Morrison belts 3-run HR, Mardjetko throws 4 scoreless and Tennessee dumps Texas 6-3 in WCWS

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Elsa Morrison hit a three-run homer, Sage Mardjetko pitched four scoreless and Tennessee defeated defending champion Texas 6-3 on Thursday, the first day of the Women’s College World Series.

Tennessee (48-10) will play Texas Tech on Saturday in the winner’s bracket and Texas (47-12) will face Mississippi State in a loser-out game on Friday. The Red Raiders defeated the Bulldogs 8-0 earlier on Thursday.

First-team All-American Mardjetko (15-2), who leads all Power 4 conference pitchers with a 1.08 ERA, shut out Texas on one hit through four innings. Karlyn Pickens, Tennessee’s other first-team All-American pitcher, allowed three runs but picked up her seventh save.

Tennessee, the lowest scoring team in the field, got a three-run blast from Morrison in the second inning after a hit batter and a walk. The three runs against Texas starter Teagan Kavan (25-6) snapped her streak of 32 2/3 consecutive innings without an earned run in WCWS play.

The Vols added a run in the fourth when Taelyn Holley singled and scored after a wild pitch, a groundout and another wild pitch.

Leighann Goode, who was 1 for 18 in the postseason, hit a two-run home run for Texas in the sixth to get within 5-3.

Holley also scored on a sacrifice fly by Emma Clarke in the seventh for Tennessee’s final run. Pickens retired the side in order in the seventh on three groundballs to the left side.

Tennessee now has 64 straight wins when leading by three or more runs.

Although both teams play in the SEC, this was the first meeting between the two this season. They last faced off at the 2025 WCWS when Texas defeated Tennessee 2-0 to advance to the championship series. Texas defeated Texas Tech to win the 2025 national championship.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports