Horns clear OU 'hurdle,' seal spot in WCWS semis

OKLAHOMA CITY -- For the first time in program history, Texas earned a Women's College World Series victory over Red River rivals Oklahoma on Saturday, downing the four-time defending champion Sooners to secure a place in Monday's semifinals.

Still unbeaten at the 2025 WCWS, the No. 6-seeded Longhorns (52-11) advance to face either No. 7-seeded Tennessee or the loser of Saturday's matchup between No. 9-seeded UCLA and No. 12 Texas Tech on Monday (noon ET, ESPN), one win from the program's third WCWS finals appearances in four years.

Late-inning home runs from Kayden Henry and Joley Mitchell, along with a complete game from sophomore ace Teagan Kavan, were the catalysts behind a 4-2 Texas win that handed No. 2 Oklahoma its earliest WCWS defeat since 2021. As the Sooners now stare down a Sunday elimination game against No. 16 Oregon (7 p.m. ET), the result looms large not only in the broader landscape of this year's WCWS, but also in the context of the historically lopsided softball rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.

"We have talked about that, for sure, being a little bit of a mental hurdle [with Oklahoma]," Longhorns coach Mike White said. "It's tough. There's a lot of pressure out there. They always have great teams. If you make a hiccup, they make the most of it."

Indeed, Texas has struggled mightily against its century-old rivals on the softball field, especially over the past decade. Prior to Saturday, the Longhorns had not beaten the Sooners in Oklahoma since 2014, winless in their past 25 Red River Rivalry games on Oklahoma soil.

WCWS matchups with the Sooners have been a particularly thorny proposition, too. Across two WCWS appearances in 2022 and 2024, Texas dropped all five of its matchups with Oklahoma -- including a pair of WCWS finals sweeps -- while tallying an 8-0 record against all other WCWS opponents over that span. Before finally toppling the Sooners, the Longhorns were winless in seven all-time WCWS meetings with Oklahoma, carrying a minus-45 run differential in those games, according to ESPN Research.

"Just like we saw the other night, they're never out of anything," White said of Oklahoma, referencing the Sooners' come-from-behind win over Tennessee on Thursday. "They come back and hit a three-run homer, you always think that's in the back of your mind that can happen."

Any threat of another Sooners comeback bid Saturday was stamped out by Kavan, who held Oklahoma scoreless over the final 5⅓ innings. The Longhorns' second-team All-American selection allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over seven innings, navigating trouble in the sixth inning before fanning three batters in the top of the seventh to close a milestone victory.

"Today was just about playing a ball game," said Mitchell, who added an insurance run with her sixth-inning solo shot. "I think we did a great job focusing on us. We weren't focused on the crowd or what Oklahoma was doing. We were focusing on what Texas softball was doing. We went out there and played ball."

For Oklahoma, the defeat nudges coach Patty Gasso and the Sooners to the brink of elimination. The loss marks the program's first WCWS loss prior to the semifinal round since an Odicci Alexander-led James Madison team stunned Oklahoma in the opening game of the 2021 WCWS.

The Sooners have compiled a record of 235-12 since that early June loss to James Madison in 2021, claiming four consecutive national titles along the way. On Sunday, Oklahoma meets Oregon, led by former Sooners catcher and longtime assistant Melyssa Lombardi, with its season and the program's pursuit of an unprecedented five-peat on the line.

"What I need to make sure I understand is all these people up here -- with the exception of [sophomore Ella Parker] -- everyone in our dugout is new to this," Gasso said Saturday. "And I've got to keep them grinding. I've got to keep them not getting caught up in what if or thinking about the outcome. I've got to keep these guys in the moment and make them believe."