”

Mitchell and Stewart are two newcomers  to Texas and to this environment. Mitchell transferred in from Notre Dame, and Stewart is a true freshman but hardly in awe of her surroundings. She's driven in a team-high five of the Longhorns’ 18 WCWS runs with four hits in nine at-bats. Fellow freshman Kaden Henry has knocked in three runs with her three hits in 11 chances.

Gasso loves Oklahoma's position, but isn’t counting anything early.

"We're not over-jubilant because we know there's still a lot of work to do against a very, very good team that has very good pitchers, very good hitters," Gasso said. "We know what's in front of us still. So you don't see us celebrating.”

You don’t see the Horns doing so either, obviously, but they know they have to escape their funk against OU immediately.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas softball is in a familiar role: down a game in WCWS finals