BACK-TO-BACK: Longhorns defeat Texas Tech 4-1 to win the 2026 national championship

The Texas Longhorns beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders 4-1 to win their second straight national championship. 

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Because they were the home team for game one, Texas was the away team for game two.

As expected, Nijaree Canady was given the start on the mound for the Red Raiders. Citlaly Gutierrez started on the mound for the Longhorns. 

Kayden Henry started the game off with a single. But, Canady forced two pop-ups, getting the hot bats of Katie Stewart and Vivi Martinez out. Henry stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Reese Atwood, but Canady forced a groundout, escaping the inning. 

The bottom of the first felt similar to the top, with a runner on and stolen base, but no runs scored for TTU. 

Canady found her groove and had a 1-2-3 top of the second.

Gutierrez found some trouble, walking Kaitlyn Terry and giving up a single to Jasmyn Burns. She responded by striking out Hailey Toney and forcing Lag Quiroga to ground out, keeping Tech off the board. 

The Texas offense stayed cold, going 3-up, 3-down again in the third as well. 

Mihiya Davis drove a ball up the middle to get on base for a second time. She then stole her second base of the game to get in scoring position. Lauren Allred hit a hard ball to Leighann Goode, who couldn’t corral it, scoring Davis from second. Tech wouldn’t do any more damage, leaving the third with a 1-0 lead. 

Texas got two runners on in the top of the fourth, but wasn’t able to convert. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Mike White made the move to put Hannah Wells on the mound. Wells had only pitched three innings in the postseason prior to this appearance.  She forced Kaitlyn Terry to ground out before Burns singled up the middle in a full count. Texas got a second out on a fielder’s choice before Canady herself came to the plate. A wild pitch moved the runner to third before Wells walked Canady. Wells issued a second straight free pass, hitting Mia Williams to load the bases. Mike White put Gutierrez back in the game, who forced the hot Davis to fly out, keeping the Tech lead at one. 

The bottom of the order got hot for Texas in the fifth, with back-to-back base hits from Kaiah Altmeyer and Ashton Maloney. Henry hit a deep line drive to left field, but Logan Halleman made an incredible catch to keep the runners at first and second. Martinez hit a ball to short, and a bad throw to third scored two runs, putting Texas up 2-1 with two still in scoring position for Reese Atwood, who was intentionally walked. Goode flew out, ending the inning. 

Gutierrez then went 1-2-3 against the middle of the Tech order in the fifth. 

Wells singled to start the inning, then Altmeyer hit a deep ball to left-center field, which Halleman once again made an incredible play on, possibly saving a run. 

Teagan Kavan entered the game in the sixth, trying to close out the game. She struck out the side, sending the game to the seventh. 

Texas had the top of the order up to bat, looking for insurance. Henry gave them some, with her 10th HR of the season giving Texas a two-run lead. Stewart singled and Martinez grounded out, advancing the runner. Tech then intentionally walked Atwood again. Goode finally broke through, singling to right and scoring another. Canady got out of the inning, but the two extra runs meant Texas Tech had to score three runs against one of the best WCWS pitchers of all time, with only three outs to play. 

Kavan retired three straight in the seventh, and the last six batters of the game, ending it at 4-1.

The Longhorns become the fifth ever team to win the National Championship after losing their first game of the WCWS.