With wind whipping all over Red and Charline McCombs Field on Wednesday night, the No. 10 Texas softball team defeated the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 10-6.

Freshman pitcher Courtney Day earned her first win of the season, pitching four innings and giving up only three earned runs. Coupled with Day’s aggressive pitching, the defense made several plays in the outfield behind her.

At the top of the second inning, freshman shortstop Alyssa Washington sprinted into left field and made a diving catch to rob the Islanders of a hit. Washington’s athletic display was made even more impressive by the cumbersome brace on her knee, illustrating her determination to play through injury.

After a hot start, Day ran into trouble in the third inning. The Islanders managed to string together four consecutive hits and compiled three runs. Making matters worse, the Longhorns saw seven of their hitters retired in a row by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi sophomore pitcher Beatriz Lara.

The Longhorns broke the short slump off an RBI groundout from senior outfielder Kaitlyn Washington that gave the Longhorns a 5-3 advantage heading into the fourth inning. From there, the Longhorns didn’t look back.

Freshman utility player Alyssa Popelka made a diving grab in the outfield, propelling through the air to end a quick fourth inning. Texas needed Popelka’s energizing play after a lackluster inning put the Longhorns on upset alert.

Following Popelka’s diving out, senior outfielder Shannon Rhodes and junior infielder Janae Jefferson each hit a home run and extended the Longhorns’ lead to 7-3.

While Jefferson is one of the most consistent contact hitters on the Texas team, the home run on Wednesday marked the first of her college career.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Jefferson said. “I always would be telling my teammates at practice that I was going to hit one out before leaving the University of Texas. Tonight was the night, I guess.”

Coming in to relieve Day, freshman pitcher Ryleigh White gave up three unearned runs in just under three innings of work.

Needing one out in the seventh inning to ice the game, junior pitcher Ariana Adams was brought in by head coach Mike White. Adams, who came into Wednesday night with seven strikeouts and one walk on the year, delivered. The junior earned the save with a strikeout to end the game with a Longhorns win.

The victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi placed the Longhorns back in the win column after losing two games to No.12 LSU on Saturday. The performance against the Islanders will do numbers for Texas’s overall confidence and mindset, Jefferson said.

“We adjusted and went back to our roots as a team,” Jefferson said. “I’m glad we are back on track to do something special.”