Key Points

A.I. Assisted Summary

• Texas Wins First NCAA Softball Title: After falling short in previous years, the Texas Longhorns beat Texas Tech in a best-of-three series.
• Series Drama and Heroics: Texas's Reese Atwood won game one with a clutch hit, Texas Tech held on for game two, and Texas dominated game three.
• Season of Grit and Growth: Texas overcame mid-season SEC struggles and a tough super-regional matchup to outlast powerhouse programs like Oklahoma, LSU, and Tennessee, proving their championship pedigree on the national stage.

It was a historic Women’s College World Series (WCWS) Final, with the Texas Longhorns claiming their first NCAA Softball Championship in Oklahoma. The Longhorns knocked on the door for two of the last three years, making the finals before ultimately falling to dynastic Oklahoma. In 2025, they would not be denied.

How it happened

Game one stole all the headlines and set the tone for the series. The teams remained tied at 0-0 until the 5th inning, when Tech managed to take the first lead of the WCWS. Then the decisive mistake flew from the hand of the best pitcher in the nation, Texas Tech’s Nijaree Canady. In the sixth inning, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Tech sought to load the bases and generate a force at every base, while at the same time dodging the big bat of All-American catcher Reese Atwood.

Maybe Canady was exhausted, having shouldered Texas Tech through most of the deep tournament run, and having pitched more innings than any other pitcher in a Power Four conference. Maybe part of Canady was hoping to draw Atwood into chasing, with intentional walk pitches up in her eyeline and reachable with the bat.

Whatever the reason, Canady left multiple pitches far too close to the plate, and Atwood punished. Once the Texas Tech lead was lost, the game was blown wide open.

In game two, Texas Tech came alive, grinding out to a 4-1 lead heading into the final inning. Texas managed to give them a scare, scoring two runs before lining out, grounding out, and striking out to end the rally.

It came down to game three.

Game three was decided when Texas jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, with Leighann Goode smashing a three-run home run to bring the score to 5-0. By the end of the fourth inning, the Longhorns had scored 9 unanswered runs. Mia Scott hit a grand slam with a torn ACL. Teagan Kavan dominated from the pitcher’s mound, giving up only eight hits and zero earned runs. Hitters 3-9 for Texas Tech totaled fewer than two hits on the day.

It was all Texas, 10-4 at the end of the night.

But making it to the WCWS was not an easy task for the Longhorns despite their history.

After not dropping a game in their regional tournament, Texas lost Game 1 and needed innings to win game two of their super-regional matchup with Clemson. Once the Tigers were bested, Texas claimed three straight victories in the WCWS bracket phase.

A look back on the season

Texas came out of the gates hot in 2025, losing only three games for the first two months of the season. But a rough patch in SEC Conference play, with losses to Oklahoma, Tennessee and LSU dampened the view of Texas as a title contender over their SEC Comrades.

Championship Pedigree matters in the NCAA tournament, regardless of the sport. Do you have the DNA to win? And have you been here before? Oklahoma’s pedigree isn’t in question, but both Texas and Tech proved themselves by besting the former champions en route to the final. Tennessee and LSU had been better on their days during the season, but that was the wrong time. When the chips were down, Texas beat all of their rivals from the season, emerging at the top of the softball pyramid.

Texas is trying to dominate every sport, from Olympic to team to individual, and is having success. No matter the sport, no matter the time of year, Texas will be fighting for something at the end of the season almost every time.