Texas softball completed the nonconference portion of its schedule in dominant fashion while reaffirming itself as a serious contender for a second consecutive national championship.
Unfortunately for the No. 3 Longhorns (19-1), so have plenty of other SEC squads.
Article continues below this ad
No conference in the country boasts the firepower of the SEC, which begins league play this weekend. Six of the top-seven teams in this week’s National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll come from the conference, including No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Arkansas as well as Texas.
Five other teams — including No. 23 South Carolina, which hosts Texas in a three-game series beginning Friday in Columbia, S.C. — are in the poll.
Texas Longhorns infielder Katie Stewart (2) and catcher Reese Atwood (14) walk to the dugout after two scores during the game against Abilene Christian at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Even Ole Miss and Auburn received votes, which means Missouri and Kentucky are the only league teams not to get any kind of love from the NFCA voters. (Vanderbilt doesn’t compete in softball, making makes the SEC a 15-team conference.)
Article continues below this ad
Texas Longhorns outfielder Ashton Maloney (7) bunts the ball during the game against Abilene Christian at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Entering conference play, SEC teams have a cumulative 262-57 record.
“You always track the conference results to see how everyone’s doing,” Texas head coach Mike White said. “The top of the conference is really kind of separating themselves from the rest.”
Article continues below this ad
MORE: Texas softball: The Longhorns beat Houston in first game on Longhorn Invitational schedule
But White also mentioned the league’s depth, which will likely scathe even the best teams. Last season, Texas finished third in the SEC with a 16-8 league record before racing through the postseason and winning its first national championship. Oklahoma and Texas A&M shared the 2025 regular-season championship and lost seven conference games each last season.
“It’s kind of it’s hard to get out for those three (series) games and get a sweep,” White said. “And if you want to win the conference, you’ve got to get at least three or four sweeps.”
As SEC play swings into action, let’s break down what Texas must do — and what the Longhorns must avoid — in order to win its first SEC regular-season championship as well as the sixth conference title in program history.
Article continues below this ad
Reese Atwood, Teagan Kavan among reasons why Texas will win the SEC
Texas Longhorns starting pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez (77) throws a pitch in the third inning of the Longhorns’ 9-1 win over the Houston Cougars in their first game of the Longhorn Invitational at Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin, Feb. 27, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Behind All-American catcher Reese Atwood and first baseman Katie Stewart, the Longhorns possess arguably the best lineup in college softball. They rank seventh in the country in both hitting (.395) and runs per game (9.65). They also lead the SEC with 2.05 steals per game, not usually a focus for White’s power-packed lineups.
“I think it’s obvious how stacked our roster is right now,” said Atwood, the career home run leader for Texas who’s hitting .490 with a team-high 33 RBIs. “We have so much talent in every position. I think that’s just really exciting for us moving forward and going into the SEC this week.”
Article continues below this ad
The newcomers to a veteran lineup have stepped up. White said Arizona transfer Kaiah Altmeyer (.472 batting average, 16 RBIs) has “kind of earned that starting spot in (left field) for us. She’s made some fabulous catches.” White also credited a strong crop of freshmen led by third baseman Jaycie Nichols, utility MaTaia Lawson, pitcher Hannah Wells and outfielder Alisa Sneed for the contributions. In particular, Nichols seems to have locked down the starting spot at third base.
Ace Teagan Kavan has hit her stride at the right time. Last season’s Most Outstanding Player at the Women’s College World Series, Kavan gave up 13 runs and 18 hits in 14 total innings during her first four starts of the season. But over her past six starts, Kavan (2.14 ERA, 8-0 record) has allowed just 20 hits and five earned runs in 35 innings.
MORE: Texas softball: Back healthy, shortstop Viviana Martinez happy to again be helping UT
Pitching depth tops reasons why Texas won’t win the SEC
According to White, the Longhorns’ No. 2 pitcher in the rotation behind Kavan remains a work in progress.
Article continues below this ad
Sophomore Cambria Salmon (2.13 ERA in 26 1/3 innings), senior Citlaly Gutierrez (2.19 ERA, 16 innings) and Hannah Wells (2.88, 17 innings) have all started multiple games this season, but White said “I think we’re not going to have a clear-cut No. 2 pitcher, per se. (But) we can’t put all that pressure on one pitcher (Kavan). We need to have pitching step up.”
Gutierrez has the most experience with 46 career starts and almost 300 innings, but she’s also the most versatile; a year ago, 24 of her 34 appearances came out of the bullpen.
Fifth-year senior Ashton Maloney, the longtime leadoff hitter who set a single-season school record for hits a year ago with 93, has endured a slow start to the season. Maloney is a career .386 hitter but is only batting .296 entering SEC play, which has dropped her to No. 9 in the lineup. When the scrappy Maloney starts slapping her way onto the bags, it adds that extra juice to the Texas lineup.
Atwood, the team’s unquestioned leader from her vantage point behind the plate, admits to some nitpicking. But she wants more on-field chatter for a team with 20 errors in 20 games, a slightly higher rate for Texas than the past couple of seasons.
Article continues below this ad
“If there’s one thing to be picky about, I think it’d be more of our communication,” she said. “Just a few communication errors here and there might get us in the SEC. But we’ve been working on that in practice. We’ve talked about it as a team, and we already saw the improvements in our communication (at the Longhorns Invitational).”
Regardless of the opposition, Stewart said the Longhorns need to maintain the intensity that has helped them win 17 consecutive games, a streak that includes three wins over teams currently ranked by the NFCA.
“Not making SEC play bigger than any other game we’ve already played,” said Stewart, who’s hitting .490 with 28 RBIs and a team-high 11 home runs. “How we play the game doesn’t change, even though it’s conference. I think one thing is just (be) more on the attack. I think once we get to a certain point, we get a little complacent. Knowing that anybody in the SEC can come back at any time, it’s just being able to close the door when we need to.”
Texas vs. South Carolina: How to watch
Where: Carolina Softball Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
Article continues below this ad
Schedule: Game 1 at 5 p.m. Friday; Game 2 at 2 p.m. Saturday; Game 3 at 11 a.m. Sunday.
TV/radio: SEC Network+; texaslonghorns.com