Teagan Kavan: Texas Softball's Back-to-Back WCWS Champion

Teagan Kavan just became the greatest pitcher in Women's College World Series history. The Texas Longhorns ace closed Game 2 of the 2026 WCWS Championship Series on June 4, 2026, striking out five batters over the final two innings to seal a 4-1 win over Texas Tech and deliver back-to-back national titles to Austin. She is the first pitcher ever to win the WCWS Most Outstanding Player award two years in a row.

Teagan Kavan is the junior ace pitcher for the Texas Longhorns. She wears jersey number 17, throws right-handed, and was born February 28, 2005 in West Des Moines, Iowa. She is the first two-time WCWS Most Outstanding Player in history, winning the award in 2025 and 2026.

Kavan grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa and attended Dowling Catholic High School. Her travel ball career with Iowa Premier Fastpitch produced 1,444 strikeouts in 772.2 innings, 45 shutouts and six no-hitters before she ever stepped on a college campus. She signed her national letter of intent with Texas on November 9, 2022. She wears 17 in honor of her grandmother, who passed away during the 2025 WCWS.

Kavan appeared in 31 games with 24 starts, posting a 20-3 record with four saves and a 2.20 ERA. She threw nine complete games and six shutouts in 130.2 innings with 135 strikeouts. She was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, made the All-Big 12 First Team and was a Freshman All-American. Texas reached the WCWS Championship Series before losing to Oklahoma.

She went 28-5 with a 2.16 ERA, 18 complete games and 230 strikeouts in the regular season. At the 2025 WCWS she threw 31.2 scoreless innings across seven outings, a new WCWS record. She went 4-0 with a save, outpitched SEC Pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens of Tennessee, beat Oklahoma's Sam Landry, and beat NiJaree Canady of Texas Tech twice in the Championship Series. Texas won 3-0. She was named WCWS Most Outstanding Player.

Entering the 2026 WCWS Championship Series, Kavan held a 27-6 record with a 2.33 ERA, 20 complete games and 249 strikeouts. In Game 1 she threw a complete game, allowing three runs on three hits with six strikeouts in a 7-3 win. In Game 2, Texas starter Citlaly Gutierrez handled the early innings before head coach Mike White turned to Kavan in the sixth with a one-run lead. She struck out the side. Texas added insurance runs in the seventh on a Kayden Henry home run and Leighann Goode RBI single. Kavan retired the Red Raiders in order in the seventh. Final: Texas 4, Texas Tech 1.

No story about Kavan in 2025 or 2026 is complete without NiJaree Canady. The Texas Tech ace arrived at Devon Park as the first million-dollar softballer and the face of the sport. Kavan beat her. Both years. In the biggest games. In the 2025 Championship Series she outdueled Canady in Game 1 with a three-hit, one-run outing and sealed it in Game 3. In 2026 she entered in relief and shut the door on Canady's Red Raiders with the title on the line.

• 2024: 20-3, 2.20 ERA, 135 K, 9 CG, 6 SHO
• 2025: 28-5, 2.16 ERA, 230 K, 18 CG
• 2026 (entering finals): 27-6, 2.33 ERA, 249 K, 20 CG
• 2025 WCWS: 31.2 scoreless innings, 4-0 with a save (WCWS record)
• 2026 WCWS: 33.1 innings, 7 runs allowed, 30 strikeouts, 2 wins
• Career WCWS: First pitcher to win Most Outstanding Player in consecutive years
• One year of eligibility remaining

Her velocity at the 2026 WCWS was described as some of the best of her career. She throws a riseball that produces ugly swings and misses even from elite hitters who have seen it before. Her changeup is a weapon in its own right and she used it to strike out the side in Game 2. In elimination games and championship moments, she elevates. She has pitched 65 combined WCWS innings across two tournaments and allowed seven total runs.

One year of eligibility remains. Texas is now back-to-back national champions. Kavan has rewritten the WCWS record book. The question for the 2027 season is whether the Longhorns can do something no one in the modern era of college softball has done: win three consecutive national championships, with their ace returning for her senior year. NiJaree Canady's eligibility is now exhausted. The competition will reload. Kavan remains the constant. For more on this tournament, see our <a href="/blog/texas-vs-texas-tech-softball-wcws-finals-2026">Texas vs Texas Tech WCWS finals preview</a>.