No. 5/5 Softball drops series opener against No. 20/21 Baylor

Friday, May 5

Austin, Texas

6 p.m.

University of Texas

40-10-1, 0

Baylor

37-15, 0

Baylor

Texas

No. 5/5 Softball drops series opener against No. 20/21 Baylor

05.05.2023 | Softball

Box Score

Baylor spoils Texas’ bid to clinch the number two seed for next week’s conference tournament

By: Chris Allen Brown

AUSTIN, TX – No. 5/5 Texas' hunt for the second seed in next week's Big 12 Conference tournament will have to wait at least one more day after No. 20/21 Baylor came to Austin and knocked off the Longhorns, 9-1, in five innings on Friday night.

Texas' bad fortunes began on the fourth pitch of the game when Mac Morgan (15-3) hit McKenzie Wilson with a 1-2 pitch, marking just her second hit batter in 35.1 innings pitched against Big 12 opponents. Two batters later, Shaylon Govan connected on a 1-2 pitch for a three-run home run to push Baylor ahead and snap Morgan's career-long 31.2 consecutive scoreless inning streak.

Four batters later, Josie Bower capped Baylor's five-run first inning with a two-run infield single. The following inning, the Bears ballooned its lead to 9-0 following a four-run, three-hit frame that highlighted by a second run-scoring hit off the bat of Bower in as many innings.

Texas put together back-to-back one-out singles from Ashton Maloney and Courtney Day in the bottom of the second that proceeded a run-scoring infield single off the bat of Alyssa Popelka to put the Longhorns in the run column.

The Longhorns went on to put the leadoff batter on first base in the third and fourth innings — as well as one in the bottom of the fifth — but could not come up with another run-scoring plate appearance.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"We are a team that averages five, six runs a game and we got down early tonight by nine runs and to not score more than one, that's disappointing. We had leadoff runners on two, three times — I think — but we weren't able to move them. So, I think that was the disappointing this about tonight, really. Mac Morgan had a tough game, but that happens sometimes, and she wasn't able to shake it off. Coming back from down nine was going to be tough, but to only score one run was disappointing."

GAME NOTES

With her infield single against the Bears in the bottom of the second, Alyssa Popelka was credited with her first RBI since the top of the seventh inning of Texas' 9-1 win at Iowa State on April 8, 2023.
By finishing with two hits in two plate appearances Friday night, Ashton Maloney now has multiple hits in four conference games this season, including her last two consecutive.
Sophia Simpson's six strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief against Baylor were the most strikeouts by the right-handed pitcher since fanning six in three shutout innings against Wisconsin on March 11, 2023.
Viviana Martinez matched her career high with two walks against Baylor's RyLee Crandall. It's the first time Martinez has drawn multiple walks in the same game since being intentionally walked, twice, by Alabama's Montana Fouts on March 11, 2023.
By sending an 0-1 pitch to right field for a one-out single in the bottom of the second inning, Courtney Day was credited with her first time since the bottom of the second of the Longhorns' 9-3 loss to Kansas on April 14, 2023.

UP NEXT

The three-game series between Texas (40-10-1) and Baylor (37-15, 6-10) will now move up I-35 as the two softball programs will conclude the weekend's action with two contests Waco on Saturday (6 PM CT) and Sunday (1 PM CT).

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