The Texas Longhorns are heading to the Women’s College World Series Final after knocking off the Stanford Cardinal. That win came on the back of starting pitcher Teagan Kavan, who was once again excellent in the circle for the Longhorns.
Following the game, Kavan described just how intense it was to be working in a tight pitcher’s duel like she was in against Stanford.
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“I think I knew going into it that I needed to keep them off the board,” Teagan Kavan said. “Just keep my offense. Reese told me every time we went out there, keep us in it, we’ll come through. That was just the mindset going out there through each pitch.”
The Texas-Stanford game was tied a 0 going into the seventh inning. That was when the Longhorns were finally able to punch the game’s only run across the board, largely on aggressive base running and defensive mistakes by Stanford.
Prior to that point, Kavan needed to pitch in a tie game where it seemed like any single mistake could be very costly for the Longhorns. That’s a lot of pressure for a freshman to face, but regardless of the pressure, she was nearly perfect. She pitched a seven-inning shutout that saw her only allow one hit and one walk.
It was far from the only outstanding performance from Texas in the circle this postseason. While at the Women’s College World Series, Texas has thrown three shutouts.
Kavan pitched twice against Stanford in the WCWS. In both cases, she threw complete game shutouts. It’s been part of a dominant effort from her and the entire Texas pitching staff, going back to the Austin Regional. While there, Kavan nearly threw a no-hitter against Northwestern to advance to the Super Regional.
Alyssa Washington walks through game-winning run for Texas
Alyssa Washington scored the game-winning run for Texas on a bunt. It was a broken play where she got caught in between third and home but escaped the rundown and was barely safe at the plate.
After the game, she broke down her perspective on that play.
“Yeah, I mean, at first my initial reaction was go,” Alyssa Washington said. “But then I saw like quick the pitcher had got it. I froze up a little bit. Instead of going back, I wanted to beat her, get into that rundown. What was going through my head was whatever it takes to score. I know in a ballgame like that, it takes one run to get ahead. It was going through my mind whatever it takes.”
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