Texas Softball Looking to Carry Regular-Season Momentum Into the Postseason

By Luke Lawhorn

Reporting Texas

Texas softball senior first baseman Katie Cimusz participates in grounder drills in practice on April 16, 2025, at Red and Charline McCombs Field. Luke Lawhorn/Reporting Texas

Texas softball has just two series left in the regular season and is looking to carry its winning rhythm into the postseason, which begins in fewer than two weeks.

The Longhorns will travel to Norman to face rival No. 4 Oklahoma this weekend before returning home to play Kentucky in the regular-season finale on Thursday. The matchup against the Sooners will be the first since playing last season in the Women’s College World Series, where Oklahoma took home its fourth straight national title.

While Oklahoma is the Longhorns’ biggest rival, Texas is focused not only on the Sooners, but whoever stands in its way.

“I think every team is just as important as them,” senior first baseman Katie Cimusz said. “We’ve grown, they’ve grown, as well as every other team has throughout the past couple years. So I think everybody’s kind of got that place in our head.”

The Longhorns were off to the best start in program history after going 38-3 through 41 games, but they lost two out of three games against No. 5 Tennessee last weekend, halting the team’s momentum. Not only was it the first time all season Texas lost back-to-back games, but it also had the fewest runs scored in a series this season (five).

Texas responded in its next series against No. 9 LSU, winning two games. Head coach Mike White understood the urgency of getting back to winning games before entering the playoffs.

“Really, it’s going to come down to how well we rebound and come off that loss into this next series,” White said. “It’s going to be real important for us going on the rest of the season.”

Texas’ record-setting start to the season may come as a surprise, with it being the first year the team is in the SEC. Though the Longhorns have taken care of business so far, they could be facing new teams in the tournament.

“We faced most of the teams in the conference, but going into the conference tournament itself, you kinda face some teams that maybe you haven’t seen yet,” White said. “Texas A&M, Alabama, teams like that that you haven’t played and yet they’re very good as well. And we know that all the teams in the SEC are going to be highly ranked.”

Finishing as runner-up in the WCWS in 2022 and 2024 has given the team the experience it needs to get over the mountain and win the program’s first national title, but has also made the team closer. Cimusz said that camaraderie is seen on the diamond.

“It’s such a difference from my freshman year,” Cimusz said. “Everybody has a voice on the team, not just seniors kind of leading things. Everybody has the opportunity to lead and I think that shows up on the field as well.”