The Longhorns will get a different experience for the first time this season.
After playing in five-game tournaments each of the past three weekends, Texas will face just one opponent — Texas State — in its first midweek game of the season in San Marcos.
Despite the break from the norm, head coach Connie Clark said it will be a challenge to come back from two days of rest after the Texas Invitational.
“The nice thing is we’ll be able to talk about just one team,” Clark said. “That’s the tough thing, coming in from a weekend and having two short days of practice because you are trying to recover the bodies from a five-, six-game tournament.”
The Longhorns stumbled last week, suffering their first two losses of the season after falling to Tulsa twice by a combined score of 0-6. But Texas rebounded with an 8-1 win over Illinois and a 5-0 victory over Weber State.
Junior pitcher Tiarra Davis said those two wins were important to regain their momentum going into the game against the Bobcats.
“Especially going into the Texas State series, which is always a tough battle for us, and they always play us really hard,” Davis said. “I think it was great, especially coming off the two losses from Tulsa, to come back out and show everyone what Texas softball is about.”
Texas holds a 35-9 advantage in the all-time series against Texas State, including wins in the last 12 meetings. The Longhorns took both games between the two last season.
Texas State comes into the game with a 11-5 record after losing four of their last six games.
The Bobcats sophomore shortstop Ariel Ortiz will pose a threat to the Longhorns, as she has a 0.404 batting average, one home run and 12 RBIs on the season.
Sophomore catcher Sara Rupp and her twin sister, sophomore pitcher Randi Rupp, will also serve as a challenge to Texas. Sarah has one hundred putouts so far this season and Randi has a 1.45 ERA and two shutouts.
But with one opponent to focus on instead of five, Clark sees this game as an opportunity to take things light and continue building towards conference play at the end of the month.
“I think that’s a real opportunity for us on Tuesday to go light on the arms but get very narrow-focused on just one opponent,” Clark said. “But it should be a really good matchup and we’re looking forward to it.”
