Texas Tech University Athletics
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No. 11 Tech looks to force WCWS Finals deciding game
June 04, 2026 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY – A must-win game for No. 11 Texas Tech is set for 7 p.m. tonight against No. 2 Texas in the Women's College World Series at Devon Park after a 7-3 loss on Wednesday in the WCWS Finals opener. The Red Raiders (61-9) come into tonight's game having already established program records for wins (61), hits (675), runs (638), doubles (122) and home runs (145) but needing a win tonight to continue a season where they have not lost back-to-back games all year to extend the historic season and set up a deciding national championship game on Friday night.
The Longhorns (52-12), who are one win away from winning their second straight national title, took the first game of the WCWS Finals after jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the first inning and limiting the potent Red Raider lineup to only three hits. Tech led 1-0 in the top of the first after Mihyia Davis hit a one-out home run, a hit that matched the national lead with her 101st hit of the season and gets her to 10 home runs on the season. Mia Williams extended her program home run record with her 27th of the season with a two-run home run in the fifth inning but the Red Raiders were unable to score in the final two frames and could never overcome the five-run output by the Longhorns in the first inning that was highlighted by a two-run home run by Katie Stewart and a two-run triple from Ashbon Maloney. Kaitlyn Terry (24-3) started the game for the Red Raiders and took the loss, allowing four runs in 1 1/3 innings of work on the night while NiJaree Canady threw 1 1/3 innings of relief, striking out one and allowing one run on two hits. Davis, who has set the Tech single-season record for hits the past two seasons, is the NCAA active leader with 355 career hits while Williams has hit 52 career home runs through 200 games in her career. Teagan Kavan (29-6) earned the win for the Longhorns last night, striking out six and scattering three hits in the complete-game victory.
Tech is in the same position it was in last season in the WCWS Finals after dropping the opener to the Longhorns before earning a 4-3 win in the second game to force a deciding game. This season, the Red Raiders are 3-0 in elimination games in the WCWS after staving off elimination with a win over UCLA to set up the WCWS Semifinal matchup against No. 1 Alabama and winning those two games on Monday night to set up the WCWS Finals against Texas. Tech is currently 8-0 this season following a loss.
"We've not lost two games in a row the whole year, so we've got to hang our hat on that," Tech coach Gerry Glasco said last night in his postgame press conference. "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."
Through six games played in OKC, Davis leads the team with a .455 batting average and 10 hits while Williams tops the team with three home runs, five RBI and seven runs scored. Lauren Allred comes into tonight's game with six hits and four RBI in the WCWS while Taylor Pannell also has six hits and three RBI. In the pitcher's circle, Canady has a 4-0 record at the WCWS and has recorded 24 strikeouts and a 2.47 ERA through six appearances with three starts, including throwing a complete-game shutout in the WCWS Semifinals to eliminate top-seeded Alabama. Terry has 14 strikeouts through 16 innings of work and five appearances with three starts and two games being used in relief. Samantha Lincoln made her WCWS debut on Wednesday night against Texas, throwing 3 1/3 innings of relief where she recorded one strikeout and limited the Longhorns to two runs on four hits.
The Red Raiders lead the nation with 675 total hits this season and are currently third with a .374 batting average and 145 home runs The team also ranks second with 638 total runs and has recorded a national-leading 37 run-rule victories this season. Tech is led by a program-record four NFCA All-Americans in Terry, Canady, Williams and Jackie Lis while Davis also earned all-America honors from D1Softball and Softball America. Williams leads the Red Raiders with 27 home runs, 24 doubles and 87 RBI following her two-run homer against Texas and her walk-off homer against Alabama in the first game on Monday night. Lis is second on the team with 21 home runs and has 75 RBI after hitting a two-run shot in the first inning in the win over Mississippi State in the team's WCWS opener. Williams comes into the second game of the WCWS Finals ranking second nationally in doubles and runs scored (93), sixth in the RBI category (87) and has the fifth most home runs Davis tops Tech and is now tied for the national lead with 101 hits after her home run on Wednesday night against Texas and going 2-for-3 in the deciding game against Alabama also leads the Red Raiders with 37 stolen bases (sixth nationally). At the plate, Terry is hitting .433 and has 16 doubles after her ninth-inning double against UCLA on Sunday while also having 10 home runs and 57 RBI. The Red Raiders feature a lineup with nine players hitting 10 or more, including Jasmyn Burns (19), Desirae Spearman (13), Taylor Pannell (13), Lagi Quiroga (12), Allred (11) and now Davis after her 10th in the WCWS Finals opener. Allred is hitting .384 with 56 hits and 50 RBI while shortstop Hailey Toney 46 hits and 43 runs scored this season.
Canady (29-6) has earned all four Tech wins in OKC and is now 104-23 in her career with 1,124 strikeouts. A three-time consensus all-America, Canady has played in the WCWS four straight seasons and comes into the second game of the WCWS Finals with 250 strikeouts and a 1.87 ERA through 45 appearances (30 starts) this season. Terry (24-3) owns a 1.97 ERA and has recorded 172 strikeouts through 149 1/3 innings of work this season – taking her career strikeout total to 505. She played her first two seasons at UCLA where she went 41-8 and recorded 333 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA in 73 pitching appearances (50 starts). This season with Tech, Terry and Canady both rank in the top-10 nationally this season in victories and top-15 in ERA.
The Longhorns are on a five-game winning streak at the WCWS after opening with a loss to Tennessee but responding to reach the finals. Texas is hitting .336 as a team with 98 home runs at the plate while having a 2.41 pitching staff ERA. Teagan Kavan (28-6) threw a complete-game against Tech in the WCWS Finals opener after a shutout in the deciding game against Tennessee in the semifinals. She comes into the second game against the Red Raiders with 255 strikeouts through 226 2/3 innings of work this season while Citlay Gutierrez (10-3) has 55 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings. Stewart leads the Longhorns with 31 home runs and 79 RBI while Kayden Henry leads the team with 84 hits, including 18 doubles and two triples. Stewart is hitting .430 and Henry has a .404 batting average and a team-best 77 runs scored. Reese Atwood homered against Tennessee and is second on the team with 19 home runs and 61 RBI this season while Hannah Wells has 15 homers and 41 RBI and Viviana Martinez is hitting .382 with 15 doubles and Leighann Goode has a .339 batting average with 12 home runs and nine doubles. Texas went 16-8 in SEC play this season and is on a four-game winning streak entering the WCWS Finals after dropping its opener to Tennessee last Thursday in OKC.
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.
