Texas Tech took advantage of every hit it got off Texas ace Teagan Kavan, but the 11th-seeded Red Raiders couldn’t scratch out nearly enough of them.
The No. 2 Longhorns topped Tech 7-3 in the opener of the best-of-three Women’s College World Series final, and Kavan was more dominant than Texas Tech’s run total might suggest.
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She allowed three runs on just three hits with two walks and six strikeouts in the complete-game victory.
“The game started with a bang, literally,” Texas softball coach Mike White said, referencing the first-inning home run of Texas Tech’s Mihyia Davis. “Then, of course, Teagan Kavan worked her tail off for us.”
Kavan settled in quickly and mostly cruised through the rest of the night.
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But by the time she spoke to the media in the postgame news conference, she was already thinking about her next game.
“I was able to change speeds enough tonight and then kind of live in different areas at different times,” Kavan said. “I think I’ll go back and look and adjust for tomorrow and probably not do the same things again.
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“One through nine, they have a lot of power, so it’s super vital to mix it up and use everything.”
White wasn’t ready to tip his hand regarding his pitcher for Game 2 as the Longhorns try to close out the series and repeat as national champions.
However, Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco started thinking about Game 2 by Wednesday’s second inning. That’s why he limited his top two pitchers, NiJaree Canady and Kaitlyn Terry, to four outs apiece.
“Thinking about tomorrow and the next day,” Glasco said. “We’ve got two games. I felt like I was going to give our offense the second and third inning to respond, and if we didn’t get anything, I didn’t feel like I could leave NiJa out there and let them look at her. I want the matchup tomorrow.
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“I just felt like it wasn’t a smart move for me to leave her out there in that moment.”
Texas slugger Katie Stewart, whose two-run home run sparked the five-run first inning that put the Longhorns in firm control, knows what that decision by Glasco means for Thursday.
“I was surprised she came out early, but she’ll be fresh for tomorrow,” said Stewart, who has homered in four straight games. “We need to make sure we stay on the attack.”
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Texas Longhorns pitcher Teagan Kavan (17) celebrates with teammates after Game 1 of the NCAA softball Women’s College World Series finals between the Texas Longhorns and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
When these teams met in last year’s championship series, Texas won the opener and Tech rebounded with a win to force Game 3.
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Is this series going to follow the same script?
White believes his team is more confident this year than it was a year ago.
“We talked about the number one thing is confidence,” he said. “What comes first, confidence or success? I think the confidence has to come first, and that comes from hard work and preparation and facing live pitching, facing pitching machines or throw just like NiJa and Terry.
“Those things will prepare you for those battles that you’ve got to have. I think that gives you that confidence.”
Told that the winner of Game 1 has won the championship series 80% of the time, Glasco embraced the numbers.
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“I think that’s good,” he said with a smile. “We have no choice. We’ve not lost two games in a row the whole year, so we’ve got to hang our hat on that. We’ve got to come back out tomorrow to fight.
“If we can survive tomorrow night’s game, you’ve got momentum going into Game 3, and our kids will feel a lot different after they win a game than they do right now.”
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on X at @ScottWrightOK. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Teagan Kavan, Texas softball turn focus to finishing WCWS in Game 2
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