Just a few seasons ago, everyone wondered who could ever knock off the Oklahoma Sooners and become the new powerhouse in NCAA Women’s Softball. They’d won four straight titles from 2020 to ’24. It was just over a year ago that the Texas Tech Red Raiders eliminated the Sooners in the 2025 WCWS semifinals. Texas Tech advanced and eventually lost to the Texas Longhorns, marking Texas’s first softball championship ever.
A legendary Yankee catcher, Yogi Berra, famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Fast-forward to June ’26, and wouldn’t you know it, Texas Tech would advance to this year’s finals once again and face their in-state rivals in a repeat of last year. Sadly for the Red Raiders, the outcome would be the same. Texas took the title in a two-game sweep over Texas Tech, 7-3 and 4-1.
In taking it all, Texas became the fourth team to win back-to-back women’s softball titles. The Longhorns join the Sooners, UCLA Bruins and Florida Gators as the only back-to-back winners in WCWS tournament history—UCLA has done it three times, including a three-peat (1988–1990); in addition to their four-title streak (2020–2024), the Sooners also repeated in 2017 and ’18. Texas Tech waits for their day in the sun, likely thinking, “Wait till next year.” This year and last were the first two times the Red Raiders had made it to the final rounds.
Kavan MOPs up. Again.
Right-handed junior pitcher Teagan Kavan (pronounced ka-VAUGHN) was named the Most Outstanding Player of the WCWS and was key to Texas’s success and title run. Sound familiar? That’s because she was the MOP of last year’s WCWS…she’s the first player ever to win the award twice in a row.
In the final game, Kavan pitched scoreless innings in the 6th and 7th, striking out five of the six batters she faced, earning a save and handing the title to her team. It was her second save of the series. Overall, in the WCWS, she went 4-1 with two saves, a 1.47 ERA and 30 Ks.
Mike White, who just finished his eighth season with Texas as head coach, picked up his second title and now has 24 WCWS wins. Texas had yet to win the title until taking the past two.
For the tournament overall this year, Texas put together an 11-2 record and went 6-1 in the World Series. They lost their first, then reeled off six consecutive games on their way to the title. Here’s how that played out at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
First Round
- May 28: In their opening game, Texas lost to Tennessee 6-3.
- May 29: The loss pushed them into an elimination game the next day versus Mississippi State, and Texas shut them out 4-0 to move on.
Second Round
- May 31: They then faced Nebraska in another elimination game and won 3-1, which took the Longhorns into the semifinals against Tennessee, a best-of-three series.
Semifinals
- June 1: They faced Tennessee in a must-win game and came away with a 5-2 victory. That forced a same-day second game, another elimination game, and the Longhorns shut out the Volunteers 4-0 to advance. (Meanwhile, Texas Tech was taking down Alabama in the other semifinal bracket to advance to the WCWS.)
WCWS Finals
- June 3: Facing Texas Tech once again in the finals, the Longhorns took the first game 7-3.
- June 4: Texas Tech fought hard and held a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning. But Texas scrambled for two runs to take the lead, then added two insurance runs in the 7th inning. Teagan Kavan earned her second save, striking out the last two batters swinging. Texas won 4-1 and earned their second consecutive WCWS title.
Notable tournament moments.
A total of 64 teams were part of the NCAA tournament, featuring regional play, Super Regionals, and the College World Series, which featured the final eight teams. They were:
SEC
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Mississippi State
- Tennessee
- Texas
BIG TEN
- Nebraska
- UCLA
BIG 12
- Texas Tech
In case you missed it.
- Alabama entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed but was eliminated by Texas Tech in the semifinals.
- Perennial powerhouse UCLA was led by Megan Grant, who set the record for most home runs ever in a season (including playoffs), with 42.
- Alyssa Faircloth of Mississippi threw her second career no-hitter as she shut down Oregon with a 4-0 win in the Eugene Regionals. She struck out eight, and walked one batter…in the first inning.
- Oklahoma didn’t even reach this year’s WCWS; they were eliminated in the Super Regionals by Mississippi State.
- Texas may have preferred to face and defeat Oklahoma in the finals the past two years. That’s because the Longhorns were WCWS runners-up to Oklahoma in 2022 and ’24.
Final frame.
Texas Tech left its mark on this year’s tournament. They delivered perhaps the most exciting game, coming back against Ole Miss in the Lubbock Regional. Down 8-0 in the 7th inning with two outs, they rallied to score eight runs, tie the game and send it to extras. The Red Raiders won in eight innings, 10-9.
As Yogi Berra observed on another occasion, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
Resources: Wikipedia.com/wcws; ; ncaa.com/news/softball/article/texas-wins-2026; usatoday.com/story/sports/college/softball/2026; ncaa.com/news/softball/article/ 2026-05-18/2026; ncaa-softball-tournament-bracket; youtube.com/wcws-2026