Tennessee rides Elsa Morrison HR, tames Texas bats

Freshman Elsa Morrison smashed the first pitch she saw over the center field fence for a three-run home run in the second inning and Tennessee beat defending national champion Texas 6-3 in the Women's College World Series at Oklahoma City on Thursday afternoon.

Sage Mardjetko (15-2) got the win for Tennessee in four shutout innings and muted the high-powered Texas offense. She has 16 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings this postseason.

SEC Player of the Year Katie Stewart went hitless for the Longhorns in three at-bats.

Morrison doubled off the top of the wall in the sixth and was 2-for-3 despite missing her second homer by a narrow margin.

Taelyn Holley scored two runs for Tennessee, which avenged a 2-0 loss to Texas in the 2025 WCWS semifinals.

Morrison's heroics are becoming expected. She belted a tiebreaking homer to sink Northern Kentucky in the regional opener and now has seven homers this season.

Texas cut the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth. After Gold Glove senior catcher and cleanup hitter Reese Atwood got Texas on the board, second baseman Leighann Goode delivered with two outs. She roped a two-run home run to center field off the Volunteers' Karlyn Pickens, who was clocked at a record 78 mph -- the equivalent of 109 mph from an MLB regulation pitching mound.

Pickens and Tennessee (48-10) advance to meet Texas Tech and starter NiJaree Canady on Friday for a spot in the semifinals. The Red Raiders won 8-0 in five innings in the WCWS opener Thursday.

The Longhorns will face Mississippi State, which managed two hits and zero runs Thursday against Texas Tech, in an elimination game.

--Field Level Media