Lone Star encore: Texas and Texas Tech for the title, again
The WCWS Finals are a Lone Star State rematch. Texas swept Tennessee on Monday; Texas Tech beat Alabama twice — walk-off, then a Canady shutout — to get back to Game 1.
Two teams from the same state. Same stage as last year. First pitch Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Lead Off
For the second straight year, the WCWS Finals are an all-Lone Star State affair. No. 2 Texas swept No. 7 Tennessee 6–0 and 4–2 on Monday. No. 11 Texas Tech, on the brink of elimination since Friday, won three straight against UCLA and Alabama — capped by a Mia Williams walk-off and a NiJaree Canady two-hit shutout in a double-dip Monday night — to punch its ticket back. Texas is the defending national champ and 65–13 all-time against Tech; the Red Raiders split the 2025 Finals 2–1, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Longhorns in the process.
Why it matters: Same teams, same stage, one year later. Texas is the only program with three straight Finals appearances; Tech is back-to-back in just its second WCWS appearance ever. Best-of-three opens Wednesday. Full bracket and schedule →
By the Numbers
3 — elimination-bracket wins in 72 hours that Texas Tech needed to reach the Finals. UCLA 8–7 in nine innings (Sun). Alabama 5–4 on a Mia Williams walk-off (Mon, 7 p.m.). Alabama again 2–0 on a Canady complete-game shutout (Mon, 9:09 p.m.). The Red Raiders haven't lost since Friday afternoon. Source · NCAA / Texas Tech Athletics.
Scoreboard
WCWS — last 7 days
| Final | Note |
|---|---|
| Texas Tech 8–0 Mississippi State (Thu, WCWS opener) | Kaitlyn Terry CG; Bulldogs' Cinderella run ends in five |
| Tennessee 6–3 Texas (Thu) | Lady Vols hand the defending champs the opening-day L |
| Alabama 6–3 UCLA (Thu, title favorites) | UCLA to the elim. side on Day One |
| Nebraska 5–3 Arkansas (Thu, 10 inn.) | Frahm in relief; Huskers steal the late game |
| Texas Tech 8–7 UCLA (Sat, 9 inn.) | Williams walk-off in the 7th, Tech wins it in the 9th |
| Texas 6–0 & 4–2 Tennessee (Mon, semi sweep) | Kavan CG shutout in G1; Longhorns to 3rd straight Finals |
| Texas Tech 5–4 & 2–0 Alabama (Mon, doubleheader) | Williams walk-off, then a Canady CG shutout |
This week — 5 to watch
| When | What | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Wed Jun 3, 7 p.m. CT | WCWS Finals Game 1 — Texas vs. Texas Tech | ESPN |
| Thu Jun 4, 7 p.m. CT | WCWS Finals Game 2 | ESPN |
| Fri Jun 5, 7 p.m. CT | WCWS Finals Game 3 (if necessary) | ESPN |
| Tue Jun 9, all day | AUSL Opening Day — all six teams play | ESPN family |
| Tue Jun 9, 8:30 p.m. CT | Texas Volts at Oklahoma City Spark | ESPN |
One season ends in OKC, another opens six days later.
Hot Corner
1. Tech beats Alabama twice in one night to reach the Finals
No. 11 Tech needed both halves of a Monday double-dip and got them. Mia Williams led off the bottom of the seventh in Game 1 with her 26th homer of the season — first pitch she saw, after going 0-for-3 — to walk off Alabama 5–4. Then NiJaree Canady went the distance in Game 2: two hits, six K, a 2–0 shutout, and the door closed on the No. 1 seed. Texas Tech →
2. Texas sweeps Tennessee, books a third straight Finals trip
After dropping the opener Thursday 6–3, the defending champs ground back through the loser's bracket and finished Tennessee on Monday with a Teagan Kavan complete-game shutout in the opener and a 4–2 closer. The Longhorns are the only program in the country with three consecutive Finals appearances — and they've now beaten Tennessee at the WCWS in two straight Junes. NCAA.com →
3. Tech outlasts UCLA 8–7 in a nine-inning elimination thriller
Saturday was the WCWS in miniature. Jordan Woolery homered to keep UCLA alive in the seventh; Kaitlyn Terry — a UCLA transfer — doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth against her former team, then scored on a Bruin error. Canady struck out Bri Alejandre with the tying run at second to end it. UCLA goes home one win short. On3 →
4. Frahm is Nebraska's first-ever USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
The senior two-way captain — .416 with 19 HR at the plate, 20–4 with a 1.14 ERA and 12 saves in the circle — won the sport's top individual award on Tuesday, becoming the first Husker ever to do it. She is in line on Wednesday to become only the 14th four-time NFCA First-Team All-American in the history of the sport. Huskers.com →
5. AUSL Opening Day is one week out — six cities, ESPN-wide windows
Pro softball's second season — the first under a six-city, home-and-away model — opens Tuesday, June 9. Three matchups stack the day: Bandits at defending-champ Talons in Salt Lake, Cascade at the new Blaze in Durham, and Volts at the OKC Spark. AUSL has 90+ broadcast windows this year across ESPN platforms (including ABC and ESPN Deportes), CBS Sports Network, and MLB Network. MLB.com →
From the Dugout
Podcast pick · In the Circle (D1Softball). The June 1 episode is the cleanest WCWS reset of the week — host Eric Lopez sits down with ESPN's Kevin Brown and Amanda Scarborough, who called the Tech–UCLA classic, and they walk through how the four semifinalists actually got there. Howard head coach Tori Tyson (a Nebraska alum) closes the show on the Huskers' return to Devon Park. Takeaway: Scarborough's frame on Canady — that the postseason ERA is misleading until you watch when she's throwing strikes — is the most useful piece of swing-discipline language for a 14U hitter you'll hear this week. Listen on Apple Podcasts →
Clip of the week: @aj_andrews_ — the Rawlings Gold Glove winner and MLB Network host has been doing daily WCWS breakdowns from Devon Park between broadcasts. Her recent reel on tracking outfield reads ("see the ball off the bat, then move feet — never the other way") is a 30-second fix for the 12U–14U outfielders who keep drifting on hard line drives.
Play of the Week
First pitch, gone — Mia Williams walks Tech off and into a Game 2
Bottom of the seventh, semifinal Game 1, Alabama 4 Tech 4. Mia Williams, 0-for-3 to that point, led off. She got one pitch from Jocelyn Briski and put it 220 feet to left — her 26th home run of the season, walking off Alabama 5–4 and forcing a winner-take-all Game 2 that Canady would then close. Texas Tech's whole Finals trip flows from this single swing.
Source: @NCAAsoftball · Watch the full clip →