The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Thursday, May 28
Oklahoma City, Okla.
1:30 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
Tennessee
No. 3 Softball preview: No. 8 Tennessee (Women’s College World Series)
05.26.2026 | Softball
The defending National Champions open the Women’s College World Series vs. No. 8 Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday, May 28, at Devon Park.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The defending 2025 NCAA Women's College World Series Champions and No. 2-seeded Texas Longhorns (No. 3 in ESPN/USA Softball rankings) open the 2026 WCWS vs. No. 7-seeded Tennessee (No. 8 in ESPN/USA Softball rankings) at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday, May 28, at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. The game will broadcast on ESPN with Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Michele Smith (analyst), Jessica Mendoza (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline) on the call.
Fans can tune into Andrew Haynes on Texas' radio broadcast on https://texas.leanplayer.com/, the iHeart Radio app or AM 1300.
Notes
- Texas is making its ninth overall WCWS appearance, including its third-consecutive trip to Oklahoma City.
- Texas has made the WCWS in four of the last five seasons, advancing to the Championship Series in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
- Texas will face SEC foe Tennessee for the first time this season. Texas is 8-7 all-time vs. the Lady Volunteers.
- It'll be the first time Texas and Tennessee have clashed since the 2025 WCWS. Texas won that game, 2-0, on June 2, 2025.
- The Horns are 19-16 in nine WCWS appearances. Texas finished 5-1 at last year's WCWS, winning program's first National Championship.
- Texas has 26 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 21-consecutive tournament appearances.
- The Longhorns are 22-3 in NCAA Regional games under head coach Mike White. White has advanced to 16-consecutive NCAA Super Regionals as a head coach, which ties Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso for the longest streak by a head coach in NCAA history.
- Texas has made the NCAA Tournament in every year under head coach Mike White. Under White, Texas has clinched six top-13 national seeds at the tournament under Coach White.
- It marks the fourth-straight year in which Texas has earned a national seed (1 through 16). Texas' four-consecutive national seeds ties for the longest streak in program history. It last happened from 2010 to 2013. Additionally, Texas has collected three-consecutive top-six national seeds.
- Texas' No. 2 national seed is the second-highest national seed in program history, behind the 2024 team's No. 1 overall seed. Last season, Texas was selected as the No. 6 overall seed and went on to win the program's first Women's College World Series with a 10-2 postseason run.
- Texas won the program's first SEC Tournament title and fifth overall conference tournament crown on May 9.
- Junior first baseman Katie Stewart became the program's first SEC Player of the Year after earning the award on May 8. Stewart is the fourth Longhorn to garner conference player of the year, joining Reese Atwood (2024), Taylor Thom (2014) and Amy Hooks (2011).
Series History
- Texas leads the all-time series vs. Tennessee, 8-7.
- It'll be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2025 Women's College World Series. Texas won that game, 2-0, on June 2, 2025, at Devon Park.
- Texas and Tennessee have faced each other twice in Oklahoma City. Tennessee captured the 2013 matchup, 2-1. Texas won last year's matchup, 2-0.
OKC Horns
- Texas is making its ninth appearance at the Women's College World Series, including its third-straight trip to Oklahoma City.
- The Longhorns have played in the Championship Series in four of the last five years.
- Texas, along with UCLA, holds the longest active streak of WCWS appearances with three.
- In 2025, Texas became the first SEC softball program to win a NCAA Division I Softball National Championship since Florida completed its back-to-back national championship seasons in 2014 and 2015.
- Entering the 2026 WCWS, the Texas Longhorns have won at least one game in each of their last seven-consecutive WCWS appearances. Of its eight WCWS appearances prior to the 2026 season, Texas has won two-or-more games on six different occasions. The only time the Longhorns failed to win a WCWS game during one of their eight previous appearances was 1998 – the program's second year of existence and first WCWS appearance – when Texas, the tournament's sixth seed, lost to third-seeded Michigan, 7-2, and then second-seeded Nebraska, 2-1.
- Texas has played nine games this season against the WCWS field - four games vs. Alabama (split 2-2), three games vs. Arkansas (1-2) and two games against Nebraska (split 1-1).
- Texas is 19-16 all-time at the WCWS.
- Last season, Texas became the second-lowest seed (6th) to ever win NCAA Division I Softball National Championship.
- Texas' three-straight WCWS berths is the longest streak in program history.
On the Hunt for 800
- Texas head coach Mike White enters Thursday's game with 799 career wins, needing just one win to hit 800 career wins.
Players Mentioned
C/1B
/ Softball
C/IF
/ Softball