OKLAHOMA CITY — After Texas beat Texas Tech 7-3 in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series finals Wednesday, Red Raiders coach Gerry Glasco wasn’t sure if he heard things right.

Since the WCWS switched to a best-of-three championship series, the team that won Game 1 has gone on to win the title 80 percent of the time.

“What’s the percent?” Glasco asked.

At the helm of a supposed “super team” built from the transfer portal to try to avenge last year’s loss, when the Red Raiders were in the same position against their in-state rival, that won’t be the only question Glasco will be asking himself.

To win the Red Raiders’ first national softball title, the answers will need to come quickly at Devon Park. Game 2 is Thursday.

The Longhorns are one win from successfully defending their national softball title. Against a Texas Tech team known for an offense that could rally at any moment, Longhorns ace Teagan Kavan threw a complete game, allowing three hits and recording six strikeouts.

“We have no choice. We’ve not lost two games in a row the whole year, so we’ve got to hang our hat on that,” Glasco said. “We’ve got to come back out tomorrow to fight. We’ve just got to get up off the floor. That’s the hardest part. I think we can play as well or better than any team in the country when we play well.”

Kavan threw the fifth shutout of her WCWS career to punch Texas’ ticket to the championship in Monday’s second matchup against Tennessee, surpassing Longhorns legend Cat Osterman. Kavan has allowed five hits in her last 14 innings. She is 67-0 when pitching with a four-run lead.

Though Red Raiders senior Mihyia Davis opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first inning, Texas first baseman Katie Stewart didn’t let that lead live for very long. She launched the second pitch she saw from Kaitlyn Terry over the left-center-field bleachers for a two-run homer, marking the fourth straight game in which she’s gone yard. It was her 31st home run of the season.

As Stewart’s done for much of the season, she sparked a rally — one that prompted Glasco to make an early pitching change and resulted in three more players crossing home plate, thanks in part to a misread ball by starting left fielder Desirae Spearman.

“Obviously, the game started with a bang — literally,” Texas coach Mike White said. “Then, of course, Teagan Kavan worked her tail off for us. We played good defense behind her, continued to score a couple more runs, and Texas Tech never gave in. They made us work for it, and that’s a sign of a good team.”

While Glasco agreed that the Red Raiders put up a fight at the plate and stayed in the game, the defense left much to be desired. That, rather than the Stewart blast, is what caused him to make the early switch to NiJaree Canady in the first inning.

“We just lost momentum completely,” Glasco said. “I felt like we weren’t ready for the (Kayden Henry leadoff) bunt. We didn’t anticipate it. Then we just couldn’t get out of the inning. It felt like we were out of position over and over on defense. We had plays we could have made. You look at the scoreboard and it said no errors, but I thought we misplayed several balls that we should have had outs on, or we weren’t in the right position. That inning got away from us.”

Canady sat down the Longhorns in order in the second inning, but in a surprising move, Glasco turned to sophomore Samantha Lincoln in the circle to start the third inning, her first appearance in Oklahoma City. In the mid-inning interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe before making that move, Glasco seemed to be planning for Game 2, saying: “I can’t afford to leave NiJa out there in a 5-1 game. I’ve got to save her for tomorrow.”

That was one question Glasco knew the answer to. He could not let the Longhorns’ hitters get that many looks at his All-Americans in Canady and Terry. Not when the odds — and the memory of last year’s similar situation — are giving them a slim chance to come out of this on top.

The other answer Glasco has is that the plan in the circle tomorrow is clear: It’ll be Canady and Terry, no matter how many pitching changes it takes. The Longhorns already know that, too.

“NiJa had her stuff. I was surprised she came out early, but she’ll be fresh for tomorrow,” Stewart said. “We need to make sure we stay on the attack.”

Another question? How to solve Kavan, who just seems to get better on the WCWS stage.

“Tip my hat to Teagan on her effort tonight. She was outstanding,” Glasco said. “She’s one of those great athletes that’s able to have great focus in the big moment and loves to compete and thrives under competition. … You’ve just got to fight, just keep fighting, don’t give up.”

“We just have to play better tomorrow, be more focused and have a better plan,” Davis said. “You know that’s why it’s the best two out of three, you have more games. We’re just going to have to pick it up tomorrow.”

The first step in that battle will be for the Red Raiders to shrink the zone and be more selective, after swinging at a few pitches that Glasco thought were ball fours in some full counts.

In a rematch of the 2025 championship series, Texas Tech’s roster looks completely different compared with last year, while Texas’ is mostly the same. It’s still Kavan versus Canady, but this year, with an added twist, with Terry now donning a Red Raider uniform. One thing that is a replica of last year’s finals? The Game 1 result.

In Texas’ run to the program’s first national championship in 2025, it took Games 1 and 3 over Texas Tech. The Longhorns have placed themselves squarely in the favorite’s role again.

“We’ve got to refocus, readjust and get momentum in our dugout and get tomorrow’s game,” Glasco said. “If we do get that and live to see another day, it will be a fun Game 3.”