Being down going into the final inning is not something that the Longhorns are used to, but they found themselves behind going into the bottom of the seventh against Texas A&M.
However, the team had no doubt they would step up and come up clutch, and come up clutch they did, finishing the game in exciting walk-off fashion.
“We had no mercy, we knew we would get someone on or someone would get a clutch hit, we anticipated it and that’s what happened,” said junior Nadia Taylor.
The team was down one run when Bennett stepped up to the plate, which was great for Texas because Bennett is one of the hottest hitters in softball right now hitting .481, and is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week.
“I was just trying anything to get on base, no matter what to put the ball in play and have a leadoff on, which is always crucial, hopefully being able to score that one run to stay in the game even if it meant going into extra innings,” Bennett said.
Instead of just getting on base for the Longhorns, Bennett got the opportunity to touch them all, as she hit a no-doubt-about-it home run into left field to tie the score up.
“It was really exciting, it felt great. I’m not going to lie, it was a great job. I wasn’t expecting it at all, and having to have my teammates around me right there was a lot of fun,” Bennett said.
The Longhorns went on to score the winning run four batters later thanks to a wild pitch that allowed freshman Mandy Ogle who was pinch running for Amy Hooks, to score from third, keeping the team’s perfect Big 12 record intact.
As important as that final run was to the team’s victory, when the team looks back on the game they will probably come to the conclusion that it was Bennett that was the spark plug, and one of the main reasons the team was able to claw their way to a to a win.
In the game she contributed three of the team’s seven hits, and scored two of the four runs. If you were to ask any of her teammates or coaches about her performance, especially in the crucial at-bat in the seventh, they wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.
“I thought she is about as hot as anyone in the country, and she has been for the last three weeks, and her presence actually just going up there. It was almost without a doubt that she was going to hit something hard,” said Texas head coach Connie Clark. “She’s just got ice water in her veins right now, she’s amazing.”
