Texas softball will begin defense of its national title at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City Thursday against Tennessee.
Game times for all four of the first-round matchups will be announced later this week.
Texas earned a third straight trip to the WCWS by beating Arizona State 5-0 Sunday in Game 3 of the Austin Super Regional at McCombs Field. The Longhorns will be joined in Oklahoma City by four SEC teams, including Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and surprising Mississippi State, who shocked Oklahoma with a Game 3 win Sunday in Norman, Oklahoma. Nebraska, Texas Tech and UCLA also reached Oklahoma City.
The eight-time champion Sooners will miss the WCWS for the first time since 2015.
Last season at the WCWS, Texas beat Tennessee and star pitcher Karlyn Pickens 2-0 to advance to the championship series. Former Texas pitcher Mac Morgan, now an assistant coach at UTSA, started the game and allowed just three hits in four while matching her season-high with four strikeouts. Teagan Kavan, the Longhorns’ ace who picked up a complete-game Sunday against Arizona State, threw three scoreless innings in relief of Morgan.
The Longhorns did just enough against Pickens, the Vols’ fireball thrower who gave up five hits and one earned run in six innings while striking out nine Longhorns.
Vivi Martinez didn’t face Pickens while missing last season with a knee injury but did step into the batter’s box against the Vol ace in 2024. She went 0-for-3 but also remembers some valuable lessons.
“She’s a great pitcher,” said Martinez, who went 4-for-9 in the Super Regional series against Arizona State. “She throws hard, so just getting my timing on time and hunting early. Good pitchers, you got to hunt pitches early in the count.”
