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Texas has to get through Tennessee twice to make it to the WCWS finals

by: Josh Florey06/01/26

After their opening loss to the Lady Vols, the Texas Longhorns have bounced back with victories over Mississippi State and Nebraska. Now, they face Tennessee once again, and must win back-to-back games. 

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The pitching duo of Karlyn Pickens and Sage Mardjetko continued to be elite in their game against Texas Tech, allowing only one run in nine innings. 

Now, Texas will have to face some combination of them again. Mardjetko had much more success against the Horns in their first matchup, but they were also preparing more for the speed of Pickens, not Mardjetko’s spin. 

The Volunteers’ offense stayed relatively quiet, needing two extra innings to score two runs. 

The Texas offense was also pretty quiet in their game against Nebraska, having no hits until the sixth inning, where Jaycie Nichols and Kaden Henry both singled before a Katie Stewart go-ahead home run. 

Teagan Kavan has found her groove since the Tennessee game, allowing a single run in the last two games combined. 

She struggled against Tennessee, allowing 3 ER in three innings. Citlaly Gutierrez also allowed 3 ER, contributing to a 6-3 Texas loss. 

It will be very interesting to see who starts the first game for each team, as Teagan Kavan has been the only Texas player to pitch in the last two games, and Tennessee has utilized both Mardjetko and Pickens in the WCWS. Additionally, in the case of a Texas win, the two teams would immediately play another game, about 30 minutes after. 

Texas will need great innings out of Kavan, and most likely Gutierrez, if they want to have a chance to win both games. With recent offensive struggles, and elite pitching on the other end, Texas needs to shut down Tennessee like they have their last two opponents.

The Texas lineup will also have to play better, with great players such as Reese Atwood struggling to deliver like they have in the past. 

But in the last two games, they’ve done just enough to win. At this point, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is; it’s only about the final score. 

Texas plays the first game against Tennessee at 11 a.m. Central on ESPN. 

If the Horns can win both games, they move on to a best of three series against the winner of the Alabama/Texas Tech game for the national championship. 

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