CHAMPS! Texas softball wins its first national championship in program history in dominant fashion

After reaching the Women’s College World Series finals in 2022 and 2024 and failing to win a game in the best-of-three championship series each time, the Texas Longhorns didn’t just win one game in the finals in 2025. They won two. Texas defeated Texas Tech 10-4 on Friday night in a winner-take-all game three to win the program’s first ever national championship in softball in head coach Mike White‘s seventh season leading the program.

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When White took over ahead of the 2019 season, it began the process of a significant build up after Texas sat as a program that was a NCAA Tournament participant for most of the previous decade. White, who reached the WCWS five times at Oregon, never made it to the championship series until he took over in Austin. The program struggled to conquer the Oklahoma behemoth, as did the rest of the sport, but after disposing of the crimson and cream obstacle in their way in this year’s WCWS Texas reached the summit of the college softball world.

The Longhorns had to overcome a significant challenge from former conference rival Texas Tech, who boasted the likely national player of the year in NiJaree Canady. Texas capitalized on one of her few mistakes in game one to win 2-1, but made too many mistakes in game two and fell 4-3. Texas finally saw what they needed in order to hit Canady in game three, notching 10 runs against the Red Raider star with a grand slam from Mia Scott putting the game out of reach.

The Horns were led throughout their debut season in the SEC by a number of players whose names will be remembered for a long time. Scott, Ashton Maloney, Kayden Henry, Katie Stewart, Joley Mitchell, and Reese Atwood made up both the offensive and defensive backbone of the team, leading an offense that hit around .350 over the course of the season and slugged over 90 home runs. In the field, the Longhorns put together a fielding percentage over .970 and managed to commit under an error a game.

The stars of the team were in the circle, namely Teagan Kavan. She pushed Texas to the top thanks to a 28-5 record and 18 complete games. Opponents hit just under .220 against her and she posted a remarkable under 2.25 ERA. She led a group that featured Mac Morgan and Citaly Gutierrez, with all three making over 25 appearances.

Texas’ rise to the top of the softball world comes during their first season in the SEC. Though the Longhorns saw longtime rival Texas A&M take home the conference title, the Horns more than acquitted themselves well in a league that had all 15 teams in the top 42 of RPI. Eight of the top 10 teams in RPI were from the SEC, including all of the top six. Nine of the top 16 seeds were from the league, yet Texas rose above them all to match up with the Red Raiders and defeat them in the finals.

The title is the 68th national title in the history of Texas Longhorns athletics and the 64th NCAA title. Since Chris Del Conte took over as athletics director in 2017, it is the 15th national title his athletic department has taken home.

Texas softball started in 1997 under the direction of Connie Clark. The program reached the WCWS five times under her leadership but never made the jump into the battle for the title. When White took over in 2019, Texas reached the super regional in back to back seasons played before making it to the championship series only to be defeated by the Oklahoma dynasty. A return to Oklahoma City wasn’t in the cards in 2023, but Texas made it back to the championship series in 2024 only to get swept by the Sooners once again.

This time, Texas reigns supreme in the college softball world. To get there, it had to navigate through the top RPI conference in softball, advance out of a stern regional, and win the final two games of the Austin super regional to squeak past Clemson. Then in OKC, Texas defeated Florida, Oklahoma, and Tennessee to earn a spot in the championship series. Texas Tech outlasted Ole Miss, UCLA, and Oklahoma to make it to the finals.

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Though Canady made the Longhorns work for it, Texas outlasted Texas Tech to become national champions and sit atop the college softball world.