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Texas softball set to battle UCLA to open Women’s College World Series

By Andrew Miller

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 25: Rachel Garcia #00 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates her two-run home run against the University of Washington Huskies at Easton Stadium on April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 25: Rachel Garcia #00 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates her two-run home run against the University of Washington Huskies at Easton Stadium on April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. /
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The Texas softball program and head coach Mike White will continue their magical run this postseason in just a few days when the Women’s College World Series gets underway in Oklahoma City, OK. Following an upset in the Fayetteville Super Regional last weekend of the four-seed Arkansas Razorbacks, Texas will get yet another test against a top opponent in OKC later this week.

Texas will face the five-seed UCLA Bruins in their first game in the Women’s College World Series. UCLA got to this point by knocking off the 12-seed Duke Blue Devils in the Los Angeles Super Regional. The Bruins beat the Blue Devils in a two-game sweep in the Los Angeles Super Regional, giving them a lot of momentum heading into the Women’s College World Series this week.

UCLA is red-hot coming into OKC, sporting a record of 48-8 (19-5 PAC-12) following their sweep of Duke in super regionals last weekend. The Bruins have also won eight straight games heading into the Women’s College World Series, as they swept through regionals and supers unscathed.

Meanwhile, the Longhorns head into OKC with a record of 43-19-1 (12-6 Big 12) following their 2-1 showing in the Fayetteville Super Regional. Texas has now pulled off upsets of Arkansas and the 13-seed Washington Huskies, both on the road, in the postseason thus far.

Texas softball set to face a tough UCLA team in the WCWS behind Hailey Dolcini and Janae Jefferson

This will be the second time this season that Texas and UCLA have faced each other. The first came early in the regular season, back on Feb. 19. UCLA got the best of Texas, by a score of 2-1, in what wound up being a pretty disastrous St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational for the Longhorns. Texas would go 0-5 in that invitational early in the regular season.

Yet, Texas has completely turned the page since that tragic five-game run in the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational a few months back. Behind the likes of experienced senior pitcher Hailey Dolcini and the stud All-American infielder Janae Jefferson, Texas is on a roll and showing a ton of fight when it matters most in the midst of this special postseason run.

Texas refuses to go away against teams that are higher-seeded than them in the postseason, i.e. the wins over the four-seed Arkansas and 13-seed Washington in the last couple of weeks.

Jefferson led the way for the Longhorns’ bats and defense in the win over the Razorbacks in the Fayetteville Super Regional last week. In the three games against Arkansas in supers, Jefferson came up with an impressive five hits, two runs scored, and one run batted in. She also made a couple of highlight-reel defensive plays in supers.

Texas also got a nice bounce-back performance in the second game in the supers against Arkansas, getting the win with just one earned run in more than five innings of work on the mound. Dolcini will need to be solid again as she will be the presumed starter for White and the Longhorns against UCLA this week.

This opening matchup between Texas and UCLA in OKC will make for a really interesting and entertaining start to the Women’s College World series for both fan bases. Texas is set to face the five-seed UCLA in the first game of the Women’s College World Series on June 2, with the first pitch time set for 11 a.m. CT.

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The winner of Game 1 between Texas and UCLA will go on to face the winner of Game 2 between the top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners and nine-seed Northwestern Wildcats on June 4. Meanwhile, the loser of Game 1 will face the loser of Game 2 in a do-or-die matchup on June 3.

Getting off to a good start against UCLA will be pivotal for Jefferson, Dolcini, and the Longhorns to keep momentum on their side in OKC.