Payton Gottshall's pitching was enough, but Giulia Koutsoyanopulos provided plenty of insurance.
On an afternoon where Tennessee's starting right-hander had allowed just one hit, the Lady Vols' three run lead going into the seventh inning seemed to be a wide enough gap but with the bases loaded, Koutsoyanopulos didn't want there to be any doubt.
She sent a Mac Morgan pitch rolling to the right field wall to clear the bases and headline a 9-0 victory that sends the Lady Vols to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City for the first time in eight years.
Tennessee totaled 10 hits, including six in the seventh while Gottshall tossed five strikeouts and held the Longhorns to two hits in 7.0 innings.
Kiki Milloy set the tone.
The Lady Vols' top hitter led off with a double to center, then reached third on the throw. Zaida Puni drove Milloy home on the following at-bat to give Tennessee (49-8) lead.
Gottshall didn't give Texas (45-15-1) much of an opportunity to answer, allowing Tennessee to stretch its lead with a Destiny Rodriguez single up the middle to score Koutsoyanpulos and one of five Longhorns' errors allowed Rylie West to get across in the sixth.
Texas showed some life in the bottom of the seventh, getting to Gottshall for the first time with back-to-back hits and no outs but she shut the door on any hopes of comeback bid with two-straight strikeouts.
Back in the WCWS for the eighth time in program history, Tennessee will face the winner of Northwestern and Alabama in the Tuscaloosa super regional next week.
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