OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 1 Texas advanced to the WCWS championship game for the second time in three seasons with a 1-0, one-hit shutout of Stanford, eliminating the Cardinal and closing the book on Pac softball history -12.
Longhorns freshman Teagan Kavan outdueled Stanford's NiJaree Canady, last year's breakout star, for the second time this week, following another 1-hit gem Thursday in a 4-0 shutout about the Cardinal.
Texas (55-8) is two wins away from its first national title, awaiting the winner of Tuesday's semifinal showdown between No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Florida on Wednesday.
“Obviously that was an old-fashioned game, 1-0,” Texas coach Mike White said. “Pitchers' duel, two tremendous pitchers facing off. Whoever blinked first was going to win.”
The game came down to a play at the plate, with Alyssa Washington scoring the only run in the seventh inning, sliding under a tag at the plate after a run following a bunt by Ashton Maloney.
“When he was chasing me, instead of the ball in his hand, he had it in his glove,” Washington said. “[I was] “Recognize that it's going to take me a little bit of time with the transfer to get there, slide my hand there, recognize where the receiver is and the timing of the transfer.”
The decision at the plate was confirmed after a challenge from Stanford.
For the Cardinal, it was a heartbreaking ending, just inches away from surviving a sixth elimination game in this year's NCAA tournament. Canady, who led the country in ERA and strikeouts, went 5-1 in those games, allowing just two earned runs in 40 innings during that span.
“NiJaree Canady, what can you say?” White said. “She's really tough. We're fortunate to make it to our second World Series final in three years.”
On Monday, the USA Softball College Player of the Year did not allow an earned run (Washington reached on a fielding error) and allowed five hits with seven strikeouts against the best offense in the country.
“I mean, maybe one of the best performances I've seen in Oklahoma City,” Stanford coach Jessica Allister said. “None of us who are around her all the time are surprised.”
But it was Texas pitching that made the difference. Kavan became the first freshman to throw multiple shutouts in the WCWS since Montana Fouts in 2019, finishing with just one hit, seven strikeouts and one walk.
“Tremendous job by Teagan, pitching for the second time against that club, a World Series contender, without showing any nerves,” White said. “Now I call her 'Ice' Kavan.”
For White, the former Oregon head coach, it was a bittersweet ending, eliminating the last Pac-12 team.
“It's very sad,” White said. “We don't know how this will turn out in the future, what will happen, how it will play out because… you know, it was a money move, just for television and all that. It's just sad to see that conference fail. I wish they could have stayed together because that's the conference I started in. Great rivalries, coaches.”
Allister echoed White's sentiment about the league winning 24 national championships, the most of any conference, with all nine member teams making at least one appearance in the WCWS.
“It's sad,” Stanford coach Jessica Allister said Sunday after the Cardinal eliminated rival UCLA. “It's just sad because it's been the biggest softball conference in the country. When you look at the history of the conference, even the present of the conference, it's not even that close.”
Now, Texas, heading to the SEC next year along with Oklahoma, looks to claim its first national championship in its final Big 12 tournament.
“We're enjoying the opportunity to come back and play in the championship series,” White said. “It's an honor to be sitting here right now as the number one team. I think there could be several teams that could have that title. Obviously one of them is Oklahoma. They're an excellent team. Whoever comes in, Oklahoma or Florida, we have to be ready to go… I don't want to limit this team and this program on what their capabilities are and what they can do.”
