Mike White on Texas' season: 'What an incredible effort'

Texas came up two games short of their ultimate goal in the 2024 Women’s College World Series. That doesn’t take anything away from the Longhorns’ year, though, as well as the impact that they made along the way.

Mike White looked back on this season following their 8-4 loss to Oklahoma at Devon Park on Thursday. Although they didn’t win their school’s first-ever national title in softball, he said that they each, specifically their seniors, gave themselves, their program, and the sport something to be proud of.

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“To my team, what an incredible effort. Great year,” said White. “As I told the four seniors that left, and by the book and use it from New Zealand Legacy, you leave the jersey in a better place. They have all done that and they can be extremely proud of their efforts and contributions to the program and to softball as a whole.”

Texas finishes the season at 55-10. They were dominant at home (28-3), on the road (18-4), and at neutral sites (9-3). That included a conference record of 23-4 to win their first, and final, outright title in the Big 12 since 2010. All that led them to being the No. 1 overall seed in both of their tournaments.

However, the Red River Rivalry kept the Longhorns from achieving all that they wish they could have in the postseason. Although they won the regular-season series over the Sooners, OU took all three matchups since then. That includes the 5-1 outcome in the Big 12 Championship as well as a sweep by a total score of 16-7 in the Women’s College World Series.

Still, Texas made White and many others proud with what they did do in 2024. They did all that they could and, with that, represented the burnt orange and their game well.

“I think our ladies conduct themselves in a way that you want your young kids to see and play the game,” White said. “Not always perfect. I get it. We always make mistakes and everything. But they’re working hard, being ambassadors for the sport of softball.”

“So proud,” said White.

White on Mia Scott’s costly error vs. Oklahoma: ‘No one feels worse’

Texas trailed Oklahoma at 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday when third baseman Mia Scott made a huge base-running error.

Scott had just gotten a big hit to cut the Oklahoma lead to one and Texas was set to have runners on the corners with two outs and the heart of the order up. Instead, Scott wandered too far off of first base after her single and she was tagged out at first, which ended the inning. Oklahoma would go on to add three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to all but put the game away.

Afterwards, Mike White addressed Scott’s base-running blunder.

“No one feels worse than Mia Scott right now. Everything happens for a reason. She’s cheeky. That’s part of her MO. That’s what she does. If you get caught out, you better be able to stand for it,” Mike Scott said.

“It was a big moment in that game. Everybody knows it. She’s already beaten herself up. I know she is. Hopefully she learns from that.”

“I mean, that’s part of how she is. She’s really aggressive. Pushes the envelope a lot of times,” Scott said. “This time it didn’t work out.”