Three weeks ago in San Marcos, Texas, Texas State softball conquered No. 15 Texas A&M for an upset victory in front of a home crowd. On Wednesday against No. 2 Texas, it was evident that fans believed in their team’s ability to put up a fight against another top-ranked, in-state opponent.
The Bobcats’ student section, confined to a relatively small, standing-room-only space just past first base, came equipped with a noticeable energy that only seemed to intensify as fans realized the home team might be able to pull away with yet another top-15 victory.
They fell just short, but it took seven full innings, three pitchers and an aggressive comeback effort by senior catcher Reese Atwood and junior infielder Katie Stewart for the Longhorns to return to Austin with a 3-2 win.
“I don’t know if we were looking past this team, but we certainly didn’t get a good performance from our starting pitching,” head coach Mike White said after his team’s nailbiter of a win.
Senior pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez started on the mound for the Longhorns, accumulating three walks, two hit batters and an error across just over two innings of play. White decided to deploy sophomore pitcher Cambria Salmon to the circle during the bottom of the third inning, but between the damage already created by Gutierrez and a pair of new hits allowed by Salmon, the Bobcats were able to get on the board first with two runs.
White said after the game that Gutierrez appeared to be nervous, something he wasn’t anticipating from a pitcher as experienced as she is. In terms of her and Salmon collectively, he emphasized that he needs to see an elevated quality of play moving forward.
“We’ve got to have one of the two pitchers — well, both of them actually — step up,” White said. “They’re better than that, and they know that, and we’ve just got to figure out why they’re not performing to their capabilities.”
The Longhorns, for one of few times this season, were forced to utilize more pitchers than their opponent, using three compared to Texas State’s two.
Texas played junior pitcher Teagan Kavan from the fifth inning onward to get her team out of a bind, an effort supplemented by Atwood and Stewart’s back-to-back home runs in the top of the sixth inning. They have now combined for 28 home runs so far this season, becoming known for their ability to help give life to their team’s offense.
“I always have so much confidence because (Stewart is) right there with me,” Atwood said after the game. “If I don’t get my job done, I know she will.”
Luckily for Texas’ struggling pitching staff on Wednesday, both Atwood and Stewart were able to get their jobs done when it counted most. Atwood also played her part defensively to help her pitchers, walking to the circle six times today to help ease nerves and initiate a reset.
“(My role is) just calming them down,” Atwood said. “Our pitching staff is amazing, so all they need is that confidence. I don’t have to say much other than calming down.”
Texas looks to correct Wednesday’s shortcomings before it faces the Aggies on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Red & Charline McCombs Field.
