In a do-or-die Women’s College World Series losers’ bracket game at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Texas beat Mississippi State 4-0 on Friday. Teagan Kavan delivered her third WCWS complete-game shutout, and the Longhorns advanced to a Sunday meeting against the
Oklahoma City looked different once the ball started moving the way Teagan Kavan wanted it to.
In a do-or-die losers’ bracket game against Mississippi State. Texas turned to its postseason steady hand and got exactly what it needed: a 4-0 win at Devon Park on Friday. powered by Kavan’s third career complete-game shutout at the Women’s College World Series. With the result, Texas—now 48-12—avoided a second loss in the double-elimination round and kept its season alive.
The stakes shift immediately from there. Texas advances to a Sunday meeting against the loser of Alabama’s game against Nebraska on Saturday evening. And after a much-needed day of rest Saturday. the Longhorns will likely go right back to Kavan. who threw 78 pitches and allowed just four hits against the Bulldogs.
Kavan, though, didn’t frame the win as a personal moment. She pointed instead to the defense behind her—especially after a performance that, on paper, wasn’t heavy on strikeouts. Kavan finished with just two strikeouts.
“My defense stole a lot of what could have been a lot of hits,” Kavan said. “I credit them on that. They were huge for me and took a lot of momentum they (the Bulldogs) could have gotten.”
That defense showed up in flashes at the exact times Mississippi State tried to remind everyone it could still play spoiler. Second baseman Leighann Goode made highlight-worthy work with her glove. Shortstop Vivi Martinez produced plays that kept Texas ahead of runner after runner. First baseman Katie Stewart—an All-American slugger—contributed both on the bases and across the field.
And when Texas’ offense did strike, it was not loud—it was timely.
In the second inning, outfielder Kaiah Altmeyer hit her first home run of the season to give Texas a 2-0 lead. Kayden Henry added a solo home run in the fifth. The Longhorns finished the scoring in the seventh when Stewart powered home from first on a double by Martinez.
Henry later made the moment feel even more vivid when she talked about Stewart’s aggressive sprint. “I was very surprised coach White sent her. ” Henry said after the game. playfully taking a poke at Texas head coach Mike White. “Stewart getting from first to home was huge. Immediately we were like, ‘Oh, she’s safe. And get her some water. please. because she desperately wanted some and needs some.’ I was like. ‘Oh. my God. that girl is moving right now.’”.
Texas didn’t come into Friday untouched by pressure. The day before, the Longhorns suffered a 6-3 loss to Tennessee in Thursday’s WCWS opener. After that setback, White made it clear what this part of the tournament demands.
“It’s win or go home at this point of the season,” he said. “Fortunately, we’re able to stay for another couple of days, and get to fight again.”
The overall picture of Kavan’s outing became just as clear in the inning-by-inning details as it did in the final score.
Kavan sent Mississippi State down in order and allowed just two hits without issuing a walk. Thirty-eight of her fifty-three pitches were strikes. She also retired the side in order again, working efficiently as the Bulldogs kept hitting balls but not getting traction.
One late scare came when Morgan Stiles sent a deep flyout to the warning track in right field for the third out, but Texas weathered it. By the time the game settled, Kavan’s shutout was intact and Mississippi State never found the rhythm to flip the momentum.
Texas had chances to make it even more lopsided, but it left runners on base—stranding six throughout the game. Pinch hitter Kaydee Bennett grounded out to second for the third out, one of several moments that kept the score at 4-0 instead of larger.
Still, the runs that mattered arrived.
A big part of Texas’ second-inning push came when Stewart and Martinez connected—Stewart reaching first on a walk, then moving around on a Martinez double and just beating the throw at home.
That sequence also set the stage for what the outcome meant for Mississippi State’s pitching matchup. The insurance run pointed to the continued presence of star pitcher Alyssa Faircloth in the tournament conversation—one of just two All-SEC players on the Bulldog roster—while setting up what would become a difficult day for the rest of the lineup.
Mississippi State made changes on the mound as the game moved. It looked like Peja Goold would start the fifth in place of Delainey Everett for Mississippi State. Goold’s profile into the moment was part of the sense that the Bulldogs were trying to keep options open.
Goold boasts an ERA of 2.45 and an opponent’s batting average of .184.
Even with those adjustments, the Longhorns stayed solid. Paige Ernstes robbed Kaiah Altmeyer of her second hit of the game with a leaping snag of a line drive and doubled Ashton Maloney to end the inning. The Bulldogs tried to hang around. and they even produced their first hit when Xiane Romero hammered a two-out double to the wall.
But Kavan answered every time.
Elsewhere on the field, the defensive work was relentless. Stewart snagged a grounder at first for an unassisted out. Altmeyer raced down a flyball into left. Martinez threw a dart to first from deep in the hole.
And while Texas’ batters were still searching for the biggest exclamation point, Henry’s one swing in the fifth did the job. With one out, Henry hammered a liner over the right-field wall for a solo shot.
Mississippi State’s lineup also carried its own story of how the game was supposed to unfold. Delainey Everett, a southpaw, got the start for Mississippi State in an elimination game instead of ace Alyssa Faircloth or workhorse Peja Goold.
Everett last year’s staff ace. had thrown just 20⅓ innings this season because of injuries and because of the effectiveness of Goold and Faircloth. Yet Everett came in with a .69 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. and she threw a complete-game shutout in Game 3 of the Super Regional series against powerhouse Oklahoma last week.
Texas brought its own clarity from the jump. Not surprisingly, coach Mike White started ace Teagan Kavan after she threw just three innings in yesterday’s 6-3 loss to Tennessee.
Against the Vols, Kavan gave up three hits and three runs on 54 pitches. Still, her season numbers stayed a big part of why Texas could treat her like a weapon rather than a question mark: a 24-6 record, a 2.54 ERA, and a career-high 233 strikeouts in 198⅓ innings.
Texas’ approach on the bases and in the outfield kept pressing the Bulldogs even when the hits didn’t come in clusters. After Katie Stewart earned a one-out walk, Mississippi State’s Everett fanned Vivi Martinez to help get out of the frame without any damage.
The game itself moved quickly into its definition. Kavan retired the side again and again. The Longhorns built from the early lead to the final score. And with Friday’s win, Texas earned the next breath of tournament life it had been chasing.
For Sunday, the opponent will depend on the loser of Alabama’s game against Nebraska. For Saturday, Texas gets the rest it needs. For now, the Longhorns get to keep doing what this tournament forces every team to do—stay alive one more day.
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