By most measures, the first season for the University of Texas softball program in the Southeastern Conference was a successful one. Now this week, we’ll begin to learn if this is the year the Longhorns achieve the ultimate breakthrough and claim their first NCAA title.
Naturally, there are at least a couple of significant obstacles in the way, including a couple of the school’s archrivals. Oklahoma is the four-time defending champion, with two of those titles coming at the expense of Texas in the championship series. Then there’s old/new rival Texas A&M, which sent the Longhorns packing in the SEC tournament semifinals.
Given the school’s resources and high level of program support, it seems a matter of when and not if the elusive first championship banner will make its way to Austin.
We’ll look at the team trying to make it happen sooner rather than later, but first here’s a brief history lesson before the Texas Longhorns host the Austin regional.
How many championships has Texas softball won?
As mentioned above, the Longhorns are still looking for their first title in the sport. In all, they’ve made it to the Women’s College World Series seven times, finishing second twice in 2022 and 2024. They’ve advanced to the superregionals in each of coach Mike White’s six full seasons helming the program, not including the pandemic shortened 2020 campaign.
Who are the Longhorns’ top players?
Catcher Reese Atwood leads the power punch at the plate with a team-high 17 homers and 71 RBI. The table setter is senior captain Mia Scott, sporting a team-best .438 batting average while able to play any position on the field – a feat she actually accomplished in a victory against Kentucky this season. The pitching staff is led by sophomore Teagan Kavan, who enters the NCAA tournament with a 21-4 overall record and a 2.46 ERA with 188 strikeouts in 150.2 innings.
Who is in the Austin regional with Texas?
Texas is the No. 6 overall seed and has Eastern Illinois (34-20), Michigan (38-19) and UCF (33-22-1) in its regional.
Austin regional schedule
Double elimination format for the Austin Regional from Friday-Sunday (May 16-18, all times ET):
Friday
Game 1: Michigan vs. UCF, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 2: Texas vs Eastern Illinois, 4:30 p.m., ESPN+
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas softball earns No. 6 overall seed, hosts NCAA regional
