The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball recognized as ATEC/NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year
06.19.2025 | Softball
Head coach Mike White, associate head coach Steve Singleton, and assistant coaches Pattie Ruth Taylor and Kristen Zaleski guided Texas to the program’s first-ever NCAA National Championship.
AUSTIN, Texas – Following the program's first NCAA National Championship, the Texas Softball coaching staff has been tabbed the ATEC/NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year, the organization announced Thursday. It's the program's second NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year award and first since 2003.
Head coach Mike White, associate head coach Steve Singleton, and assistant coaches Pattie Ruth Taylor and Kristen Zaleski helped skipper the Longhorns (56-12) to the 2025 NCAA National Title. Texas' 10-2 postseason run culminated with a 2-1 Championship Series (third appearance in four years) win over Texas Tech. Texas set a single-season program record with 56 victories after securing the winner-take-all game three over Texas Tech and being crowned national champions.
The Longhorns kicked off the championship series with a 2-1 win on June 4 before the Red Raiders evened the series in a close 4-3 loss on June 5. Texas then claimed the title with a 10-4 triumph in the winner-take-all contest on June 6 to become the second-lowest seed to win the Women's College World Series.
Recording a program-record 56 wins, Texas surpassed the previous mark (55) set by the 2006 and 2024 squads. Additionally, the Horns were the first Southeastern Conference program to win a title since Florida went back-to-back in 2014 and 2015. Under the mentorship of the coaching staff, the Longhorns topped Division I with 630 base hits, finished second with 460 RBI and third with a .352 batting average and 486 runs scored. They also ranked inside the top-15 in win/loss percentage (5th / .824), doubles (9th / 99), home runs (9th / 94), slugging (10th / .583), shutouts (10th / 15), strikeout-to-walk ratio (12th / 3.07), scoring (14th / 7.15), ERA (15th / 2.55) and WHIP (15th / 1.18).
The Longhorns nabbed three NFCA All-America selections in Reese Atwood, Teagan Kavan and Mia Scott, including Atwood becoming the program's first Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year, to round out yet another enormous postseason awards haul. The three NFCA All-Americans for the Horns are the most by a single Longhorn squad since 2013 (Taylor Hoagland, Blaire Luna and Taylor Thom) and is just the fourth time (1998, 1999, 2013, 2025) in program history three different players were selected to a NFCA All-America team.
Texas concluded its inaugural SEC season with seven All-SEC nods, with Atwood, Kavan, Scott and Joley Mitchell earning First-Team All-SEC accolades. Texas was the only SEC program this season with four landing on the All-SEC First Team. Kayden Henry, Ashton Maloney and Katie Stewart were named to the All-SEC Second Team.
White and his coaching staff will be recognized during the NFCA Convention's annual Awards Banquet on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.
