2026 WCWS: Texas wins back-to-back national championships

Viviana Martinez made the difference on Thursday. The Texas shortstop who made her impact in last season’s champion run from the dugout changed the game that sealed the Longhorns’ second straight title. Texas knocked off Texas Tech 4-1 to become back-to-back national champions.

Texas struggled to string together hits against NiJaree Canady, who had her best stuff again. The bottom of the order kept it short against Canady. Kaiah Altmeyer pinged a leadoff single in the fifth. Ashton Maloney, with the Texas Tech infield playing in, poked a ball up the middle.

Canady answered back with help from her defense. Taylor Pannell had a nice pick on a grounder and Logan Halleman made a nice leaping grab on a ball off the bat of Kayden Henry to prevent runs.

Texas Tech decided to intentionally, and successfully walk Katie Stewart, to load the bases with two outs for Martinez. She quickly fell behind 0-2 and had a quick conversation with Texas head coach Mike White. It clearly worked. She stabbed at the 73 MPH outside pitch, putting it deep into the hole on the left side. Hailey Toney made the stop, but her throw to Pannell at third was way offline, allowing the game-tying and go-ahead runs to score.

“I just told her to battle right here, to compete,” White said. “(Canady was) going to be tough, but we’ve got to get something we can handle and just get the ball in play and see what can happen here. She was struggling a little bit. They were pitching her a little tough. Of course, walking Stewy to get to her puts a little pressure on. But she came through and got the ball in the hole, and they were able to get the forced error. Just kudos to her for really battling and competing.”

Maloney touched on what it meant to have Martinez win the championship with the rest of the team on the field after Martinez sat out last season due to injury.

“I told Vivi at the end of last season, like we’re going to be back here and we’re going to win another National Championship for you,” she said. “I understand what it’s like to be on the bench watching your team do what you have wanted to do since you were a little girl. Just I know how much she wanted to be out there on the field.

“She played such a vital role in our team last year as far as just keeping us all centered, helping us be the team that we needed to be, but I know that it kills the inner competitor in her to not be out there with us. So I told her, we’re going to be back here, and we’re going to win one for you.”

After Martinez gave Texas a late lead, White stuck with starter Citlaly Gutierrez to face the heart of the Texas Tech order in the fifth. She came through to pass the baton to Teagan Kavan with a one-run lead in the sixth.

Kavan, who became the first two-time WCWS Most Outstanding Player, delivered a handful of her best pitches after she returned. She got produced ugly swing and misses with her riseball against Kaitlyn Terry and Jasmyn Burns. Kavan dropped a nasty changeup to Toney to strike out the side.

Texas made Kavan’s life even easier in the seventh. Henry belted a solo home run to start the frame. A Stewart single and a walk to Atwood put two runners on. Leighann Goode followed with a liner to right field. Lauren Allred tried to make the diving catch, but came up short as the second insurance scored.

Kavan closed the deal in the seventh, striking out Mia Williams and Mihyia Davis to secure the win. Kavan retired all six batters she faced with five Ks.

In the end, Texas Tech’s struggles with runners in scoring position and on defense doomed them. The Red Raiders ended the night 1-for-5 in scoring opportunities, all coming early in the game against Gutierrez. Jackie Lis nearly changed the game twice. Lis hit a ball hard with a runner at second in the first, but it was right at Henry in center field. On a full count in the fifth, she hit a ball really well off the end of the bat and it simply didn’t have enough juice to get out.

Texas Tech squandered the biggest chance in the fourth. White put Hannah Wells in at the beginning of the inning. She allowed a hit, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. The Texas head coach went back to Gutierrez to face Davis. The All-American stung a ball, but once again, it was right at Henry, leaving the bases loaded and unable to add to the Red Raiders’ lead at the time.

“Those three outs in the fifth, to me, I knew right then, we got to do something,” Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco said. “And we didn’t adjust to the umpire’s strike zone. I thought we missed a golden opportunity right there to strike back quickly. We left runners. We left runners in scoring position early in the game, seven for the total game. I thought there was a chance or two early when we just missed that opportunity to extend the lead, and that come back to haunt us again.”

Gutierrez, who earned the win in her final Texas start, threw 4.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits.

“For that to be the last game she pitches in a Texas uniform and gets the win for us, you literally couldn’t write it any better,” Kavan said. “I’m just so proud of her. She works hard day in and day out and always keeps us where we need it.”

“She’s had my back all season, and I wanted to have hers in that moment and get her that win. She means so much to this team. We have fun with her. She’s probably the best person to be around. Yeah, she just means so much to us.”

Texas becomes the fifth program in Women’s College World Series history to win back-to-back national championships. The Longhorns will have Kavan, Stewart, Martinez, Henry and more returning to Austin to eye another title.

“I have so much faith in this program. I believe that they can three-peat,” Atwood said. “I believe that they can four-peat. I believe with the standards this program has set and just with the culture and the love that our support staff and everybody gives us that anything that we want is possible.”