The field for the 2024 Women’s College World Series is as wide open as most of us can remember, with all eight teams having a legitimate reason why they could end up being the last one standing next week.
There are favorites in the field, of course, as regulars like Oklahoma, UCLA, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Stanford are all making their second or third appearance in the last three years.
However, teams like Duke—who is making its first-ever appearance—offer quite a bit of mystery and intrigue. Alabama and Florida are no strangers to Oklahoma City, but their up-and-down performances throughout the year make it hard to discern what versions of those squads we will see.
At their best, every one of these teams is worthy of hoisting a national championship trophy, but a single slip-up could cause them to be headed home early.
This field is going to be hard to predict, and there’s enough evidence to make a case for almost any of the teams remaining in the field. So, let’s look at the case for Texas.
Here are a few reasons why the Longhorns can finally win a Women’s College World Series title in 2024.
Reese Atwood
Anytime a team makes it to Oklahoma City with a USA Softball Player of the Year finalist on the squad, they immediately become a player to watch closely. This year, all three finalists made the WCWS field–including award winner NiJaree Canady–but only one of them made the cut because of what she does at the plate. Texas catcher Reese Atwood is a terrific defensive player, but what she’s done with a bat in her hand this season is incredible.
She enters the WCWS with a nation-leading 90 RBIs–10 more than second place–and ranks first among all players in the field with 23 home runs on the year. There are several players in OKC this season who have the ability to change a game with one swing of the bat, but perhaps none of them are more capable of that than the sophomore out of Sandia, Texas.
The Pitching Staff
One of the most important keys to a team’s success in the postseason is excellent play in the circle, and for Texas, that’s not an issue. The Longhorns carry the nation’s ninth-best ERA (1.93) into the WCWS and have a bevy of arms that they can turn to at any time.
The trio of Teagan Kavan (18-2, 2.20 ERA), Mac Morgan (15-1, 1.99), and Citlaly Gutierrez (11-2, 1.79) have thrown the majority of Texas’ innings throughout the year, but Estelle Czech (8-3, 1.92) is also ready to go and has postseason experience under her belt.
Texas is holding opponents to a .200 batting average on the year, and last weekend’s Super Regional against a battle-tested Texas A&M team proved that UT can use a combination of arms to get through tight games. That will be key for them if they are to make a title run this week.
They’re An Offensive Juggernaut
Reese Atwood is certainly the biggest name in the Texas batting rotation, but she’s far from the only game-breaker at the Longhorns’ disposal in 2024. Every player in the rotation bats .344 or higher, and all but one of them has multiple home runs. Take a look at where Texas’ offense ranks among the nation’s best in 2024.
- Batting Average: .379 (1st)
- HR per Game: 1.48 (9th)
- On-Base Pct: .458 (2nd)
- Scoring: 8.08 (2nd)
- Slugging Pct: .628 (4th)
- Walks Drawn: 230 (8th)
Texas’ offense is among the best in the country and is only rivaled by Oklahoma and Florida when it comes to teams that remain in the hunt. The Longhorns are capable of breaking a game wide open at any moment, but perhaps the more important thing is that Texas is never out of a game. As we saw last weekend, UT can erase big deficits in a single inning, and that makes them a true title contender in a stacked field.
