No. 11 Tech falls to No. 2 Texas in WCWS Finals opener

Wednesday, June 3

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

61-9

Texas

52-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Texas Tech	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	3	0
Texas	5	0	0	1	0	1	X	7	10	0

No. 11 Tech falls to No. 2 Texas in WCWS Finals opener

June 03, 2026 | Softball

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By: Wes Bloomquist

OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 11 Texas Tech will face its fourth elimination game of the Women's College World Series after taking a 7-3 loss to No. 2 Texas in the WCWS Finals opener on Wednesday at Devon Park. The Red Raiders (61-9) and Longhorns (52-12) are set to resume the WCWS Finals at 7 p.m. on Thursday with Tech needing a win to force a national championship deciding game on Friday night.

The Red Raiders have not lost back-to-back games all season and are 3-0 in elimination games at the WCWS with a pair of wins over No. 1 Alabama in the semifinals and a victory over UCLA. Meeting in the WCWS Finals for the second straight season, the Longhorns also won the opener last season before Tech responded with a win in the second game to force a third.

"We've not lost two games in a row the whole year, so we've got to hang our hat on that," Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said. "We've got to come back out tomorrow to fight. Then if we get momentum -- if we can survive tomorrow night's game, you've got momentum going into Game 3, and our kids will feel a lot different after they win a game than they do right now. We've just got to get up off the floor, that's the hardest part. I think we've got a really talented team. I think we can play as well or better than any team in the country when we play well. We've got to refocus, readjust, and get momentum in our dugout and get tomorrow's game. That's all that matters is tomorrow's game. If we do get that and live to see another day, it will be a fun Game 3."

Mihyia Davis and Mia Williams both hit home runs for the Red Raiders who fell behind 5-1 after the first inning. Davis hit a first inning home run, recording her 10th homer of the season and matching the national lead with her 101st hit of the season. Williams would break a streak of three innings without a Tech run with her 27th home run of the season to bring the Red Raiders to within 6-3 in the fifth inning. Jackie Lis singled in the sixth inning but would be one of three Red Raiders left on base during the game.

"We just have to play better tomorrow," Davis said. "Be more focused and have a better plan. You know that's why it's the best 2 out of 3, you have more games. So we're just going to have to pick it up tomorrow."

Kaitlyn Terry (24-3) took the loss for the Red Raiders after allowing four runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings as the starter while NiJaree Canady allowed one run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Samantha Lincoln threw 3 1/3 innings of relief for Tech, allowing two runs on four hits in her first appearance at the WCWS.

Teagan Kavan (29-6) earned the win for the Longhorns after throwing a complete game, scattering three hits and allowing three runs. Katie Stewart led the Longhorns with a two-run home run in the first inning, her 31st of the season, while Viviana Martinez went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Ashton Maloney hit a two-run triple in the five-run first inning. The Longhorns finished with seven hits against the three Red Raider pitchers in the game.

"I thought we got off to a good start," Glasco said. "Mihyia hit the home run and had us 1-0. I was excited. Then we just lost momentum completely. I felt like we weren't ready for the bunt. We didn't anticipate it. Then you get Stewart up, and she had an unbelievable year. She did what she's been doing all year. She's so clutch. She's a great hitter having a great season. Then we just couldn't get out of the inning. It felt like we were out of position over and over on defense. We had plays we could have made. I don't know exactly. I've got to watch it. You look at the scoreboard, and it said no errors, but I thought we misplayed several balls that we should have had outs on or we weren't in the right position. That inning got away from us, and we're quickly -- all of a sudden we go from 1-0 to down 5-1. We just couldn't get our momentum back."

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Davis hit her 10th home run of the season in the first inning with a one-out shot to left field to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead. The opposite-field homer was the 101st hit of the season for Davis to tie the national lead (Moriah Polar, Purdue) and give her 355 hits in her career to extend her active NCAA career lead. The Longhorns responded with five runs in the bottom of the first, starting with a two-run home run by Stewart against Terry who started the game for Tech and then a two-run triple by Maloney against Canady who had entered the game in relief. Through one inning, Tech had one run on one hit and Texas had five runs on six hits.

The Red Raiders stranded a runner on first base in the second and third inning – reaching on a hit-by-pitch and walk but being unable to capitalize. Tech brought in Sam Lincoln to the pitcher's circle in the bottom of the third for her first appearance in the WCWS. Lincoln would work a scoreless frame, walking the leadoff hitter before recording two strikeouts and getting a groundout to Toney at shortstop. The Longhorns took a 5-1 lead to the fourth inning.

Tech went scoreless again in the fourth and saw Texas add to its lead with a run off a Martinez infield single to score Nichols from second. Through four innings, Texas led 6-1 and had held the Red Raiders to one hit.

Williams hit a two-run home run to centerfield to trim the Red Raider deficit to 6-3 in the fifth. Her 27th homer of the season came with two outs after Burns had walked to lead off the inning and break a three-inning scoreless stretch. Lincoln would put Texas down in order in the bottom of the fifth to take the game to the sixth with the Longhorns leading 6-3.

Lis would hit a one-out single off the centerfield wall but the Red Raiders were unable to score in the sixth after a pair of fielder choice plays at second base to end the frame. The Longhorns would get a sacrifice fly to add one run in the sixth to take a 7-3 lead advantage into the final inning.

THE MATCHUP:
The Longhorns won the 2025 National Championship after beating the Red Raiders in three games. The all-time series dates back to the first meeting in 1997 and has the Longhorns with a 66-13 record over the Red Raiders. Tech's 4-3 win in the second game of the 2025 WCWS Finals snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Longhorns who won the national title with a 10-4 victory in the final game of the tournament. The two teams had not played against each other this season before Wednesday's game in the WCWS Finals opener.