Why a Texas Softball Legend Believes Longhorns Pitching Isn’t a Concern After Early Games

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SOFTBALLONSI

Teagan Kavan begins the 2026 season with a 3.00 ERA. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

By glancing at rankings and records, the reigning national champions seemed to have had a decent start to the 2026 softball season. 

The Texas Longhorns finished the UTSA Invitational 4-1 after battling two ranked opponents in four games, and the bats exploded for a .361 average with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. Fielding percentage was even more remarkable, with a .977 percent and just three errors on the weekend. 

The same can’t be said for the circle, though. Texas arms gave up 24 runs and seven homers across the five games, which became the highest team earned run average (4.16) since Mike White took the head coaching position in 2018. 

While fans were beginning to chatter on social media, Texas’s record-holder in victories (136), ERA (0.51), shutouts (85), and no-hitters (20), stepped in to shut it down. If anyone knows what it takes to achieve pitching success, it’s Cat Osterman.

“I had a 14 ERA after 2 weeks my freshman year… finished with a .83. It’s too early to say it’s a concern,” Osterman posted on X. 

Osterman was in attendance throughout the weekend and threw out the first pitch to kick off the UTSA Invitational.

Across 11.2 innings, ace Teagan Kavan gave up eight runs, five of which were earned, on 11 hits, four walks, 13 strikeouts, and a hit batter. Her ERA currently sits at 3.00. 

Kavan’s worst performance came when Texas nearly slid by Nebraska during the 15-10 season opener. She gave up seven runs on seven hits and recorded just three strikeouts across 3.1 innings. 

Kavan bounced back in her next two outings against Washington, stepping in for relief in the 11-6 win on Saturday, followed by six innings in the three-hit shutout on Sunday. 

Freshman Hannah Wells debuted, giving up seven runs on 10 hits with seven strikeouts and four walks, for a current ERA of 6.68, while sophomore Cambria Salmon gave up five runs on five hits with three strikeouts for an ERA of 3.23. 

Ranked No.2 in Softball America’s preseason poll, the Longhorns fell to No. 3 after the season opener and a massive 8-5 upset to Nebraska on Saturday. 

Though there are hiccups now, we’ve seen the Longhorns battle back from pitching slumps before, especially Kavan, who struggled early in the 2025 postseason. She powered back to grab the program’s first-ever title and was named Most Outstanding Player in the Women’s College World Series after setting a record for innings pitched without an earned run. 

If three-time USA Player of the Year Osterman isn’t worried, fans shouldn’t be either.