The No. 1 Texas Longhorns continued its tirade across the college softball world, capturing its 17th run-rule game of the season and improving its home streak to 16 consecutive games in a 10–1 victory over the Texas State Bobcats Wednesday evening.
It was apparent early on the Longhorns were in a class of their own, dominating the Bobcats in the circle and at the plate. Ringing off 12 hits off of three Bobcat pitchers as Texas senior pitcher Mac Morgan held pace for the Longhorns, earning her seventh win of the season.
“Midweek games are always a good way to get us (into) getting that compete mode and knowing that we’re going into a big weekend, and knowing we can do anything,” Morgan said. “If we just go out there compete, no one can beat us but us.”
Clobbering Texas State with her pitching prowess, Morgan struck out four Texas State batters. Morgan was a defensive force, holding the Bobcats hitless well into the fifth inning before letting up a pair of hits as her pitch count began to rise.
“They were obviously making adjustments at the box, but it’s all about who makes adjustments better,” Morgan said. “I came out in that fight… locating different spots and getting them off balance
The Bobcats struggled to make any successful contact, ringing off their first hit of the evening in their at-bat in the final inning. Mounting a comeback, the Bobcats appeared to start to unravel the Longhorns late in the game. A pair of hits on back-to-back at-bats and two errors by the relatively solid Texas fielding unit allowed Texas State to score its first run.
Despite the uncharacteristic outing late in the game, the Longhorns’ backdrop behind Morgan was stable overall, effectively backing up their pitcher by reeling in routine ground and flyouts. A pop-up deep into centerfield was quickly collected by sophomore outfielder Kayden Henry for the out and the game-sealer.
At the plate, Texas performed just as well.
The Bobcats’ arms could not keep up the pace with the best hitting team in the SEC, the Longhorns quickly loading the bases in the first inning. It did not take long for Texas to jump on top, as junior catcher Reese Atwood’s RBI single paved the way for junior outfielder Ashton Maloney for the game’s first run.
Far from simmering down, the Longhorns put three additional runs in the first to go up 4–0.
After a pause in the action, Texas started up again in the third. Atwood came up big once again, doubling down the left field line, driving two more runs, and furthering the growing lead.
Swapping out two pitchers in the inning, Texas State could not prevent the Longhorn offense from jumping up to a commanding 10–0 lead by the end of the inning.
“When we get hot, we can put runs up on the board,” head coach Mike White said. “We’ve also won some close ones, too. We came from behind, but the offense is doing a good job under Coach Singleton.”
10 out of the 11 Longhorns batters registered a hit off the Bobcats, with Atwood singling herself out as the most effective hitter of the evening. The junior went a perfect 3–3 at the plate, driving in 3 RBIs and a clutch double. With her performance, Atwood became one of two Longhorns to have multiple seasons with 53 or more RBI.
Texas will welcome No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers Friday at 8 p.m. at Red and Charlie McCombs Field in Austin, Texas.
