Overview
- ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe relayed a dugout-sourced story on Monday that Wells eats ladybugs whole for luck and that the habit was linked to a past home run in Kentucky.
- Wells confirmed the anecdote in a postgame video posted by the NCAA on X, saying she has eaten ladybugs since she was a child and that none were involved in Monday’s games.
- In the WCWS semifinal, Wells delivered a bases-loaded single that drove in two runs and helped Texas to a 5-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader that the Longhorns swept to reach the championship series.
- Wells has been a two-way contributor this season with roughly a .296 batting average, 15 home runs, and a 6-3 pitching record, a profile that amplified media interest in her superstition.
- The anecdote drew wide social-media and sports-media attention and has turned into a viral storyline that shifts focus to Wells’s role in Texas’s title defense and the upcoming championship matchup.