Mike White reveals message to Texas softball in Austin Regional final vs. Northwestern

The Texas Longhorns are looking to advance to the Super Regionals with a win over the Northwestern Wildcats in the Austin Regional final. To do that, head coach Mike White knows a fast start is key for his team.

As he explained to ESPN during a mid-game interview, his message to the team before this game was to win it early when it’s going to be easier to do.

“Win it in one,” Mike White said. “You lose this game, it’s always hard to come back for the second game.”

Mike White certainly got the fast start he was looking for out of his Texas team. After adding two runs in the first inning, Mia Scott shot a bomb to right field. It was a three-run home run and opened up a 5-0 lead for the Longhorns.

In the circle for Texas is Teagan Kavan. She’s just a freshman but settled into the game pretty well early, and as Mike White explained, he has plenty of confidence in her ability, even on a big stage like this one.

“Yeah, we have confidence in her,” White said. “She’s a great pitcher and this is good exposure for her at this point.”

Kavan has been impressive as a freshman in 2024, making it easy to see why White trusts her so much. In 101.1 innings pitched, she has an ERA of 2.00 with 101 strikeouts. She also has six complete games and three shutouts on the year.

The game on Sunday is the second game in two days that Texas and Northwestern have played against one another. In the first meeting, the Longhorns managed to win convincingly, 14-2 in just five innings. That came a day after starting pitcher Mac Morgan, threw a no-hitter in Texas’ win over  Siena on Friday.

It’s been a phenomenal season for Texas overall. Mike White saw his team go 23-4 in the Big 12. That was its final season of play in the Big 12 before moving to the SEC. It was also good enough to finish first in the conference during the regular season and for White to be named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Despite that, the Longhorns are still trying to bounce back after losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Softball Championship.

If Texas can hold on to beat Northwestern, the Longhorns will advance to the Super Regional. There, they’re set to take on the win of the College Station Regional, which has come down to a pair of schools in the state of Texas, with Texas A&M and Texas State playing in their own game against one another on Sunday.