OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas and Texas Tech will meet in the championship series of the Women’s College World Series in back-to-back years after both teams won semifinal matchups on a scorcher of a day at Devon Park that saw the maximum four games with two “if necessary” showdowns.
Texas has won six elimination games in the NCAA Tournament so far, including two on Monday, to reach its fourth championship series in five years and its third straight. The Longhorns and Red Raiders became the 11th and 12th teams in WCWS history to lose their opener and then reach the finals. This is the first matchup of teams to do that since 2021, when FSU and Oklahoma accomplished the feat.
The Red Raiders return to the championship series after knocking out No. 1 overall seed Alabama, marking their second consecutive appearance in the finals. Kaitlyn Terry and NiJaree Canady worked in tandem in the circle in Game 1 to keep the bats of Alabama’s potent offense relatively quiet, but Canady took it to another level in Game 2, throwing a complete-game shutout. She now has a shutout in each of her four appearances in the WCWS.
“I’m just excited to be able to make it to the championship series again,” Canady said on facing Texas in back-to-back championships. “It’s just a blessing to play them again. It’s good for the state of Texas, showing how good softball is in the state, and I feel like we’re going to get a good turnout.”
“Just so proud of my girls,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said. “They really bought in in the last — I feel like the last 30 days that we just have come together and became a whole different team, and they’re just playing for each other so well now.”
As per usual for the Red Raiders’ stacked lineup, it was a runs-by-committee kind of day, with RBIs from five players: Lauren Allred, Terry, Jasmyn Burns, Taylor Pannell — who both homered — and Mia Williams, whose walk-off in Game 1 kept the Red Raiders’ chances alive. Burns was the sole provider of the offense in Game 2 with a solo home run, her second in as many days. That was all Texas Tech needed to shut out the Tide, though another run scored on an error in the top of the seventh allowed Mihyia Davis to add some insurance.
Alabama’s Jocelyn Briski had been dominant the entire WCWS up until Monday’s first matchup, where she just couldn’t seem to find the zone. She had more control in Game 2, but the Tide’s offense couldn’t figure out Canady despite seeing her in the first game.
NiJaree Canady blanked the Crimson Tide in Game 2 for her fourth WCWS shutout. (Nathan J. Fish / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“The key today was one inning at a time,” Glasco said. “Play one inning at a time. Even break it down one pitch and go through. Don’t think about 14. Think get the next out, get to the next out, get to the next inning.
“We know that against a great team like Alabama, there’s going to be moments — I told her (Canady) before, you’re going to lose momentum at some point. You’re going to face adversity, and when you do, we’re going to respond really quickly and get it right back in our dugout.
“That adversity happened at the top of the seventh. Just like Oklahoma last year, we lost the lead. Let’s win it in the bottom here. Let’s not mess around and go eight. Let’s get it right now. It took one batter. They’re just really a resilient bunch of young women.”
The Longhorns likewise won both of the necessary games to advance and keep their hopes for a repeat title alive. Teagan Kavan struck out 10 batters — a new career high in OKC — and allowed just two hits in a complete-game shutout, the fifth of her career on this stage, to surpass Texas legend and Olympian Cat Osterman. Tennessee, which defeated Texas on Thursday to open up play at Devon Park, needed just one win to advance, but its offense was shut down by Kavan and Game 1 starter Citlaly Gutierrez, who took a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
Tennessee, undefeated in the NCAA Tournament until this point, had hit a home run in every contest but couldn’t find a rhythm in either game. For Texas, Katie Stewart led the way at the plate, launching her second and third home runs in 24 hours despite an uncharacteristic three errors in the field. Her second home run of the day was her 30th of the season, a Texas program record that also made her the fourth player in Division I this season to surpass the 30-homer mark.
Katie Stewart hit a solo home run in the fifth inning of Game 1 against Tennessee to help Texas advance to the championship series. (Brett Rojo / Imagn Images)
“It’s what coach (Mike) White has put in us all season, just fighting back from losses,” senior catcher Reese Atwood said. “When we came out of the loser’s bracket after the first game, we fought so hard. We’ve had so many key players step up in different places, different roles, and it’s Texas fight. It’s what we do, and we’re going to continue to do going into the championship.”
Texas and Texas Tech have not faced each other so far in 2026, but the Longhorns have historically owned the in-state rivalry with a 58-12 record against the Red Raiders.
Last season, Texas Tech made program history with its first WCWS ticket punched, then came within one game of taking home its first title in a three-game battle against Texas. In the 2025 tournament, Texas and Texas Tech went through the winner’s bracket before facing each other; the first two games of the championship were pitchers’ duels until Texas’ offense exploded in Game 3 to take home the program’s first championship.
Notably, the college careers of Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens and Alabama seniors Alexis Pupillo and Marlie Giles came to an end. Pickens has made an indelible mark on the sport and leaves behind the record for the fastest pitch recorded in college softball at 79.4 mph. After being drafted No. 1 in the AUSL Draft, Pickens will play professionally with the Carolina Blaze.
