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Texas shuts out Tennessee, advances to WCWS Championship Series
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Texas is on its way back to the Women’s College World Series Championship Series! Now, the Longhorns can sit and wait to find out who they will face in the finals after a quick win over Tennessee.
On Monday, the two sides faced off in the semifinals in Oklahoma City. The Longhorns reached the semifinals with consecutive wins over Florida and Oklahoma, while the Lady Vols took the long route there through the loser’s bracket. That gave Texas 2 chances to win and advance, but it would only take 1.
Monday’s game quickly became a low-scoring pitcher’s duel with Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens and Texas’s Mac Morgan going back and forth. The game was at a scoreless tie entering the bottom of the 4th inning, but Katie Stewart had something to say about it.
She caught up to a high pitch and was able to lift a deep fly ball to left field. Initially, it looked like the ball was going to be caught on the warning track, but there was enough carry to leave the yard, giving the Longhorns a 1-0 lead.
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Texas would score another run, this time on a Tennessee error, but it was more than enough offense this time around. Teagan Kavan came out of the bullpen for the final 3 innings and was nearly perfect with just 1 walk allowed.
She set the Lady Vols down in order at the top of the 7th, including a game-ending strikeout to send Texas on:
The combination of Morgan and Kavan in the circle was brilliant for the Longhorns, keeping Tennessee’s bats off-balance all game long. Six of the 7 strikeouts for Texas’s pitching staff came against the top 5 batters in Tennessee’s lineup. Those 5 batters also finished the game 2-for-15 in Monday’s elimination game.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for the Lady Vols in another brilliant outing from Pickens. She covered all 6 innings with 9 strikeouts and just 1 earned run allowed despite taking the loss.
Now, the Longhorns head back to the WCWS Championship Series for the 3rd time in the past 4 seasons and for a 2nd straight season. Last year, Texas lost to Oklahoma in consecutive games.
The Longhorns will face the winner of the Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma semifinals when the Championship Series begins on Wednesday.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
