OKLAHOMA CITY — Late in the postgame press conference, a disruptive cell phone went off and prompted moderator Nate Feken to gently scold the guilty party.

“Please silence your phones,” he reprimanded the media.

“Uh,” Texas softball coach Mike White sheepishly said, “that was me.”

As the gathered press erupted in laughter, the Longhorns coach added, “It’s kind of blowing up right now. It’s probably (Chris) Del Conte.”

Hey, in three games at this burnt orange-colored Women’s College World Series, that’s about the only thing that’s gone wrong.

Texas is the only 3-0 team and has toyed with the competition up here in the shadows of the University of Oklahoma and is threatening to dethrone the three-time defending national champion Sooners. That is, if OU even gets to the final series since it lost Monday's earlier semifinal 9-3 and must get past Florida in an elimination game.

And if it was Del Conte buzzing White, it was probably the Longhorns athletic director giving him a big raise after clinching a spot in the best-of-three championship series starting Wednesday night.

Quite simply, White and his top-seeded Texas team have been virtually flawless since arriving here a week ago. It’s getting ferociously stingy pitching, clutch hitting and breathtaking defense from outfielders Bella Dayton and Kayden Henry.

And pretty damn good coaching, cell-phone decorum aside.

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Texas' freshman takes control of the WCWS

That trend of sheer perfection on the game’s biggest stage continued Monday night. Relentless freshman Teagan Kavan threw her second consecutive one-hit shutout in this WCWS, and the Longhorns held off No. 8 seed Stanford and softball strikeout queen NiJaree Canady 1-0 in front of 11,465 drained spectators at Devon Park.

Texas won by making something happen.

A team that has clubbed an outrageous 92 home runs, including three over Florida on Saturday, beat Stanford. How? On a botched safety squeeze bunt.

Not one of Reese Atwood’s 23 home runs. Not with a string of RBIs from Dayton or Mia Scott. Not from some instant offense from freshmen Katie Stewart and Henry. Not with a pair of five-run innings as against Florida.

Nope. They scored the only run of the game when the Cardinal screwed up a rundown on a squeeze play.

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White’s team had turned aggressive the inning before when Atwood singled and swift pinch-runner Adayah Wallace stole second for her sixth swipe of the year and then went to third on the catcher’s throwing error.

Even though she was stranded at third, Texas’ speed once more created issues for an opponent.

“When you're facing a great pitcher like NiJaree, you're not going to score a lot of runs,” White said. “She gave up like six runs against LSU (in her super-regional opener), then came out and threw two doughnuts against them. And that, to me, is a mark of an excellent pitcher with a lot of guts.”

Canady had guts for sure. But she didn’t have the ironclad defense behind her that Kavan did.

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One inning after Stanford second baseman Taryn Kern smothered Henry’s rocket of a grounder to end the frame, she fumbled Washington’s routine roller to lead off Texas' pivotal seventh. Joley Mitchell doubled with her first hit of the WCWS, a sharp hit to left that allowed her to reach second when the left fielder foolishly threw to third with no chance of a play on Washington.

Maloney then laid down the less-than-perfect bunt back to the circle, but Washington turned it into magic and barely slid under the tag at home.

“I froze up a little bit,” Washington said. “Instead of going back, I wanted to beat her, get into that rundown. What was going through my head was whatever it takes to score.”

The heads-up play gave the Longhorns the only run they needed. That’s all that was necessary when their pitching is stacking up zeroes like Kavan and Mac Morgan have been.

“We’re definitely sticking together, leaning on one another,” Washington said. “It's not going to be just one person, it's going to take all of us to do the job, to win the big games.”

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Texas has already clinched a spot in the championship series and is taking aim on its first natty in softball. The Longhorns have plain been dominant.

In three weeks, mighty Texas has flexed its muscles and won all three games — a run-rule 10-0 whitewash of Florida and two wins over Stanford — and still hasn’t given up a run. Those teams have managed just six hits against Texas. Not a one has gone for extra bases.

Heck, not a single Cardinal even advanced to second.

Other than a slapped single into right field in the second inning by Jade Berry and a two-out walk in the fourth, Kavan was perfect. She struck out seven and retired the last 10 in a row.

“Tremendous job by Teagan against a World Series contender, showing no nerves,” White said of his fabulous freshman. “I now call her Ice Kavan.”

Canady was just as, well, icy.

The right-handed artist was just as strong as Kavan, striking out seven without a walk and allowing just five hits, all of which stayed in the park. The sophomore from Topeka, Kan., was masterful but met her match. And does she see much separation between her team and Texas?

“Oh, no. I think we can beat any team here,” Canady said. “I don't think there's any separation. I'll pick us every single time.”

She’s a better pitcher than she is a prognosticator.

Kavan, meanwhile, gets some rest before the final series begins. Of course, White may turn to Mac Morgan, who was one walk away from a perfect game in the regional, didn’t allow an earned run in five-plus innings against the Aggies in the super regional and tossed a one-hit shutout over Florida.

Or White could even turn to Citlaly Gutierrez, Texas’ No. 2 pitcher all year long who hasn’t even been needed yet.

Who knows who might get the call from White because we do know his phone is always on.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas softball moves into WCWS championship series with semifinal win