The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
01.18.2024 | Softball
Texas’ five preseason Big 12 selections mark the most in the program’s history
IRVING, Texas – Following the release of the league's preseason poll on Wednesday afternoon, the Big 12 Conference has announced its 2024 Big 12 Softball Preseason Team that features five Texas student-athletes, the most Longhorns on a single preseason Big 12 team in program history.
Mia Scott, who was the Longhorns' lone All-Big 12 First Team selection last season, leads the way for the quintet of Texas selections as one of just three softball student-athletes in the league to earn the honor by a unanimous vote. Mac Morgan joins Scott as the lone UT upperclassmen selected, while sophomores Citlaly Gutierrez, Ashton Maloney and Viviana Martinez were appointed to the league's preseason all-conference team for the first times in their career.
Scott, who became the first student-athlete in program history to be selected to the Big 12's preseason team on multiple occasions (2) and just the second student-athlete in league history to earn multiple (2) unanimous selections, during their time on the Forty Acres, appeared in and started all 61 games while splitting time between the infield and outfield throughout the 2023 season for Texas. She led the program with 75 hits and 53 runs scored, while being one of three Longhorns to be credited with 100-or-more (100) total bases. On the season, Scott slashed .377/.444/.503 in 199 official plate appearances.
Morgan was the workhorse of a Texas pitching staff that returns the entirety of the rotation from the 2023. In a team-high 145.2 innings pitched, the Missouri native earned a team-high 18 wins and two saves in 37 pitching appearances. She tossed a team-high seven complete games, including a team-leading five shutouts. Morgan, in her Longhorn postseason debut against Seton Hall on May 19, tossed the first four frames of a five-inning combined no-hitter with Estelle Czech.
Gutierrez, a true freshman in 2023, led the Texas pitching staff with a 2.00 earned run average (ERA) and a team-high three saves in 33 appearances in the pitching circle. Her 77 strikeouts were the third most on the staff, just nine behind Sophia Simpson (86) for the team lead. Gutierrez (108.2) joined Morgan as the only Longhorn pitchers to toss 100-or-more innings. Her 13 wins on the season were second on the team behind Morgan's 18.
Maloney, a redshirt freshman last season, paced the Texas offense with a .382 batting average (58 hits in 152 plate appearances) in 60 games throughout the 2023 campaign. She totaled 63 total bases, scored 28 runs, drew 10 walks and swiped five bases in eight attempts. The All-Big 12 Second and Freshman Team selection was the only Longhorn softball student-athlete to play multiple games at each of the three outfield positions: left field (4), center field (2) and right field (52).
2023 was a historic season for Martinez, who shattered the program's single-season runs batted in (RBI) record for a first-year student-athlete after driving in a team-high 52 runs in 188 official plate appearances. She was a unanimous All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection a season ago after becoming one of just three Longhorns to total 100-or-more (100) total bases, while 22 of her 65 hits on the season went for extra bases: 14 doubles, three triples and five home runs. Defensively, Martinez led the team with 126 defensive assists, which were the fifth most by a student-athlete in the program's single-season history.
The Texas softball program will open its 2024 schedule on Friday, Feb. 9, when the Longhorns are set to play San Diego and UCLA at the Bruins' Easton Stadium in Los Angeles. The three teams will play, again, on Saturday, Feb. 10, when the games will take place at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif.
2024 Big 12 Softball Preseason Team
Shaylon Govan, BU, INF, Jr.*
Huntyr Ava, BYU, 1B, Sr.
Sarah Willis, UCF, P/OF, Sr.
Turiya Coleman, UH, IF/C, Jr.
Milaysia Ochoa, ISU, OF, Sr.
Rylie Boone, OU, OF, Sr.
Alyssa Brito, OU, UTL, Sr.
Jayda Coleman, OU, OF, Sr.
Kinzie Hansen, OU, C, Sr.
Tiare Jennings, OU, INF, Sr.*
Kelly Maxwell, OU, P, R-Sr.
Nicole May, OU, P, Sr.
Lexi Kilfoyl, OSU, P, Gr.
Citlaly Gutierrez, UT, P, So.
Ashton Maloney, UT, OF, R-So.
Viviana Martinez, UT, SS/2B, So.
Mac Morgan, UT, P, Jr.
Mia Scott, UT, IF, Jr.*
Kailey Wyckoff, TTU, C/OF, So.
Players are sorted alphabetically by school.
*Indicates unanimous selection
The honorees were chosen by a vote of the league's head coaches. Players were picked regardless of position and coaches could not vote for their own student-athletes.
This is the third season in the league's history in which a preseason team has been assembled and the first year the team has been expanded to 18 selections. A tie in voting created an extra position for this season.
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