In its first game of the Lone Star State Invitational, hosted at the Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday, Feb. 23, No. 2 Texas softball beat the RV/RV Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 5-0, remaining undefeated and improving its record to 9-0.
Freshman pitcher Teagan Kavan had a tremendous day on the mound, grabbing her first complete game of her career, pitching all seven innings, and a team high fourth win of the season.
On 66 total pitches, Kavan gave up just two hits on six strikeouts. The freshman from West Des Moines, Iowa, improved her E.R.A. from 3.23 to 2.10 in the process of her seven inning shutout.
In the first inning, the Longhorns started strong, scoring one run thanks to senior DP Joley Mitchell’s blooper to short center field. The hit brought home junior third baseman Mia Scott, shepherding Mitchell’s R.B.I. count on the season to five. Scott also found her first triple of the season to bring her into scoring position.
The score could have been stretched further, as freshman first baseman Katie Stewart, sophomore catcher Reese Atwood and Mitchell loaded the bases, but sophomore shortstop Vivi Martinez grounded into a double play, stranding all three batters.
Kavan found her second and third strikeouts of the game in the top of the second and third innings, as the Ragin’ Cajuns went 1-2-3.
The Longhorns improved their lead in the bottom of the third. Stewart singled with no outs driving in senior center fielder Bella Dayton and Scott to make the score 3-0. Mitchell then hit a sacrifice fly, picking up her second R.B.I of the game as Stewart tagged from third to extend the Longhorn’s lead to four.
In the top of the fourth, junior infielder Sam Roe singled for Louisiana’s second and last hit of the game, but she was stranded as Kavan struck out a batter and forced a pop fly to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Kavan went 1-2-3 once more, picking up her sixth strikeout of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, both Dayton and Scott singled. On Scott’s single, she forced a pickle situation between the Louisiana’s first and second basemen, allowing for Dayton to round the bases and come on home. Scott’s creativity and Dayton’s smart baserunning helped the Longhorns improve to a 5-0 lead.
The top of the seventh was déjà vu for the Ragin’ Cajuns, as Kavan went 1-2-3 once again.
Louisiana fell to 6-7 as the Longhorns improved their record to 9—0. The last time Texas softball started their season this hot was 2021.
Playing a doubleheader on day two of the Lone Star State Invitational, Texas will host both Colorado State and No. 13/12 Stanford at 4:30 PM C.T and 7:00 PM C.T, respectively, on Saturday, Feb. 24. Texas and Stanford met earlier this season, on Feb. 16, where the Longhorns handled the Cardinals with a 9-2 win.
