The Longhorns are trying to make the Women’s College World Series for the third time under seventh-year head coach Mike White.
For the fifth straight season, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns are playing for a berth in the Women’s College World Series, this time hosting the No. 13 Clemson Tigers at Red & Charline McCombs Field in the Austin Super Regional starting on Thursday.
First pitch is at 8 p.m. Central on ESPN2 on Thursday and Friday with Saturday’s if-necessary game set for the same time with the network to be determined.
After runner-up finishes under seventh-year head coach Mike White in 2022 and 2024, the season goal for the Longhorns is the program’s first-ever national championship, but the upstart Tigers stand in the way.
Longtime Stanford head coach John Rittman has led Clemson since its varsity program started in 2020, and he’s quickly found success — although the COVID pandemic shortened the first season the Tigers competed at the Division I level, Clemson has made the NCAA Tournament every year since, including two previous super regional appearances in 2022 and 2023.
If the breakthrough for Texas is winning a national championship, the next step for Clemson is winning its first super regional game.
Clemson swept its way through its regional by winning in different ways, run-ruling USC Upstate, edging past Northwestern 1-0 in nine innings, and beating Kentucky 5-1, extending its winning streak to 10 games.
With a 2.56 staff ERA, Clemson is led in the circle by senior right-hander Reese Basinger, the ACC Pitcher of the Year after compiling a 17-5 record behind a 2.81 ERA, 10 complete games, and five shutouts. Basinger isn’t overpowering, but she is effective, and forms a strong 1-2 punch with ACC Freshman of the Year Macey Cintron, a right-hander with an 8-2 record and 2.07 ERA in a team-high 59 starts. Opponents are only batting .211 against Cintron.
It’s a balanced Tigers team with two position players making the All-ACC first team — senior third baseman Alex Brown and senior second baseman Maddie Moore. Brown leads the team in batting average (.418) and on-base percentage (.522), setting the table at the top of the lineup for Moore, hitting .417 with a team-leading 16 home runs and 66 RBI.
Texas cruised through the Austin Regional, outscoring Eastern Illinois, Michigan, and UCF 35-6 by hitting nine home runs over the last two games, including tying the NCAA Softball Tournament record with six in the 16-4 win over Michigan in five innings.
In hitting three home runs over those two games, junior catcher Reese Atwood became the first player in program history to record multiple seasons with 20 or more home runs, finishing the regional 8-for-15 (.533) with three home runs and 13 RBI.