The No. 1 national seed Texas Longhorns, who defeated the No. 8 national seed Stanford Cardinal 1-0 on Monday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, will play for a Women’s College World Series championship for the second time in programme history.
The Longhorns, who finished second to the formidable Oklahoma Sooners in 2022, appear to be a championship-caliber squad capable of winning in multiple ways throughout the postseason. Once again, Monday’s game revolved around Teagan Kavan, the rookie pitcher, and his outstanding performance.
Texas head coach Mike White turned to Kavan after the young star shut out the Cardinals with just one hit in the WCWS opener. This second outing was more effective as Kavan only walked one while finishing off Stanford, compared to last week when he gave up four free passes and struck out seven, one fewer.
Stanford only managed two baserunners during the whole game because to the Longhorns’ excellent defence behind Kavan: a double play that was promptly turned into a double play in the second inning, and a walk with two outs in the fourth that was followed by a strikeout swinging.
Texas’s spectacular defensive play was a half-sliding catch made by left fielder Bella Dayton in the first inning with one out.
And in the third, centre fielder Kayden Henry made a diving catch after charging a sinking liner.
The Longhorns didn’t just stop at taking hits; they covered every inch of Devon Park. In the fifth, Dayton showed off her leather and some incredible range in tracking down a foul ball on a deft sliding catch.
To secure a repeat with the Longhorns, Texas increased the pressure on Stanford ace NiJaree Canady, who threw close to 200 pitches over the course of the two elimination games. Canady had far more control in his second outing, scattering five hits and not giving up a walk after giving up four in the first.
Texas second baseman Alyssa Washington led up the seventh inning by reaching base on a Stanford second baseman’s mistake, which resulted in the game’s lone run scored. Although Washington couldn’t score on a double by designated player Joley Mitchell, which put runners on first and second with no outs, that was all the opening the Longhorns needed. Ashton Maloney, the right fielder, hit an RBI fielder’s choice, but Canady was only able to retire Maloney and end the inning without allowing any further damage to happen.
Kavan needed just one run to defeat Stanford 1-2-3 and earn a spot in the championship game. The finals will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN, where the winners of Oklahoma’s No. 2 and Florida’s No. 4 seeds will square off. On Tuesday, the Gators defeated the Sooners 9-3, snapping Oklahoma’s 20-game winning streak.
