Once again, the Texas Longhorns might be a bit of a problem for the Texas Tech softball team in Oklahoma City. The Longhorns are showing up in the Women’s College World Series as one of the most impressive teams in the country (though they did just get through a fascinating Super Regional with the Arizona State Sun Devils).
The Longhorns (47-11 overall, 16-8 SEC) will end up facing the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the second game of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. And interestingly enough, if both Texas Tech and Texas win their opening games, the two would meet on Saturday in the Winner’s Bracket.
Which, you know, given the recent history (and also the longstanding history), that’d be a fascinating matchup opportunity for the Red Raiders and Longhorns.
The Longhorns arrived in Oklahoma City after surviving a Super Regional with Arizona State
After winning the SEC tournament by beating the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas hosted both a Regional and a Super Regional in Austin for the NCAA softball tournament. But while Wagner, Wisconsin, and Baylor all failed to challenge the Longhorns, Arizona State in the Super Regional really made things interesting.
Texas lost game one against the Sun Devils and then nearly lost game two, but survived and rallied and beat Arizona State 4-3 on Saturday. That set up a fascinating game three, where it was clear that the Sun Devils just didn’t have enough to keep up with Texas as the Longhorns won 5-0.
UT’s ability to score with ease at the plate might be a problem for folks in Oklahoma City
The Longhorns didn’t score a ton against Arizona State throughout the Super Regional, but this is a team that can certainly get some runs on the scoreboard when needed. As a team, Texas has pieced together a .341 batting average and has tallied a total of 90 home runs so far this season.
Katie Stewart leads the way for the Longhorns as she has a .436 batting average, has managed to hit 27 home runs this season, and has an absurd .988 slugging percentage.
Across 58 games, UT has scored 419 runs. Which, you know, that’s not bad. 7.2 runs per game. When you pair that with really impressive pitching, then you’re going to get a team that’s going to win a lot of games.
Texas has some truly dominant pitching thanks to Teagan Kavan
In the circle, the Longhorns are very capable. I’m sure just about everyone is going to remember how UT performed a season ago and they’re performing similarly impressively this season. Texas has a team ERA of 2.48 and has managed to strike out 367 opposing batters this season.
Unsurprisingly, the Longhorns are led by Teagan Kavan, who was a problem for opposing teams last season. This year, Kavan has pieced together a win-loss record of 24-5 to go with an era of 2.47 across 195.1 innings pitched. Kavan has given up 164 hits, but she’s also struck out 230 opposing batters this year.
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