Small ball and clean pitching can lead to big results, and for No. 3/2 Texas, it led to a series-opening win against Big 12 opponent UCF in Orlando, Florida.
In a 5-0 shutout, freshman pitcher Teagan Kavan went the full game for the third time this season as she held UCF to just five hits on 93 pitches. She also recorded four strikeouts for a total of 65 strikeouts so far this season. With the win, Kavan now boasts a record of 11–1 and improves her ERA to a stellar 1.65.
“I really just went out there and was hitting my spots tonight,” said Kavan. “I was pitching to contact tonight and my defense continued to make play after play.”
Offensively for the Longhorns, Texas didn’t need a home run to score, which is a rare occurrence for head coach Mike Whites’ softball team. Their runs came from two singles, a triple, and a sacrifice fly.
“I always have confidence in our offense,” said Kavan. “So trusting them and trusting they’re going to give me run support makes my job easier.”
It didn’t take long for the bats to get going. On two outs in the top of the first, senior second baseman Alyssa Washington singled to center field, driving home junior third baseman Mia Scott and sophomore shortstop Viviana Martinez singled to shortstop, driving in senior DP Joley Mitchell. Before the first three outs could even be recorded, Texas singled three times and led 2-0.
Texas was 22-0 when scoring first this season coming into the game, and now that record improves after the Friday victory in Orlando.
The Longhorns remained quiet until the fourth, where they found the rest of their runs. After a single by freshman center fielder Kayden Henry and a fielding error by UCF, Scott ripped her second hit of the game and fifth triple of the season, driving in both runners and extending the Longhorn lead to four. On the next at-bat, with one out, Mitchell hit a sacrifice fly to center field, driving in Scott for the final run of the game.
“It was really nice to see our bats going out and scoring two runs in the first was really nice as well,” said White. “I thought (Kayden Henry and Mia Scott) did a good job at the plate tonight.”
Henry went 2-3 in this game with two walks and two singles. She also stole a base, bringing her stolen base count on the season up to 16.
Hitting lead-off since March 1, Henry has a team-high 41 hits with 21 RBIs as well. Henry now boasts a .466 batting average. The first single in the top of the second elevated Henry’s consecutive game-hitting streak to ten, also the best on the team.
Since the loss to No. 2/2 LSU, Longhorn softball holds a five-game win streak, which includes a 10-0 away win against No. 17/18 Florida State.
The Longhorns have two more games in Orlando, which will be played on March 23rd and 24th. After this series concludes, Texas softball will play No. 4/6 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma before hosting No. 1/1 Oklahoma in Austin. The top three matchup will be a revenge tour for the Longhorns, as the Sooners swept the series last season.
