The nation's No. 2 overall seed must win two in a row over unseeded Arizona State to advance to OKC.
The No. 2-seed Texas Longhorns fell in Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional, 4-1 to unseeded Arizona State, putting the defending national champions against the ropes in a must-win scenario this weekend.
Texas, which dropped to 45-11 on the year, must win two over the Sun Devils, who are on a 10-game win streak and 45-16 overall, beginning on Saturday at McCombs Field.
In Friday opener to the Super Regional, junior right-hander Teagan Kavan couldn't keep up her dominance as she allowed three earned runs in 5.0 innings of work. Entering the game, she had been on a heater of just one earned run allowed over her last 19.0 innings pitched.
Kenzie Brown was the story of the game for the Sun Devils, who are on the midst of a postseason run that has them as the talk of the tournament thus far.
Brown allowed just four hits across all seven innings while striking out 10. She retired the final five Longhorns hitters via the punch out to end the game.
At the plate, the Arizona State got on the board first with an RBI single by Samantha Swan, who had two hits on the day. To answer, the Longhorns tallied their lone run off a home run by Hannah Wells in the fourth inning.
Swan's second hit drove in two to take the lead for good, with the Sun Devils adding another in the three-run fifth inning that stunned the Longhorns in front of the home crowd.
Aside from 7-seed Tennessee advancing to the Women's College World Series after beginning their super regional on Thursday, Texas joined its rival, 3-seed Oklahoma 6-seed Florida, as the only teams to suffer an upset in Game 1 of the Super Regional.
For as successful as the Longhorns' softball program has been under seven-year head coach Mike White, it's miraculous to think that this is a position Texas has been in before.
Friday's loss was Texas' seventh straight Game 1 loss in Super Regionals.
The Horns will need to reach Oklahoma City the hard way, again, if they want to reach the WCWS for a third year in a row.
"I don't know what it is," White said of Texas' Game 1 record in the supers. "Whether it's just the softball gods playing tough, or what? There's just no answer for that. We just get outplayed each time we come in here in the first game. Whether it's the late start, you can make all sorts of excuses. But the bottom line is we get outplayed in each one of those series, to tell you the truth.
"Maybe I should eat something different for breakfast."
White will have plenty of time to switch up the pregame routine in time for Saturday's first pitch at 7 p.m. CT.
With a roster loaded with championship experience and a program that has thrived in this pressure-packed scenario before, you can bet the Longhorns will still give the Sun Devils a run for their money on the diamond Saturday.
"Obviously, we're in a familiar position," White said. "But congratulations to Arizona State. They outplayed us in all phases of the game: offense, defense, pitching, and they out hustled us, to tell you the truth. So that's something we've got to pick up.
"We're going to have to pick up our game a lot if we want to win this next game, and then move on to another day. We know our backs are against the wall, and we're prepared to fight like it, hopefully."
