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    Jeff Howe
    Texas avoided an if-necessary third game of the Women’s College World Series finals against Texas Tech, following up Wednesday’s 7-3 win over the Red Raiders with Thursday’s 4-1 victory to clinch the Longhorns’ second consecutive national championship.
    Texas (53-12) joined Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and UCLA as the fifth NCAA softball program to win back-to-back softball national titles with a two-game sweep of Texas Tech (61-10). Teagan Kavan, who was named WCWS Most Outstanding Player for the second year in a row, secured the final six outs of the game after Citlaly Gutierrez (4.1 innings) and Hannah Wells (0.2 innings) did their jobs in the circle to help the Longhorns overcome a one-run deficit.
    Facing All-American pitcher NiJaree Canady and trailing, 1-0, Texas opened the fifth inning with back-to-back singles by Kaiah Altmeyer and Ashton Maloney. After Jaycie Nichols reached on a fielder’s choice and the Red Raiders intentionally walked Katie Stewart with the bases loaded, a Viviana Martinez ground ball to the left side of the infield turned into a two-run error, putting the Longhorns on top, 2-1.
    On the heels of Kavan retiring Texas Tech in order in the bottom of the sixth, Kayden Henry led off the top of the seventh with an opposite-field home run, taking Canady deep to left. With one out and runners on first and second, right fielder Lauren Allred couldn’t come up with a diving catch of a sinking liner off the bat of Leighann Goode, resulting in an RBI single to put Texas up by three runs, 4-1.
    Kavan retired each of the six Red Raiders she faced, recording back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
    Jeff Howe
    If Texas is going to maximize its potential in 2026, four Longhorns need to make strides during summer workouts, which began on the Forty Acres on Monday.
    — Jutus Terry is in the group of players (including Arch Manning) who underwent surgery after the Citrus Bowl against Michigan and were limited throughout spring practice.
    The hope was that they’d be ready to go when summer conditioning started. Of the non-Texas Tech-related comments Steve Sarkisian made during the Touchdown Club of Houston luncheon on May 21, saying that everyone was on schedule and that there had been no setbacks among the group was arguably the most significant.
    Terry can be the interior disruptor that the Texas defense didn’t have last season. That’s not a slight at what Alex January or Hero Kanu brings to the table. What Terry showed in brief flashes as a true freshman is the kind of playmaking potential that guys like Byron Murphy II and Alfred Collins had, which is to say that he can consistently generate organic pressure in the opposing quarterback’s face.
    If Terry is healthy and uses the summer as a springboard to show up ready to get after it in preseason practice, Will Muschamp should have a chess piece capable of playing multiple shades up front. Terry can amplify what might already be the best pass-rushing defensive front in college football.
    — Laurence Seymore was recruited to be the team’s starting left guard in 2026. Still, the Western Kentucky transfer must earn the job to fulfill the lofty expectations accompanying his arrival.
    Part of the equation needed to put a better product on the field is one of Jaydon Chatmon, Jackson Christian or Dylan Sikorski pushing Seymore for the spot. The other part is for Seymore, who spent the spring semester on his own, to hit the ground running in summer conditioning to position himself to be the no-doubt answer Kyle Flood needs to round out what looks on paper to be an upgraded unit from 2025.
    — I keep going back to Sarkisian’s comments around the time Muschamp was hired regarding Xavier Filsaime. Specifically, it was the idea that Filsaime could log snaps at nickel.
    After being limited throughout the spring, Filsaime is capable of pushing Derek Williams Jr. for playing time at safety. Filsaime also profiles as the bigger nickel Muschamp has preferred in the past, making him an intriguing Swiss Army knife of sorts in the secondary.
    Getting Filsaime and/or Williams to the point where they can run alongside Jelani McDonald with as minimal a drop-off as possible is one of the reasons why it was important for Sarkisian to get Blake Gideon back on the staff. Along with the fact that Gideon recruited Filsaime and Williams, his personal and professional relationship with Muschamp (he coached Gideon at Texas for three seasons and hired him for his first coaching job as a quality control coach at Florida in 2014) should make for clearer communication between Muschamp and the safeties, as well as helping his group understand Muschamp’s expectations for a position that plays a crucial role in the success of his system.
    — Emmett Mosley V is another Longhorn who underwent surgery after the bowl game. Thankfully, Mosley’s recovery wasn’t as prolonged as his injury against Michigan might’ve initially indicated.
    While Mosley’s delayed start to the 2025 season because of an offseason injury wasn’t the biggest reason why the offense was slow out of the blocks, it didn’t help. Mosley is a proven commodity and a reliable target for Manning, but he must take the necessary steps this summer to ensure that his body stands a better chance of holding up over the long haul.
    As good a duo as Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo can be, Mosley can elevate the wide receiver to become one of the best in the country if he can be counted on as, effectively, WR3. Mosley's ability to play in the slot or be split out wide offers Sarkisian a lot of flexibility in both personnel groupings and formations, while also allowing Jermaine Bishop Jr. to settle into a specific role, without anyone feeling like the true freshman needs must have the kind instant impact Xavier Worthy did in 2021 for the offense to function properly (a lot like what bringing in Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers from the transfer portal can do for Derrek Cooper's development at running back).
    That scenario can only come to fruition, however, if Mosley is on the field.
    Bobby Burton
    Even on the morning of its softball team playing for a national championship, Texas Tech leadership proves once again why it's the laughingstock of college sports.
    According to a source-and in direct contradiction to a statement made last week by Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire- the Red Raiders never received agreement from Texas State head coach GJ Kinne to cancel their game with Texas, nor did McGuire, athletic director Kirby Hocutt, or Tech chairman Cody Campbell receive it from any other athletic official at Texas State.
    "All it was, was a PR stunt, clear as day," a source told On Texas Football.
    During the Big 12 spring meetings last week, McGuire specifically told reporters that the Red Raiders were challenging Texas to a game in Week 1 of the season. Furthermore, McGuire said he had already talked to and received agreement from multiple parties needed to make such a match-up a reality, including gaining approval from the Horns' scheduled opponent, Texas State. 
    “I’ve actually talked to (Abilene Christian head coach) Keith Patterson, and I’ve talked to (Texas State head coach) GJ Kinne, and they’re willing to take our games, and Abilene Christian will go to Texas State," McGuire told reporters. "We’ll buy our contract out of Abilene Christian. I’m sure, ‘cause Texas has got a lot of money, they can buy their contract out. But I do know there’s a lot of Red Raiders that will help them buy their contract out.”
    According to a source, discussions resulting in such an agreement with Texas State never occurred.
    Texas Tech chairman of the board of regents, in a show of bravado, went even further despite never having allegedly received such an agreement from Texas State.
    Campbell tweeted, “Upping the ante: @TechAthletics will pay the buyout for both the ACU and Texas State games. Let’s go! @CoachSark @_delconte”.
    Giving up a game with Texas would make little sense for Bobcats head coach GJ Kinne and his university, a newly minted member of the Pac-12 which is attempting to elevate its own growing program.
    The timing of McGuire's and Campbell's comments are noteworthy given another major issue facing Texas Tech, and that’s quarterback Brendan Sorsby who is working to retain eligibility this season despite admitting to betting on his own team when he was at Indiana earlier in his career. The NCAA ruled Sorsby permanently ineligible, yet Sorsby is appealing and his attorney went before a judge in Lubbock this week to seek an injunction.
    Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec and McGuire have both voiced their support of Sorsby to return to play this year despite the university voting against legalizing gambling for college athletes in the last year.
    Campbell did not respond via text for comment and McGuire through Texas Tech Sports Information did not immediately return a call.
    Texas State athletic director Don Coryell and head coach GJ Kinne did not respond for comment.
    Abilene Christian issued a statement to the Abilene Reporter News following McGuire’s comments.
    “We are planning on playing Texas Tech as scheduled on Sept. 5 in Lubbock," the release stated. "We look forward to playing the Red Raiders barring any changes.”
     
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — Behind Ruger Riojas’ exceptional performance on the mound and Aiden Robbins’ heroic home run in the seventh inning of Sunday’s championship game of the Austin Regional, Texas eliminated UC Santa Barbara to advance in the NCAA Tournament with a 6-4 win at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
    After last year’s disappointing exit in the regional as one of eight national seeds, the Longhorns (the No. 6 overall national seed) righted the ship this season. With a 19-1 rout of Holy Cross on Friday and a 16-2 dismantling of Tarleton State in the winner’s bracket game on Saturday preceding the late-inning comeback victory over the Gauchos, Texas (43-13) will host the winner of the Eugene Regional (either Oregon and Oregon State) in next week’s Austin Super Regional.
    The Longhorns didn’t score until the sixth inning, but Jim Schlossnagle’s club stayed in the game because of the job Riojas did in his first extensive action in three weeks. Riojas, who battled shoulder tendonitis late in the regular season, scattered three hits and one walk while striking out six in five innings of one-run baseball.
    UC Santa Barbara (40-20) built a 3-2 lead through six innings thanks to a first-inning home run and two Texas errors in the bottom of the sixth. With Casey Borba on first and one out in the top of the seventh, Robbins took the fifth pitch he saw from lefty Van Froling deep to right field for a two-run, opposite-field home run.
    The Austin Regional Most Outstanding Player, Robbins, who hit his team-leading 23rd home run of the season, gave the Longhorns a lead they never relinquished. Still, the Gauchos made them work for the last nine outs.
    A pair of eighth-inning insurance runs (Adrian Rodriguez scored from second on an RBI double down the left-field line by Ethan Mendoza, who scored from third with two outs on a failed pickoff attempt) came in handy after UCSB scored a run against Sam Cozart in the home half.
    Cozart recorded the first two outs of the ninth inning, but he exited with the bases loaded after hitting a better. Luke Harrison, who started Friday's win over Holy Cross, came out of the bullpen to notch a two-pitch save (the third of his career and his first since March 5, 2022, against LSU), helping Texas earn a Super Regional berth for the first time since 2023.
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — Texas drew first blood in the first inning of Saturday’s 16-2 win over Tarleton State in the winner’s bracket game of the Austin Regional, connected on three consecutive haymakers in the second inning and cruised to victory behind a mix of patience and power at the plate and a dominant effort on the mound by Dylan Volantis.
    “Great ball game for us,” said Jim Schlossnagle, who watched his club draw a season-high 17 walks and play top-notch, error-free defense behind Volantis. “I felt like Dylan did a great job of trying as best he could to stay in rhythm, given the long sits he had between innings.”
    In the winner’s bracket, hosting a team that handed it a midweek loss during the regular season for the second year in a row, Texas (42-13) fed off the energy of an amped-up crowd. With 8,276 fans at UFCU Disch-Falk Field behind them, the Longhorns controlled their second meeting with the Texans from the jump.
    “I thought our crowd was great,” Schlossnagle said. “They were into it in the very first inning. Even though we only got one run out of that inning, I thought the crowd had a big impact on the game.”
    Carson Tinney’s fiery response ignited a crowd that was ready to explode when he was plunked in the back of the head on the first pitch he saw from 6-foot-9-inch, 240-pound lefty Ethan Wendel set the tone for Texas avenging a 6-1 home loss to Tarleton State (38-20) on March 17 with authority.
    “I feel like I do a good job of wearing pitches behind the plate, and I feel like when you're in the box, it's really indifferent,” said Tinney, who went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, a double and two runs scored on a night when he drew three of the team’s season-high 17 walks. “I have no problem wearing pitches in the box. I was happy to get the boys fired up.”
    Temo Becerra’s RBI single through the right side of the infield in the top of the first kickstarted the Longhorns’ second offensive onslaught in as many days. With five home runs in Saturday’s win, including back-to-back-to-back second-inning jacks by Aiden Robbins (2-for-4, three runs scored and four RBI), Tinney and Anthony Pack Jr., Texas has slugged its way to within one win of the program’s first Super Regional appearance since 2023 with 11 home runs in two NCAA Tournament games.
    Robbins, Tinney and Pack became the first three Longhorns to go deep in consecutive at-bats since Silas Ardoin, Skyler Messinger and Dylan Campbell did it on May 1, 2022, against Oklahoma State.
    “I watched Aiden hit his and I was like, 'Man, that'd be cool if I could do it, too,’” Tinney said. “I ran into my ball and I remember, when I stepped on home plate, Pack greeted me at home, and I looked at him, and I was like, 'It's your turn now.'
    “That was pretty cool to be part of such a cool experience.”
    The three home runs highlighted a five-run second inning, an avalanche that ended Wendel’s night after 54 pitches (five hits, six runs and three walks allowed, with one hit batter and four strikeouts in two innings), buried the Texans and put Texas in the driver’s seat in the regional. Tarleton State will face UC Santa Barbara in an elimination game at noon on Sunday, with the Longhorns drawing the winner in the regional championship game at 5 p.m. If necessary, there will be a winner-take-all final on Monday.
    Texas has scored 35 runs through the first two games of this year’s NCAA Tournament, which now stands as the highest-scoring two-game postseason stretch in program history. It's a spree in which the Longhorns scored at least one run in the first 13 innings of the regional.
    Toeing the rubber in the second with a 6-0 lead, Volantis settled in and befuddled the Tarleton State bats through 6.1 strong innings. Volantis struck out seven Texans, allowed three hits, one walk and one earned run with one hit batter in a dominant 91-pitch effort.
    Extending Volantis allows Texas to go into Sunday with Ruger Riojas ready for his first significant action since a four-inning, 74-pitch outing in a road win over Tennessee on May 10 and a fully-rested bullpen backing him up (Brett Crossland, Sam Cozart and Haiden Leffew have yet to pitch in the regional). Schlossnagle and Max Weiner left Volantis in the game to eat innings and make sure the Longhorns’ sizable lead, which stood at 12-0 when Volantis took the mound for the fourth inning, remained intact.
    “I wanted Dylan to at least get us through the sixth,” Schlossnagle said. “When he went out for the seventh, frankly, I just wanted him to have a chance to tip his cap. I wanted him to feel the appreciation of the fans. I'm glad we were able to do that.”
    After losing the winner’s bracket game of last year’s regional to UTSA, getting behind the eight ball and failing to recover, Schlossnagle left nothing to chance. Now, Texas is well-positioned to finish the job in front of the home crowd on Sunday.
    “It's always good to stay in the winner's bracket and avoid those moments, but we haven't won anything yet,” Schlossnagle said. “We won a game. We've got a new day tomorrow.
    “Yes, I'm glad we don't have to play two tomorrow, but the tournament is not over.”
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