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Texas won Game 1 of the Women's College World Series championship on Wednesday in thrilling fashion. Will the Longhorns grab the trophy tonight or will Texas Tech force Game 3?
Read about the Longhorns' Game 1 win here.
The schedule:
*If necessary
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Texas rallies past Texas Tech to win WCWS Game 1 as Atwood refuses to take intentional walk
With a win today, not only would Teagan Kavan earn a long-awaited championship for the Texas Longhorns, but she also would surpass Texas great and Olympian Cat Osterman for the most WCWS wins in program history. Osterman seems perfectly fine with that.
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Nija Canady has thrown every pitch for Texas Tech in the Women's College World Series, but there was some talk on the ESPN broadcast before the championship series that the Red Raiders would use another pitcher at some time against Texas. But with her team down 1-0 in the series against Texas and the season on the line, it's hard to believe the Texas Tech coaching staff would go with anyone else tonight.
Reese Atwood didn't have a hit in the Women's College World Series, but Texas Tech still wanted to walk her and not pitch to her with two outs and two runners on base in the sixth inning. But Atwood, the big bat in the Longhorns' lineup refused to go to first base that easily.
Well, she did go to first base, just not with a walk. After three balls from Nija Canady, the fourth ball got a little too close to the strike zone, and Atwood smacked it into left field for a single.
The two Texas baserunners came around to score, and the Longhorns had the lead, and a few minutes later they had the win. And tonight they can win the championship.
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Texas rallies past Texas Tech to win WCWS Game 1 as Atwood refuses to take intentional walk
This Women's College World Series has had a little bit of everything, and that has added up to a lot of close games. Six of those games have ended up in one-run decisions, including Texas' 2-1 win over Texas Tech.
You can't overstate how exciting this tournament has been. It would only be right for that to continue tonight (and maybe tomorrow?).
College softball continues to grow. Larger crowds. More television viewers.
That continued in Game 1 and the tense, exciting Texas win.
Can we pass these numbers tonight?
Well, if you’re around Devon Park during the weather delay, you might see some former college stars roaming around, like FSU’s Michaela Edenfield, with some of her new AUSL teammates.
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That's not good news.
Mike White is coaching in the Women's College World Series for the eighth time, including the third time with Texas (he reached the WCWS five times as Oregon's coach). This year marks his third time in the championship in the past four years.
He has 750 career wins, including 315 with Texas. But he doesn't have a national title. Is tonight the night?
NiJaree Canady sliced a rise ball through the evening air, leaving it hovering over the plate just long enough to fool Ole Miss catcher Lexie Brady. Swing, miss, strikeout.
Then came Canady’s footstomp, a thunderous statement from the best player in the game, a celebration of joy, dominance and swagger that has catapulted her into the mainstream. The “NiJa stomp” has echoed around Devon Park, home of the Women’s College World Series, over the last week as Canady asserts herself in the circle, celebrating each strikeout — and doing it loudly.
“I am definitely stomping with her,” said former James Madison pitcher Odicci Alexander, who played in the 2021 WCWS. “There is so much shine on her. Some people are like, why is she stomping, why are you stomping with her? But I’m like, ‘Girl, put a hole in the ground.’”
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Win or lose, NiJaree Canady is the face of college softball — and her star is only rising
The beauty of the WCWS championship is that there’s more of this wildness to come today. If Game 2 is anything like yesterdays's, Kayden Henry is right: This thing’s not done.
Reese Atwood’s confidence at the plate, according to her postgame interview, never wavered despite her struggles so far in OKC. It was evident things were starting to click for her, as she was making better contact and choosing better pitches to swing at. It finally paid off.
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Something to note: Teagan Kavan is now 4-0 when facing off against NiJaree Canady in her career. Wow.
Part of me wonders how things would have turned out if NiJaree Canady and Texas Tech just decided to go at Reese Atwood in the at-bat in the sixth inning. When pitchers try to do intentional walks, they often opt for high fastballs out of the zone. In that case, it comes in flatter and is actually easier for batters like Atwood, if they're close to the zone, to get a hold of. I can't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if they went at Atwood with the rise and change. In her second at-bat of the day, she totally mistimed a pitch and squibbed it off the end of her bat.
Ah, what might have been.
Texas is now 3-0 against Texas Tech this season.
Because of Texas' move to the SEC, Texas and Texas Tech didn't meet in conference play. But they did play a nonconference game, all the way back on Valentine's Day. Texas won that one 2-1 in nine innings. They also played on Feb. 16 with the Longhorns shutting out Tech 11-0. Texas was ranked No. 1 at that time. Texas Tech, meanwhile, has gotten a LOT better since February.
Other than Tennessee beating Florida 11-3 on Friday, every game in this Women's College World Series has been decided by three or fewer runs.
The other 12 games have been decided by 20 runs. Unbelievable.
How Texas advanced to today's game. The Longhorns are undefeated in the WCWS and have won six straight games since falling to Clemson in Game 1 of the Super Regionals:
Regional
Super Regional
WCWS
WCWS title series
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How Texas Tech advanced to today's game. The Red Raiders' loss on Wednesday was their first loss of the postseason:
Regional
Super Regional
WCWS
WCWS title series
A look at the Texas Longhorns entering tonight's Game 2 of the Women's College World Series. The Longhorns have two chances to earn one more win for the program's first national title:
Players to watch:
A look at the Texas Tech Red Raiders entering tonight's Game 2 of the Women's College World Series. They will need to win tonight to force a Game 3 for a shot to win the program's first national title:
Players to watch (stats entering the championship series):