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Texas and Texas Tech softball to battle for the national championship 

by: Josh Florey06/03/26

Texas softball is two wins away from back-to-back national championships. 

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Just like last year, they face off against NiJaree Canady and Texas Tech in a three-game series.

Both teams fought their way out of the losers’ bracket after losses to Tennessee. Texas had to beat Mississippi State, Nebraska, and then Tennessee twice, while Tech beat Mississippi State in their opener, lost to Tennessee, beat UCLA, and then beat Alabama twice. 

The two teams have not played since last year’s championship series. 

Texas Tech has had a very good season, albeit maybe not as good as they were predicted to have. While most preseason rankings had them as a top three team, with some even having them at No. 1, Tech only managed to earn the 11 overall seed in the tournament. Nevertheless, they made the championship series.  

The Red Raiders are 61-8 on the season, with victories over Texas A&M and Arizona State, and then big wins in the postseason.

Canady and Kaitlyn Terry are the main—and probably only—pitchers the Longhorns will face. Gerry Glasco mixes the two of them up, and Texas could easily see both of them multiple times in each game. Terry has the slightly better ERA, at 1.80, but has almost 40 fewer innings pitched. Canady’s ERA is 1.84. 

Texas Tech’s offense is elite. They have eight players with double-digit home runs, and three with 19 or more. Mia Williams, daughter of Jason Williams, ties Terry with the best batting average on the team at .438. She also leads the team with 26 homers, including a walk-off in game one against Alabama. 

Texas has started to find its groove in the postseason, with Citlaly Gutierrez and Teagan Kavan both pitching incredible games against Tennessee, and the offense waking up against an elite pitching staff. 

Katie Stewart has hit a home run in each of the last three games, with a go-ahead three-run shot to beat Nebraska and then two solo homers against Tennessee. Reese Atwood hit her first career WCWS home run in game one against Tennessee. Vivi Martinez, Leighann Goode, Kaiah Altmeyer, and Jaycie Nichols all seemed to have found their groove recently as well. 

If Texas can play like they have in their last four games, they have a great shot at winning their second straight national championship. 

Texas and Texas Tech will face off in game one at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN. 

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