Katie Stewart's Historic Swing Propels Texas to Game 1 WCWS Championship Series Win Over Texas Tech

In a game that started "with a bang," the Texas Longhorns came away with a 7-3 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Game 1 of the Women's College World Series Championship Series.

Mihyia Davis gave Texas Tech a quick 1-0 lead with a home run to left field, but Katie Stewart's two-run blast in the bottom of the first gave Texas a lead, and the Longhorns never looked back.

Stewart became the first player to homer in four straight WCWS games with her first inning swing.

The Longhorns head into Game 2 on Thursday with a 1-0 lead in the series.

STORM'S A STEWIN' ☔#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Wimn3R9Glv
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) June 4, 2026

"Obviously, the game started with a bang, literally," said Texas head coach Mike White. "Started off with a home run, and then we came back out and scored five, which gave us an advantage. Then, of course, Teagan Kavan worked her tail off for us. We played good defense behind her, continued to score a couple more runs, and Texas Tech never gave in. They made us work for it, and that's a sign of a good team.

"We're looking forward to tomorrow's game as well."

Davis' home run was the 37th of the 2026 WCWS, setting a new record for total home runs. Stewart and Mia Williams added two more to bring the total to 39.

The year of the home run has seriously affected the pitching in the tournament and that showed on Wednesday when Kaitlyn Terry exited the game after giving up four runs and recording just two outs.

Kaiah Altmeyer brings in one more 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/d85Nrwz1YC
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) June 4, 2026

NiJaree Canady pitched the next 1.1 innings, giving up another run in the first before handing the ball off to Samantha Lincoln. Because Canady didn't start for the Red Raiders, Lincoln's relief appearance burnt the Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year for the rest of the game.

Lincoln pitched the majority of the game for the Red Raiders, going 3.1 innings and allowing two runs on four hits, two walks, and a strikeout.

Forcing Texas Tech to make so many changes in the circle was the game plan, according to White.

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— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) June 4, 2026

"Our game plan was to make them switch a lot of pitchers because, if we're doing that, that means we're hitting them," White said. "So we were able to do that, and they made four changes. So I feel like we kind of did that. It is part of the game. It is what it is. We can't control what they're going to do. We can just control how we respond.

“We kind of know their game plan. We know what they're going to do each pitch type they bring in, and we've just got to go out and attack, as the ladies said."

As for Texas, Teagan Kavan continued to pitch lights out in Oklahoma City, going the distance and holding the Red Raiders to three runs on three hits. She struck out six and walked two.

ready for whatever the moment brings 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/sCdu396Lvj
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) June 4, 2026

Kavan did throw 113 pitches, which could play into Game 2's starting lineup decision.

"'I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet," White said. "So I've got to keep it under my hat too.

"She looked like she threw 115 pitches, which is quite a bit. We have the luxury of deciding whether to go with another pitcher or not. Citlaly (Gutierrez) did pitch very well the last couple of times out. So there's an option there. It's something we'll kind of sleep over."

Overall, the Longhorns showed that experience plays a key role in a big game, scoring five runs in the first inning and forcing the Red Raiders to make several mental mistakes. There weren't any errors in the box score, but there could've been, according to Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco.

"It felt like we were out of position over and over on defense," Glasco said. "We had plays we could have made. I don't know exactly. I've got to watch it. You look at the scoreboard, and it said no errors, but I thought we misplayed several balls that we should have had outs on or we weren't in the right position. That inning got away from us, and we're quickly -- all of a sudden we go from 1-0 to down 5-1. We just couldn't get our momentum back."

Texas had eight players combine for 10 hits. Kayden Henry and Viviana Marinez had two each. Stewart, Martinez and Ashton Maloney drove in two runs apiece.

"I think we were able to attack early, and so we were able to chase Terry out of the game quickly," Stewart said. "So obviously NiJa came in. NiJa had her stuff. Yeah, I was surprised she came out early, but she'll be fresh for tomorrow."

Texas added one more run in the fourth before Williams hit a two-run homer to center, cutting the deficit to 6-3, but the Longhorns added another in the sixth.

The Longhorns won Game 1 of last year's series and then dropped Game 2. The lesson they learned from that is to keep their "foot on the gas."

"Just keeping the foot on the gas," Stewart said. "It's not going to come easy. They're going to come back fighting harder than ever. So just making sure we're on the attack first inning through the seventh inning, and making sure we stay focused, stay centered, and head in the game."

First pitch of Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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