Any good postseason should push each team to the edge. Just ask Texas, the top seed in the NCAA softball tournament, about what it gained from coming out on top of a three-game gauntlet of a series against 16-seed Texas A&M in last weekend’s Austin Super Regional.
“I think that’s exactly what we needed going into this week,” said Texas’ sophom*ore catcher Reese Atwood, who was hit by a pitch three times in the series finale against the Aggies. “It’s definitely going to be hard. That series prepared us. It was a fight every single inning. There were a couple times where we were tested to the maximum limit.”
Advertisem*nt
Texas trailed in every game of the series before punching its ticket to the Women’s College World Series on Sunday. After digging itself into a hole and losing 6-5 in Game 1, the uncomfortable precedent set in: win two in a row or go home. In Game 2, that limit was tested again as the Aggies outscored the Longhorns 5-1 before a sixth-inning rally saved Texas’ season from a premature end. A winner-takes-all Game 3 completed the trifecta — three games decided by one run — this one in favor of the burnt orange, 6-5.
“We talked about it all weekend, that series was going to prepare us,” said freshman right-hander Teagan Kavan, who earned the save in Game 3. “I think it only makes us better. I’m glad we were battle-tested then and we can use that to help us going forward.”
The 39 combined runs scored by Texas and Texas A&M were the most ever in an NCAA softball Super Regional. The Longhorns benefited from late-game rallies, scoring 16 of their 20 runs in the sixth inning or later.
“We fought through each inning,” said sophom*ore Viviana Martinez, who recorded game-highs in doubles (2) and putouts (4) on Sunday. “It showed us and everybody else that we have grit.”
all we got. all we need. 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/B2IVJH3oUW
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 28, 2024
Entering its seventh WCWS, this Texas squad needs exactly that: grit. Traveling to the Sooner state is never welcoming for the Longhorns, given its Big 12 rivalries with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Earlier this week, according to the Austin American-Statesman, Texas head coach Mike White said hosting the WCWS in Oklahoma City is a “huge advantage” for Oklahoma and he would “love to see it rotate eventually, but probably not in my tenure as a coach.” Devon Field — home of the WCWS — was formerly named USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium and is about 27 miles north of Oklahoma’s Love’s Field in Norman. Whether it be a regular-season series or the WCWS, Texas knows the environment.
Advertisem*nt
“As a team, we’ve learned to be able to take that energy and use it to benefit us,” Atwood said. “A lot of people are going to be cheering against us, but we also have our family in the stands. We have each other, so that’s all we really need.”
“I think we use that as motivation,” Martinez said.
The Longhorns earned the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history this postseason, breaking Oklahoma’s three-year streak at the top. On Thursday, the battle begins to snap the other streak on the line this week: Oklahoma’s four-peat.
Atwood is sure to be a key piece to whatever run Texas can craft. As a top-three USA Softball Player of the Year finalist, she has already broken school records for home runs (23), RBIs (90) and total bases (160) in a single season. She leads her team with a .435 batting average and a .904 slugging percentage.
A force like Atwood is needed against a pitcher like Stanford’s NiJaree Canady, whom the Longhorns will face in their first game of the WCWS on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Cardinal and Longhorns met twice in February, once in a Longhorns 9-2 win and later in a 4-3 Texas loss despite Atwood slamming a home run against Canady. Atwood says Canady, the winner of USA Softball’s Player of the Year award, is “one of the best pitchers I’ve ever faced.”
GO DEEPERExposure, popularity and stars. Is college softball on the brink of a breakthrough?“Going into this weekend, I’m going to make sure the team is on track to do what we do best: get on top of her rise ball, get a good pitch to hit,” Atwood said. “I think that’s going to be key facing her.”
Texas finished runner-up in its last WCWS appearance in 2022. Nine players from that roster remain, but the new talent has been just as impactful. Sophom*ore P Citlaly Gutierrez leads the team with a 1.79 ERA, joining Atwood and Martinez in a strong second-year class. Freshman Katie Stewart ranks second on the team with 12 HRs and 53 RBIs. Fellow freshman Kayden Henry has cemented herself in the starting lineup. White has loaded up from the transfer portal, too, with impact players including Joley Mitchell (Notre Dame) and P Mac Morgan (Arizona State).
Advertisem*nt
They all hope to bring home Texas’ first national title. And it starts Thursday against eighth-seeded Stanford.
“They’re a tough club. They’re fired up,” White said of the Cardinal. “NiJaree is obviously the best pitcher in the country right now, (and) won the award last night. Congratulations to her and Stanford. But we’re going to be ready. That’s what it is. That’s what makes this thing great is that it’s a new day.
“It’s 0-0, so let’s go.”
(Photo of Teagan Kavan and Reese Atwood: Aaron E. Martinez / American-Statesman / USA Today)
Jayna Bardahl is a college football staff editor for The Athletic. She has worked as an editor and reporter covering Big Ten football and men's basketball, and was an intern at The Boston Globe, where she covered the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. Follow Jayna on Twitter @Jaynabardahl
