Oklahoma outfielder Kasidi Pickering (7) slides into second base safe as Texas utility Leighann Goode (43) catches a throw in the second inning during a softball game between UCLA and Oregon at the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, on Saturday, May 31, 2025. OKLAHOMA CITY – Kayden Henry broke a tie with a fifth-inning home run and Joley Mitchell blasted another in the sixth to help lift Texas to a 4-2 win over four-time defending champion Oklahoma in the Women’s College World Series on Saturday.
The Longhorns will play in the semifinals Monday, needing one win in two tries to advance to the WCWS Championship Series for the third time in four seasons. The Sooners will play Oregon on Sunday in an elimination game.
Texas had never beaten the Sooners in the WCWS and hadn’t beaten Oklahoma in the state of Oklahoma since 2014.
With one out in the fifth, Henry jumped on Sam Landry’s first pitch for a line-drive home run to put the Longhorns up 3-2.
Mitchell then led off the sixth with her third home run of the WCWS to extend the lead.
But it wasn’t over.
Teagan Kavan hit Ella Parker, then allowed a single to Nelly McEnroe-Marinas with one out to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
But the Longhorns’ ace struck out Gabbie Garcia and Hannah Coor to escape the jam and move Texas within three victories of their first-ever WCWS title.
Texas took a 2-0 lead in the first, but Oklahoma quickly responded with two in the second to tie it.
After that, though, the defenses and the pitchers settled in until Henry’s go-head homer.
–Field Level Media
