Texas Softball Gets Women's College World Series Started vs. Tennessee: Live Updates

The Texas Longhorns will open the Women's College World Series against the Tennessee Volunteers.

Texas Longhorns head coach Mike White watches the Texas Tech Red Raiders warm up before game one of the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series finals. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

The stage is set for the start of the Women's College World Series on Thursday, and the Texas Longhorns are in the mix of the last eight teams standing, headed to Oklahoma City. The Longhorns prepare to defend their national championship, making their third consecutive trip to OKC.

Texas makes its way to the greatest show on dirt after a bit of a scare in the Super Regional, dropping the first game to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Austin Super Regional. However, as the Longhorns have done time and time before, they were able to rebound and win two games in a row to survive and advance.

The Longhorns will get their action of the Women's College World Series started against a team from the SEC, the Tennessee Volunteers. The Longhorns and Volunteers are set to clash on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Texas Takes on a Rolling Tennessee Squad

Texas Longhorns catcher Reese Atwood (14) celebrates as she drives in two runs on a single in the sixth inning of Game 1 of the Women's College World Series championship series. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Volunteers have been on cruise control throughout the NCAA Tournament, heading to Oklahoma City with a 47-10 overall record. Tennessee headed into the postseason, earning the No. 7 overall seed, and hosted the Knoxville Regional and took care of business, outscoring opponents 15-7 over three games.

With a top-eight national seed, the Volunteers also received the opportunity to host a super regional on their home field, where they would face an SEC opponent, the Georgia Bulldogs. And Tennessee would need just two games to advance to the Women's College World Series, sweeping the Knoxville Super Regional over Georgia.

Follow along as we provide live, at-bat by at-bat updates, with the Longhorns looking to get their Women's College World Series started on the right foot and book a spot in the winners' bracket. They do so against the Volunteers on Thursday afternoon from Devon Park.

The Longhorns' starting lineup will be listed below -

starting us off 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/HLPbHViACL

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 28, 2026

CF - Kayden Henry

1B - Katie Stewart

SS - Viviana Martinez

C - Reese Atwood

2B - Leighann Goode

DP - Hannah Wells

RF - Ashton Maloney

LF - Kaiah Altmeyer

3B Jayice Nichols

P - Teagan Kavan

Live updates will be available after first pitch

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.