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The top-seeded Texas Longhorns (55-8) defeated the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal (50-17) on Monday to advance to their second Women’s College World Series Finals appearance in program history.
After losing to the Oklahoma Sooners in 2022, the Longhorns are looking for revenge en route to their first softball national title.
https://twitter.com/NCAASoftball/status/1797794969715167694
A Clean Tournament
Texas have played three games in the WCWS. The Longhorns have yet to allow a run in the tournament, shutting out their opponents 15-0.
Stanford and Texas previously met in the first game of the bracket in Oklahoma City. After winning 4-0, the Longhorns moved into the winners bracket to face Florida. The Gators fell victim to a 10-0 run-rule loss to the Longhorns after a 1-0 win over Oklahoma State the day before.
The Longhorns were successful in shutting out Stanford once again, winning 1-0 on Monday.
Pitchers’ Duel
Freshman right-handed pitcher Teagan Kavan started in the circle on Monday for Texas. Seeing Stanford for the second time in the tournament, Kavan only allowed the Cardinal two base runners throughout the matchup, allowing one hit and a walk. In her 79-pitch outing, she sat down seven of the 22 batters she faced on strikes. Her postseason performance landed her a 1.96 ERA in her freshman campaign.
Led by USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year NiJaree Canady, Stanford successfully made it through six full innings before allowing the Big 12 regular season champion Longhorns to score. Pitching the full game, Canady allowed just five hits while hitting two batters with pitches.
With the Texas victory, Kavan picked up her 20th win of the year, while Canady’s season ended with a 24-7 record.
AINT NOBODY BETTER
Your 2024 @USASoftball Collegiate Player of the Year: NiJaree Canady!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/gJ3GAASsDb
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) May 29, 2024
Texas Gets On The Board
After going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, the Longhorns offense finally brought a run home in the seventh inning.
A fielding error by Stanford second baseman Taryn Kern in the seventh put Alyssa Washington on first base with no outs in the top of the frame. Joley Mitchell then hit a double to advance the lead runner to third.
After going down 0-1 in the count, Texas nine-hole hitter Ashton Maloney laid down a sacrifice bunt. Washington, caught in a rundown, managed to get around the throw with a head-first slide into home plate to score. This run went down as unearned, leaving Canady’s ERA at 0.73 to end her season.
https://twitter.com/TexasSoftball/status/1797792576738906500
Kavan would sit down Stanford’s final hitters one-two-three to give her squad the 1-0 victory and a spot in the NCAA Championship.
Up Next For Texas
The Longhorns will face rival Oklahoma (57-7), the two seed, in the national championship series. The WCWS Finals will air on ESPN on Wednesday, Thursday and, if necessary, Friday, starting at 8 p.m. EDT. OU eliminated Florida in extra innings Tuesday.
