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Texas holds off late Clemson rally, punches ticket to second straight WCWS

Screenshot 2025-02-05 152517by: Cooper Taylor05/25/25
Screenshot 2025-05-24 at 8.51.41 PM
Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics

Texas punched its ticket back to Oklahoma City with a 6-5 win over Clemson on Saturday night.

Both Clemson starter Reese Basinger and Texas starter Teagan Kavan worked around two-out singles in a scoreless first inning. After Kavan notched two strikeouts in the top of the second, the Longhorns’ offense put Texas on the board in the home half.

After a leadoff walk, Katie Stewart doubled to left field. With both runners in scoring position, Leighann Goode doubled on a high hopper over the third base bag, scoring both runners.

Trailing 2-0 to Texas, Clemson handed the ball to Macey Cintron in the circle for the first time this weekend. Cintron recorded consecutive outs, but Ashton Maloney laced a two-out RBI single up the middle, scoring Texas’s third run of the game. Cintron eventually struck out Kayden Henry to end the inning, but Texas led 3-0 after two innings.

Clemson responded in the next half inning. In the away third, a two-out error and walk put two on for Clemson. Then, Cintron laced an RBI single to left field, scoring the Tigers’ first run of the game. A groundout stranded the tying run at first, but Clemson cut the Texas lead to 3-1.

In the bottom of the third, Mia Scott led off with a double, then Joley Mitchell singled, chasing Cintron from the circle. Brooke McCubbin then came on in relief of Cintron. On five pitches, a groundout scored the Longhorns’ fourth run and a wild pitch scored another for Texas, giving the Longhorns a 5-1 lead.

Clemson responded with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth. After a leadoff double from Marian Collins, Jamison Brockenbrough hit a one-out sacrifice fly. Maddie Moore singled up the middle, cutting the Texas lead to 5-3 and chasing Kavan from the game. Making her first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, senior Mac Morgan relieved Kavan in the circle. Morgan did her job, inducing a seven-pitch groundout to strand the tying run on first.

A costly one-out throwing error and a wild pitch from McCubbin cost Clemson a chance at a shutdown inning. An RBI groundout from Henry swelled the Texas lead back to three. After four, the Longhorns led the Tigers 6-3. Morgan continued her strong outing in the fifth, putting together the first 1-2-3 inning of the game. McCubbin followed suit with a scoreless fifth of her own.

Morgan kept her foot on the gas in the away sixth, retiring seven straight batters dating back to the fourth inning. In the bottom half, McCubbin worked around a pair of baserunners to keep the deficit at three. Heading into the final three outs of their season, Clemson trailed 6-3.

Alex Brown reached on an error to lead off the seventh. Moore then grounded out, but Julia Knowler belted a two-run shot to straightaway center, cutting the Texas lead to 6-5. Following the home run, a four-pitch walk to Cintron put the tying run on base. Texas head coach Mike White stuck with the senior Morgan in the circle. A groundout moved a runner into scoring position with two outs. Down to the final out, Collins grounded out back to Morgan, punching Texas’s ticket to the Women’s College World Series for the second straight season.

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