Texas

No. 1 Texas softball falls to Oklahoma in Big 12 tournament finals, eyes NCAA fate

Published

2 years ago

May 12, 2024

No. 1 Texas softball falls to Oklahoma in Big 12 tournament finals, eyes NCAA fate

After falling to Oklahoma in Saturday’s Big 12 tournament title game, the No. 1 Texas softball team will find out its NCAA fate Sunday when the selection committee unveils its bracket at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Texas (47-7), the Big 12’s regular-season champion, couldn’t repeat that run during the tournament held in the Sooners’ backyard at Oklahoma City’s Devon Park, but the loss shouldn’t do too much damage to the Longhorns’ seeding hopes. Texas is all but certain to claim a top-eight seed despite Saturday’s 5-1 loss, which ensures that the Longhorns will host the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament pending an upset loss. Texas won’t have to travel until the College World Series May 30-June 7 back at Devon Park.

More: Reese Atwood earns player of the year award as Texas dominates Big 12 softball awards

The Longhorns still have hopes of claiming the overall top seed, but three-time defending national champion Oklahoma (49-6) – No. 2 in the latest NCAA RPI ranking, just after Texas – made its case behind pitcher Kelly Maxwell, who allowing just one run and two hits and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings before giving way to reliever Nicole May. Texas had just two hits in the game, including a RBI triple by freshman outfielder Kayden Henry that drove in Joley Mitchell in the second inning.

“Congratulations to Oklahoma on winning the Big 12 Championship, obviously the last time our two teams will be in this conference,” Texas coach Mike White said, referencing this summer’s departure to the SEC for both OU and Texas. “We have to find ways to learn from the adversity today. I thought we had a couple of opportunities. This is a game of inches, and they made the plays, and we didn’t, and that’s what happens. We have to find a way to recoup and learn from that and be ready to go for the postseason.”

More: NCAA softball selection show: Time, TV channel for Texas’ Women’s College World Series bracket reveal

Texas received a strong performance from sophomore pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez, who had a career-high 10 strikeouts while giving up seven hits in a complete game. Only three of her five runs allowed were earned as the Longhorns committed two errors while having their 18-game winning streak snapped.

“I thought Citlaly certainly did not deserve to give up the five runs she gave up,” White said. “She pitched well enough to win the game; had 10 strikeouts against a potent offense and pitched great.”

Mitchell, Bella Dayton and Katie Stewart all earned all-tournament honors, the most for Texas since 2005.

Source link

Click to comment

Texas

Chart: Solar is finally bigger than coal in Texas

Published

45 minutes ago

January 16, 2026

Press Room

Chart: Solar is finally bigger than coal in Texas

Texas just hit a huge milestone: It got more electricity from solar than it did from coal last year, a first for the second-biggest state in the country.

That’s a big shift from a few years prior. Back in 2020, the Texas grid got just 2% of its electricity from solar power and 18% from coal, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the grid for the vast majority of the state. In 2025, nearly 14% of ERCOT’s electricity came from solar — and just under 13% was produced by burning coal.

It makes sense that solar has taken off in Texas. Two things it has in spades are sunshine and land, and ERCOT’s competitive markets and fast interconnection processes are appealing to solar developers. In recent years, the state’s solar boom helped create one of the nation’s hottest markets for grid batteries, which in turn has strengthened the business case for installing even more solar.

Meanwhile, coal has been declining in Texas for more than a decade, knocked off balance first by a combination of fracked gas and cheap wind power.

Overall, however, fossil fuels still produce the majority of Texas’s electricity. The state got 54% of its power last year from coal and gas, with the latter fuel serving as Texas’ biggest source of electricity by a long shot.

It’s worth noting that solar beat out coal in what was a comeback year for the fossil fuel, in Texas and beyond. After two years of declines, coal generation jumped by 8% in Texas in 2025. But because solar grew so fast — by a staggering 41% last year — the clean-energy source eclipsed coal anyway.

Not everyone in Texas is happy about the rising tide of solar.

Some state Republicans have tried and failed, several times now, to limit the growth of clean energy. Instead, they’d like to see the construction of natural gas plants to meet the state’s surging electricity demand. But Texas faces the same reality as the rest of the country: Solar and storage are simply too cheap and easy to deny.

Source link

Texas

Texas Longhorns Add Major Piece to Offensive Line From Transfer Portal

Published

13 hours ago

January 15, 2026

Press Room

Texas Longhorns Add Major Piece to Offensive Line From Transfer Portal

The Texas Longhorns are making a major addition to their offensive line through the transfer portal once again.

And no, it’s not quite yet a commitment from Colorado offensive tackle Jordan Seaton.

However, Texas is still beefing up its offensive line in a massive way.

Texas Lands Wake Forest OT Transfer Melvin Siani

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and team gesture after the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Per report from On3’s Hayes Fawcett, Texas has landed a commitment from Wake Forest offensive lineman transfer Melvin Siani, who has reportedly already signed with the team. He allowed just nine pressures and zero sacks on 858 snaps at left tackle this season, per CJ Vogel of OnTexasFootball.

Siani’s commitment to Texas comes only a few hours after he entered the portal on Thursday with a “do not contact” tag. The Longhorns moved in quickly and got the deal done.

Siani started his college career at Temple, where he appeared in 15 games with nine starts for the Owls during the 2023 and ’24 seasons.

He then transferred to Wake Forest last offseason and played just one year for the Demon Deacons before hitting the portal again.

Siani now joins a Texas portal class that features Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman, NC State running back Hollywood Smothers, LSU lineman Zion Williams, Arizona State running back Raleek Brown, Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles, Florida State linebacker Justin Cryer, Oregon State offensive lineman Dylan Sikorski, Texas A&M offensive lineman Jonte Newman, Michigan State tight end Michael Masunas and Arkansas defensive end Ian Geffrard.

Additionally, the Longhorns added three players to their special teams unit in Memphis kicker Gianni Spetic, Florida State punter Mac Chiumento and New Mexico long snapper Trey Dubuc.

What This Means for Texas’ Pursuit of Jordan Seaton

Colorado Buffalos offensive tackle Jordan Seaton against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

All eyes remain on the decision of Colorado offensive lineman transfer Jordan Seaton, who is currently the top player available in the portal with the transfer window nearing a close.

Some fans might think that Siani’s addition means the Longhorns are out on Seaton, but that’s not necessarily the case quite yet. Time will tell how things play out in that regard.

Texas still has a visit set with Seaton in Austin on Friday and will need to close the deal to avoid a team like the Oregon Ducks pouncing on the Colorado transfer. The Longhorns are also hosting Jacksonville State offensive tackle Mason Barton for a visit.

Siani’s commitment is still big for Texas when it comes to adding another body to an offensive line room where the depth is thin, but Seaton remains the priority for the Longhorns.

Texas has already retained multiple important names on the offensive line, including offensive tackle Trevor Goosby and center Connor Robertson, but have also lost offensive lineman Nick Brooks.

But regardless of what happenes with Seaton, Texas can feel good about its depth with Siani, Newman and Sikorski joining the fold.

Source link

Texas

Texas hands No. 10 Vanderbilt its first loss of the season with a dominant win

Published

1 day ago

January 15, 2026

Press Room

Texas hands No. 10 Vanderbilt its first loss of the season with a dominant win

AUSTIN — Matas Vokietaitis scored 22 points, Tramon Mark added 21, and Texas handed No. 10 Vanderbilt its first loss the season, 80-64 on Wednesday night.

Dailyn Swain had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Longhorns (11-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference), who have consecutive victories over AP Top 25 teams, having beaten then-No. 13 Alabama on Saturday.

Mark scored 16 points in the second half including consecutive 3-poiners that pushed Texas ahead by nine midway through the half.

Chendall Weaver made a fast-break layup and two free throws to give Texas a 12-point lead with 6:27 left. Then Mark made two free throws to extend the lead to 14 with 5:37 left.

Mark is averaging 19.8 points in SEC games, hitting 11 of 23 3-point shots. He was 4 for 7 against Vanderbilt.

Duke Miles led Vanderbilit (16-1, 3-1) with 21 points and Tyler Tanner had 17. But Vanderbilt shot just 26.7% from the field in the second half, finishing the game at 36.7%.

Vanderbilt, a good 3-point shooting team, missed nine of 10 in the second half after making 8 of 15 in the first half.

Texas shot 53%, including 7 for 17 on 3-pointers.

The Longhorns led 42-37 after a fast-paced first half for both teams. Miles made three 3-point baskets and had 14 in the half. Tanner added 10.

The Longhorns shot 55% in the half, scoring 18 points in the paint, thanks to Vokietaitis and Swain, who combined for seven baskets inside. Vokietaitis also made all four of his free throws, finishing with 12 points in the half. Jordan Pope also scored 12.