Texas Longhorns Take Game 1 of Women's College World Series Championship, One Win Away from Title Defense
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Texas Longhorns are one win away from securing a second straight softball national title. Against a Texas Tech team known for an offense that could explode into a rally at any moment, Texas took a page out of the in-state foe’s book, tallying 10 hits in a 7-3 victory Wednesday night. Teagan Kavan, a workhorse and the ace for the Longhorns, allowed three hits and tallied six strikeouts to pick up the win.
Kavan threw the fifth shutout of her WCWS career to punch Texas’ ticket to the championship in Monday’s second matchup against Tennessee, surpassing Longhorns legend Cat Osterman. Kavan has allowed five hits in her last 14 innings. She is 67-0 when pitching with a four-run lead.
Though Red Raiders senior Mihyia Davis opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first, Texas first baseman Katie Stewart didn’t let that lead live for very long, launching the second pitch she saw from Kaitlyn Terry over the left-center-field bleachers and out of Devon Park, marking the fourth straight game in which she’s gone yard. It was her 31st home run of the season. As Stewart’s done for much of the season, she sparked a rally that prompted Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco to make an early pitching change and resulted in three more players crossing home plate, thanks in part to a misread ball by starting left fielder Desirae Spearman.
NiJaree Canady sat down the Longhorns in order in the second inning, but in a surprising move, Glasco turned to sophomore Samantha Lincoln in the circle to start the third inning, her first appearance in Oklahoma City. In the mid-inning interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe before making that move, Glasco seemed to already be planning for Game 2, saying: “I can’t afford to leave NiJa out there in a 5-1 game. I’ve got to save her for tomorrow.”
In a rematch of the 2025 championship series, Texas Tech’s roster looks completely different compared with last year, while Texas’ is mostly the same. It’s still Kavan versus Canady, but this year, with an added twist, with Terry now donning a Red Raider uniform. One thing that is a replica of last year’s finals? The Game 1 result and Texas taking a 1-0 series lead.
Since the WCWS switched to a best-of-three championship series, the team that’s won Game 1 has gone on to win the title 80 percent of the time — that much was true in Texas’ run to the program’s first national championship in 2025, as it took Games 1 and 3 over Texas Tech. The Longhorns have placed themselves squarely in the favorite’s role again.