Mitchell makes history, No. 3/4 Softball advances in WCWS

Thursday, May 29

Oklahoma City, OK

11 AM CT

University of Texas

52-11

Florida

48-16

Texas

Florida

Mitchell makes history, No. 3/4 Softball advances in WCWS

05.29.2025 | Softball

Box Score

Joley Mitchell becomes first student-athlete in program history with a multi-home run game at the WCWS.

By: Chris Allen Brown

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Victories on Opening Day of the Women's College World Series (WCWS) and the sixth-seeded Texas Longhorn softball program go together like peanut butter and jelly as Mike White's squad earned a 3-0 win over third-seeded Florida on the first day of WCWS.

It took just two innings for the Texas offense to connect with a Keagan Rothrock (16-7) pitch for a home run as Joley Mitchell sent a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run to open the top of the second and push the Longhorns ahead 1-0. Four innings later, Mitchell, again, led off an inning with a solo home run as she connected on a 2-1 offering and sent it over the center field, marking her first career multi-home run game as a Longhorn and first of her career since March 11, 2023, when she was a member of the Notre Dame softball program playing at NC State.

With the sixth-inning home run, Mitchell became the first Texas Longhorn softball student-athlete to record two-or-more home runs in a single WCWS game. Furthermore, Mitchell is the first Longhorn to record a multi-home run game after the NCAA Regionals. It's also just the seventh multi-home run game by a Longhorn in the program's NCAA Tournament history with two coming from Katie Stewart and Reese Atwood during this season's NCAA Regional.

Two weekends after her own multi-home run game against Michigan, Stewart left her impact on Thursday's contest with a solo home run to go back-to-back with Mitchell in the sixth and push Texas' lead out to 3-0.

The run support was more than enough for Teagan Kavan (25-5) as the Texas sophomore tossed her 15th complete game and fifth solo shutout on the season.

Over the course of the game's seven innings, Kavan threw 98 pitches to 24 Florida Gators and allowed just four base runners. She induced 12 ground ball outs, seven flyouts and struck out one. She did not surrender an extra base hit and did not allow her first base hit at all until a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth. Florida's second – and last – hit of the game came with one out in the sixth but was erased on an inning-ending double play three pitches later.

No Gator base runner reached third base against Kavan and only one made it to second base, which came with two outs in the bottom of the first.

GAME NOTES

Following Thursday's game, Texas is now 15-0 when Joley Mitchell hits a home run in a game this season.
With the victory, Texas is now 7-1 all time in games played the on the opening day of the WCWS, the most by any softball program with five-or-more WCWS appearances.
Texas sophomore right-handed pitcher Teagan Kavan became the first pitcher this season to hold the Florida Gator offense without a hit through a game's first three innings.
By shutting out Florida throughout all seven innings of Thursday's game, Texas has now not allowed a single run to the Gators in the 19.0 innings played throughout three all-time WCWS matchups.
With the win, Texas has now won its first game at the WCWS seven consecutive appearances dating back to the 2003 campaign.
Thursday's win over Florida gives Texas its 52nd win on the season, marking just the third time in program history the Longhorns have won 52-or-more games in a single season.

UP NEXT

With the win, Texas (52-11) remains on the winner's side of the WCWS bracket and will take on the winner of second-seeded Oklahoma and seventh-seeded Tennessee

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