Texas trailed 6-4 in the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s game against Texas State in San Marcos.
But then the offense delivered. Then delivered again. Then delivered some more.
The Longhorns poured in 11 runs in the inning to take a commanding 15-6 lead, leading to a six-inning run rule.
Texas, in its seventh straight road game, improved to 28-18 on the season following the win. With the loss, Texas State fell to 22-27 on the season, having lost five of its last six matchups.
Texas jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the second inning off two hits and one Bobcat error. Texas State responded with five runs of its own in the following frame to take the lead, 5-3. Each team added a run in the fourth inning before Texas broke it open in the top of the sixth with 11 runs on eight hits to secure the victory.
Senior catcher Mandy Ogle doubled to right field to score freshman outfielder Stephanie Wong and even the game at six apiece. Freshman shortstop Devon Tunning followed up with a single to score sophomore first baseman Holly Kern before senior outfielder Brejae Washington tripled down the right field line to put the game out of reach. She would later come around to score on an illegal pitch — one of several unearned runs for the Longhorns.
Kern had a stellar performance at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and one RBI. She led the Longhorns offensively. Washington continued what has been an impressive season thus far, adding two more RBIs and two more runs scored to stay atop the team leaderboard in both categories.
Head coach Connie Clark elected to go to the bullpen early with freshman Tiarra Davis struggling. She gave up four earned runs in 2.1 innings. Junior Gabby Smith came in and picked up her 12th win of the season, allowing just one earned run on two hits while striking out five over 3.2 innings of work. Texas State’s senior pitcher Rayn House took the loss after surrendering 10 hits and five earned runs and fanning only two.
Texas improved its record in road games this season to 11-2 and hopes to carry the momentum into Friday’s matchup against conference opponent Oklahoma State.
