AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns are back in familiar territory, playing in an NCAA super regional for the fifth consecutive season and looking for the program’s eighth trip to the Women’s College World Series.
They’ll have to get by a tough Clemson team first, and the best-of-3 series begins at 8 p.m. Thursday from McCombs Field. The series winner advances to the WCWS.
The Tigers (47-12, 19-5 ACC) haven’t been playing softball for that long. Clemson started the program six years ago in 2020, but they’ve quickly become nationally relevant, thanks in large part to head coach John Rittman, someone Texas head coach Mike White respects a ton.
“You look at the first couple of recruits that he got, Valerie Cagle was an outstanding one to get, a two-way player, she was huge for the program,” White said. “And Maddie Moore was another one who has come in and is now a senior, so he got players he could build a program around. It never goes as fast as you want, but they are well on their way.”
Cagle has graduated, but Moore is still around, and she’s one of the best hitters in the country. She’s smacked 16 home runs with 66 RBIs and a .417 batting average to go with a .783 slugging percentage, so the Texas pitching staff would be wise to tread lightly when facing her.
With the way Texas hit the ball in the Austin regional, maybe the pitchers could afford to give up a few runs. The Longhorns knocked the yellow cover off the ball in three games with 43 hits, nine home runs and 35 runs, rebounding tremendously well after losing 14-2 to Texas A&M in the SEC tournament semifinals. It should be noted that the Aggies, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, didn’t make it out of their regional, losing to Liberty twice to have the dubious distinction of being the first top seed to not make it to a super regional under the current format.
Longhorns second baseman Leighann Goode said that was a reminder that every team at this stage of the season is dangerous.
“A tip of the cap to Liberty and what they were able to do,” she said. “We just have to stick with us, not take anybody lightly, and play our same Texas softball with Texas fight.”
Texas shortstop Katie Stewart said there aren’t any breaks in the lineup now, and against a Clemson staff that pitches to contact rather than racking up strikeouts, a few hard-hit balls could go a long way for the Longhorns.
“We can hit for power, gap-to-gap,” she said. “Having that click at this moment is beneficial for us and our pitchers.”
Rittman said the Longhorns are “a complete team.”
“Pitching staff, offense, defense … there’s a reason they’ve been to championship series,” he said. “They have speed, power, they hit for average. They’re well-coached and there’s a reason why they are here.”
Rittman and White have a deeper connection than being head coaches for Division I softball programs. While Rittman was the head coach at Stanford, he recruited White’s daughter, Nyree, while he was the head coach at Oregon. Nyree pitched for the Cardinal from 2012-15.
“I have a history with John and I think a lot of him as a coach,” White said. “His program and his success at Stanford were great, and now he’s bringing that to Clemson.”
