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AUSL extends the Red River Rivalry beyond the college softball diamond

The annual tradition has begun in another league.
ByJordan Prewitt|
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Tiare Jennings of the Texas Volts celebrates after hitting a home run during an AUSL softball game between the Oklahoma City Spark and the Texas Volts at Oklahoma Christian University, Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Tiare Jennings of the Texas Volts celebrates after hitting a home run during an AUSL softball game between the Oklahoma City Spark and the Texas Volts at Oklahoma Christian University, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For those who are bummed to not see Oklahoma in the Women’s College World Series this year while Texas won the national title for a second year in a row, there is good news for softball in the Sooner State.

Athletes Unlimited Softball League has resumed play in its second season, and there was no more fitting way to kick off the summer than its own version of the Red River Rivalry as the Oklahoma City Spark beat the Texas Volts 2-1 in the three-game opening home series from Tuesday to Thursday on Sooner State soil. Both squads faced each other for the first time at the professional level, and presence of Sooner talent on each side meant it was no coincidence that the electric energy on the field matched the intensity of the home states to the two most recent NCAA champions.

Spark and Volts bring Red River Rivalry to Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s opening week

The Spark combined for 23 totals runs and the Volts with 17 throughout the series, and five were scored by a former OU player. OKC's Sydney Romero homered in the second inning of Game 1, but Texas' Tiare Jennings responded with a grand slam in the third inning.

Although the Spark won the first game 13-5 due to the mercy rule after six innings, the Volts fought back on Wednesday with an 8-5 win as Jennings shot a solo bomb in the third inning. Riley Boone scored a run for Texas, and Haley Lee had a hit for OKC.

Read more: No team still has owned the WCWS the past quarter century like Patty Gasso's Sooners

The matchup marks the debut of the OKC Spark in the AUSL since moving to the upstart professional league in Nov. 2025, but the franchise has always been a pipeline for the Patty Gasso dynasty since its founding in 2022. Jennings, Boone, Jocelyn Alo, Alyssa Brito, Jayda Coleman, Kelly Maxwell, Keilani Ricketts, Alex Storako and Alynah Torres were all past members back when they played as an independent team and won the AFP championship in 2024, followed by a TC Colorado Cup title in 2025.

The Spark and the Volts are expected to play each other again later in the AUSL season on July 14 and 15.

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