OKLAHOMA CITY — Katie Stewart hit a home run, Mac Morgan and Teagan Kavan combined on a 3-hitter and Texas defeated Tennessee 2-0 on Monday to reach the Women's College World Series championship series for the third time in four years.
Kavan, who threw a complete game with eight strikeouts in Saturday's 4-2 victory over Oklahoma, came on in relief of Morgan in the fifth inning and didn't allow a hit the rest of the way. She struck out the Volunteers' Emma Clarke to end the game.
Texas (54-11) will play either Oklahoma or Texas Tech in the best-of-three series, which starts Wednesday. Those teams square off in Monday night's other semifinal.
''We've played both of them already,'' Kavan said. ''So obviously using what we learned from those games. But I think it's more focused on us and what we can do and not necessarily on them and focusing on our strengths.''
Karlyn Pickens, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-American, allowed just one earned run on five hits and struck out nine for Tennessee (47-17).
''My heart is full because of the young ladies to my right and the young ladies in that locker room,'' Vols coach Karen Weekly said. ''They're sad for all the right reasons. It's not about wins and losses; it's about the joy they've experienced being together every single day. And I think people saw that in the way we played. They saw them bounce back. They saw how resilient, how gritty and tough they were.''
Texas loaded the bases against Pickens in the third with one out but couldn't score. Reese Atwood struck out swinging and Joley Mitchell popped out to the catcher to end the inning.
Things got heated in the top of the fourth when Tennessee hitting coach Craig Snider, the former Texas Tech head coach, appeared to have words with the Texas dugout and was ejected.
