It looked like No. 1 Texas softball was on the brink of derailment.
In one week, Texas had lost three games to the state just north of the border. From March 28 – April 5, the Longhorns doubled their losses on the season from three to six.
But the train stayed on its track, and after losing two games to then No. 8/10 Oklahoma State and one game to then No. 1 Oklahoma, the Longhorns have been rolling ever since. Texas took the second two games against then No. 1 Oklahoma, winning its first series against the Sooners in over a decade, and also completed the season sweep against No. 25/22 Texas State and swept RV/24 Baylor in Austin.
And now with the opening series win against Kansas, Texas has added seven straight games to the win column, its longest win streak since its eight-game run right before Big 12 play began.
Traveling up to Lawrence, Texas was thinking about revenge. Last year when the Jayhawks came to Austin, unranked Kansas embarrassed Texas in front of its own crowd, smoking the Longhorns 9-3 in the series opener.
But in the first game of this series, the script flipped.
In the top of the second inning, freshman first baseman Katie Stewart hit an RBI single and senior outfielder Bella Dayton grounded out, but drove in senior designated hitter Joley Mitchell, stretching the lead to two.
Junior third baseman Mia Scott added to the score in the fourth inning as she homered to right center field, driving in two runs and extending the lead to four.
Kansas answered back with a pair of runs in the next half inning, but that was all the offense the Jayhawks could muster, and Texas would go on to win 4-2.
Someone who has been staying quiet but constantly performing at a high level for Texas is junior pitcher Mac Morgan. Closing for the Longhorns today, she shut out Kansas in the final two innings, seeing just seven batters and allowing just one single.
Morgan has found a new role this year, stepping back from starting games and into closing them. She doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts, but Morgan is terrific at keeping the ball in the diamond.
“I’m the pitcher. I’m always going to have the ball in my hand,” Morgan said earlier this season. “But I also want my defense to work around me because that’s how I get my outs. I use my defense to work and you have to respect everyone.”
Morgan, and the rest of No. 1 Texas softball, has work left with seven games remaining. But with their current state, one thing is for sure: the Longhorns are catching fire at the perfect time.
Texas will finish its series against Kansas in Lawrence April 20-21.
