Texas Tech ends Oklahoma's 4-year run as Women's College World Series champ — now faces Texas for the title

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma's run of four straight Women's College World Series titles ended when Lauren Allred's walk-off sacrifice fly gave Texas Tech a 3-2 victory in the semifinals on Monday night.
Coach Patty Gasso's Sooners (52-9) were down to their last strike in the top of the seventh inning when Abigale Dayton summoned a bit of magic, hitting a tying two-run home run off Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady. It was just her third longball of the season.
But the Red Raiders (53-12) responded quickly in the bottom half. Mihyia Davis singled with one out and Hailey Toney followed with a double. Allred hit a fly ball to right field and Sydney Barker's throw to the plate was wide, allowing Davis to score easily.
'Congratulations to Texas Tech,' Gasso said. 'They earned that. They played well. They hit well. They pitched well. So well deserved.'
Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco recounted how he told his team to refocus after giving up the lead.
'We don't want it to be easy,' he said. 'It's Oklahoma. You knew it wasn't going to be easy. Let's go to work right here, win this right here in the bottom of the seventh.'
Texas Tech, in its first trip to the WCWS, will play Texas in the best-of-three championship series starting Wednesday. The Longhorns reached the finals for the third time in the past four years. They lost to Oklahoma in 2022 and 2024.
Sam Landry, the No. 1 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft, took the complete-game loss. Glasco was Landry's coach at Louisiana last season, and Allred and Davis followed Glasco from Louisiana to Texas Tech.
Glasco and Landry embraced after the game.
'It's bittersweet,' Landry said. 'I wished him luck going forward. Neither one of us wanted to be where we met in the postseason. Super happy for them. That's a lot of my old teammates. I'm glad they're getting to experience it.'
Canady lost the shutout but got the win. She is the two-time reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Year and was the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last season. Formerly with Stanford, she signed a name, image and likeness deal worth more than $1 million to go to Texas Tech.
Canady reached her first finals after leading Stanford to the semifinals the previous two years.
'I think people doubted us, didn't think we'd get to this point,' she said. 'I think we just didn't have any pressure on us, just wanted to go play softball.'
Oklahoma had won nine straight elimination games, but the Sooners had lost the core of the team that won the previous championships. Their roster featured nine freshmen and just three seniors.
Gasso said the future looks bright for the Sooners.
'We're standing at the World Series as one of the top three teams left, with a team of 14 newcomers,' Gasso said, 'and I just shared with them in the locker room how much fun I had with them coaching them, watching them grow, watching them be hungry, watching them never quit.'
Katie Stewart hit a home run, Mac Morgan and Teagan Kavan combined on a 3-hitter and Texas defeated Tennessee 2-0 on Monday to reach the Women's College World Series championship series for the third time in four years.
Kavan, who threw a complete game with eight strikeouts in Saturday's 4-2 victory over Oklahoma, came on in relief of Morgan in the fifth inning and didn't allow a hit the rest of the way. She struck out the Volunteers' Emma Clarke to end the game.
Texas (54-11) will play either Texas Tech in the best-of-three series, which starts Wednesday.
Karlyn Pickens, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-American, allowed just one earned run on five hits and struck out nine for Tennessee (47-17).
'My heart is full because of the young ladies to my right and the young ladies in that locker room,' Vols coach Karen Weekly said. 'They're sad for all the right reasons. It's not about wins and losses; it's about the joy they've experienced being together every single day. And I think people saw that in the way we played. They saw them bounce back. They saw how resilient, how gritty and tough they were.'
Texas loaded the bases against Pickens in the third with one out but couldn't score. Reese Atwood struck out swinging and Joley Mitchell popped out to the catcher to end the inning.
Things got heated in the top of the fourth when Tennessee hitting coach Craig Snider, the former Texas Tech head coach, appeared to have words with the Texas dugout and was ejected.
'I don't know what transpired,' Texas coach Mike White said. 'I think he was upset about the call by the umpire at home plate … . The rule says any time an assistant coach hits the field and questions something it's an automatic ejection. So I think that's what he was upset about, so I think he decided to maybe just to take some stuff out on us.'
Weekly said Snider was frustrated with the strike zone.
'You would hope that you get a little bit of leeway because of the stage you're on right here; you certainly don't want to lose a coach when you're playing for the biggest game of the season,' she said.
Stewart homered off Pickens in the bottom of the fourth, a high drive to left that drifted beyond the outstretched glove of Alannah Leach. Pickens recovered quickly, striking out the next three batters she faced.
'We had just enough wind to help that home run go over,' White said. 'That was fortunate there. Looking down on us, maybe, Teagan's grandma, so she puffed one out there.'
Kavan pitched Saturday while mourning the death of her 97-year-old grandmother.
Morgan got the win, striking out four and walking one. The Longhorns added an insurance run in the sixth on a throwing error by Vols third baseman Taylor Pannell.