The Longhorns won the series with the Aggies on Sunday.
Despite losing 9-0 Thursday night in a run-ruled game on the road in College Station, the Longhorns fought from behind and pulled off back to back wins to take their final series against the Aggies 2-1
this past weekend.
The No. 7 Longhorns beat the Aggies twice at home, 7-6 on Saturday and 4-3 on Sunday. They are now 39-8 on the season and 13-6 in Big 12 Conference play.
“We just had to come back in and forget about that loss and not take it too hard,” said junior left fielder Torie Schmidt. “The game forgets everything, so we had to come back in and let it go.”
Game one on Saturday afternoon came down to the wire. The Longhorns were down 6-1 going into the fifth inning. Four runs in the bottom of the fifth brought the game to within one, and a walk off double by Schmidt in the seventh pushed the Longhorns to the 7-6 victory.
“We were trying too hard over there Thursday night,” Texas head coach Connie Clark said. “We fought … that is what it is about; having that fight.”
Schmidt highlighted the game on Saturday afternoon going 3-for-4 with three RBIs which included the walk off double.
Sophomore Rachel Fox started off both weekend games in the circle for the Longhorns and extended her win streak to 11 games. Fox, who has been taking on more responsibilities later in the season, is the only starting pitcher still undefeated on the season.
“We have to hand it to Rachel [Fox], she came in and did a great job,” Schmidt said. “She just went in there and was confident and hit her spots and that gave us confidence to go up to the plate and hit.”
Sunday afternoon started in similar fashion. The Aggies went up 1-0 in the top of the second and Texas was left to try to fight from behind for the third time in as many games.
Through the first two innings, the Longhorns were able to get runners on but were unable to plate a run. However, in the bottom of the third, Texas junior Taylor Hoagland stepped up to the plate smacked a two-run homer.
Another home run by Hoagland followed by a home run off the bat of sophomore Brejae Washington put the score at 4-1.
The Aggies tried to make a comeback by plating two runs in the top of the sixth but were unable to gain any more ground. Junior All-American Blaire Luna came in as relief for Fox in the final two innings and put the Aggies to rest with a 4-3 victory.
“I’m really glad that we went out with a bang,” Hoagland said.
Even though it was difficult, the Longhorns walked away from their toughest rivalry with bragging rights for the foreseeable future. They ended a long weekend with a 4-3 victory, a 2-1 series victory and a 20-20 rivalry record.
“You always feel emotion. To be honest, it was a great game today,” Clark said. “It was back-and-forth and close. So, there was a lot of emotion there … there is nothing better [than] to come in and shut the door … it was fantastic.”
Printed on Monday, April 30, 2012 as: Hoagland homers twice as Longhorns down rivals
