Mitchell homers twice to lead Texas over Florida 3-0 in Women’s College World Series’ opening game

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Joley Mitchell homered twice and Teagan Kavan allowed just two hits to lead sixth-seeded Texas past No. 3 seed Florida 3-0 on Thursday to open play at the Women’s College World Series.

Mitchell homered in the second and sixth innings off Florida ace Keagan Rothrock, becoming the first Texas player to hit multiple home runs at the World Series.

“Kind of a clean slate for me,” said Mitchell, who didn’t face Rothrock in last year’s WCWS game between the teams. “I knew I needed to be on time, and that’s kind of just the forefront of my thoughts.”

Texas (52-11) will face second-seeded Oklahoma (51-7) on Saturday for a spot in the semifinals. Oklahoma has beaten Texas in the championship series two of the past three years. Both programs jumped from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference this season.

Florida (48-16) will play No. 7 seed Tennessee (45-16) in an elimination game on Friday.

Kavan tossed her third shutout in two years of World Series action at Devon Park.

“I mean, it’s the place to be,” she said. “There’s no other place I would rather be. A lot of people would give a lot to be here. So I’m grateful to be here to give my all for my teammates and come out with some wins for us.”

Back-to-back home runs by Mitchell and Katie Stewart in the sixth ended Rothrock’s day. She was pulled after throwing 105 pitches. Three of the five hits she allowed were home runs.

Mitchell’s first home run traveled 250 feet to left field.

The Gators were hitless through three innings against Kavan, who improved to 25-5. Florida finally broke through in the fourth inning when Korbe Otis lined a base hit off Mitchell’s glove at first base.

“I mean, she’s a good pitcher,” Otis said. “Everybody that we’re going to face at the College World Series is going to be a good pitcher. She just made a few better pitches than we were able to hit, so she did a good job.”

Texas led 1-0 in the fifth, but threatened against Rothrock, putting runners on first and second with two out. She struck out Reese Atwood looking to end the inning.

Now, the Gators, who reached the semifinals of last season’s double-elimination tournament, are playing to extend their season.

“Obviously, it’s a huge letdown to lose the first game of the College World Series, and the way they go about their business just tells me everything I need to know about the people that I coach,” Florida coach Tim Walton said. “They take it serious. They compete. They work hard, and they enjoy what they do. So to me, no matter what we do tomorrow, today was a learning opportunity.”

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