Texas softball: Freshmen Jaycie Nichols, Hannah Wells to play key roles in NCAA Tournament

Texas Longhorns infielder Jaycie Nichols (24) makes it to second base in the third inning as the Texas Longhorns play the Oklahoma Sooners in the first game of a three-game series on Friday, April 10, 2026 at Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)

Jaycie Nichols already ‘Gold Glove’ for Texas softball

No one had bigger cleats to fill than Nichols, a defensive prodigy from Durant, Okla., who replaced graduated All-American Mia Scott. But it only took a few defensive gems earlier in the year to alleviate some concerns from Texas fans.

“A lot of people were worried about replacing Mia, but I think she's done a great job of filling in those shoes,” said Martinez, the Longhorns’ shortstop who has an up-close view of Nichols' glovework. “She's just an amazing athlete, so athletic. I just love being behind her, to see her make these amazing plays. I think she’s already a Gold Glove.”

Nichols, who has started all but one game this season, plays with a quiet intensity that seems to calm her teammates. But when she does show some emotion like she did after a diving catch that robbed Alabama of an extra-base hit in the Longhorns’ 7-1 win in Saturday’s SEC championship game, she lets out a little fire.

“She's really quiet on the field, but she's sneaky good,” Kavan said. “I love to see her get hyped up. It hypes me up and hypes the whole team up. She makes all the routine ones, and then she pulls something out, like that big diving play (against Alabama), which was super, super huge. She just works hard and has a great softball IQ. She's probably the smartest player on our team. She doesn't play like she's a freshman.”

And better yet Texas, Nichols keeps producing in the bottom half of the order. She’s hitting .327 while learning to slap and has scored 30 runs while stealing 12 bases on 30 attempts.

Those aren’t quite Mia Scott numbers, but they certainly bode well for the NCAA Tournament as well as her future at the plate, Texas coach Mike White said.

“She’s just solid defensively and, offensively, she's doing her job getting on base for us and using her speed,” he said. “She's got a lot of weapons, and just having her slap the ball a little bit more now has really opened up another avenue for her offensively.”

Texas Longhorns pitcher Hannah Wells (13) steps up to bat during the game against Arkansas at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Thursday, April 30, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)

Hannah Wells producing power in Longhorn lineup

There’s certainly no lack of power for Wells, a blue-chip recruit from the tiny West Texas town of Coahoma who arrived at Texas after earning Gatorade’s national player of the year award following the 2025 season.

Wells has already tied Stewart’s school record for home runs in a season by a first-year player with 13, and she’s hitting .294 with an impressive slugging percentage of .706. She’s also found a hitting mentor of sorts in Stewart, a junior who recently set the single-season school record with 25 home runs.

“She's an emotional player,” Stewart said. “So, I’m just making sure when I come back from my at-bat, I’m telling her what I see, because lately I have noticed that we've been getting pitched similar. I tell her what I've seen, so she can go up there and know what I thought going into the box, or she can make up her own plan of what she wants to hit. Seeing how she works and just how she is as a person, we love to talk to to each other about hitting, or just anything in general, really.”

Wells also has pitched 42 innings this season and boasts a 5-3 record with a 3.33 ERA. But she hasn’t thrown more than two innings in a game since March 28, when she picked up a pitching win against Texas A&M. That means her biggest contributions in the NCAA Tournament will likely come at the plate, and that’s just fine with White.

“Her at-bats can be just long sometimes,” he said. “And when she gets those longer at-bats, we get really excited about her, because she typically produces.”