No. 3/3 Softball knock off No. 2/2 Tennessee, No. 9/9 Stanford

Friday, February 16

Clearwater, FL

5 PM CT

University of Texas

6-0

Tennessee

4-2

Tennessee

Texas

No. 3/3 Softball knock off No. 2/2 Tennessee, No. 9/9 Stanford

02.16.2024 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Texas maintains offensive productivity as Longhorns knock off two more top-10 foes

By: Chris Allen Brown

CLEARWATER, Fla – It didn't take Kayden Henry long to rattle off a four-home run game coming up the ranks of youth softball. And it won't take the freshman long to bring up her performance in No. 3/3 Texas' 2-1 win over No. 2/2 Tennessee and the Longhorns' 9-2 victory over No. 9/9 Stanford on Friday night.

Seven days after Reese Atwood started filling out her nomination form for her eventual Big 12 Conference Player of the Week and NFCA National Player of the Week honors, Henry borrowed the pen from team's sophomore catcher and began to fill out her own form.

In six official plate appearances against the Volunteers and Cardinal on the evening, the 5-foot-5 left-handed hitting Dickinson native tallied five hits with three runs scored and four runs batted in (RBIs). Not only did Henry connect for her first career collegiate home run during Texas' seven-run win over Stanford, the freshman — playing in just her fifth career collegiate softball game — set a career high with her first multi-home run game (2) to go along with four RBI.

Henry's first hit on the night — a bunt single in the bottom of the second against Tennessee — ultimately led her to scoring from third on a fielding error by the Volunteers' shortstop and pushing the Texas' lead to 2-0. She was in prime position to add to the Longhorns' lead two frames later after working her way to third following a one-out single. But she was on the wrong side of a bang-bang call at the plate.

Against Stanford, Henry responded from an eight-pitch strikeout to start the bottom of the second by sending an 0-1 pitch well over the center field fence the following inning for a three-run home run to give Texas an 8-2 lead. Two frames later, she gave the Longhorns even more cushion with a two-out solo home run on the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the fifth.

Henry's bid to become just the third student-athlete in program history with a three-home run game did not come to fruition as she was still three batters from stepping to the plate as the bottom of the sixth concluded.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"It was a great day, obviously, in playing against two quality teams and coming away with two great wins. I'm real proud of the ladies and how they played today. I thought Citlaly was really on her game today and looked really good out there, then, of course, Kayden Henry had a tremendous day with five hits and a couple home runs. It was great to see Katie Stewart hit that monstrous home run and Reese (Atwood) coming through, again, with a timely hit."

FROM FRESHMAN OUTFIELDER KAYDEN HENRY

"I just came out today with a lot of energy, clear head and trying to keep everything simple. It's Clearwater. One of the biggest tournaments. But I have one of the best teams by my side and amazing teammates for sure. To go from one game when you go 3 for 3 to the next — that had a strikeout to begin with — with back-to-back bombs, I can't really complain after that."

GAME NOTES

All nine of Texas' runs against No. 9/9 Stanford on Friday night came via the long ball, marking the first time this season the Longhorn offense has accomplished the feat.
Texas' win over No. 2/2 Tennessee marked the highest-ranked opponent beaten by the Longhorns since UT knocked off then-No. 1/1 Oklahoma, 4-2, in Austin on April 16, 2022.
Longhorn freshman right-handed pitcher Teagan Kavan set a career high with nine strikeouts in just four innings in the circle against No. 9/9 Stanford.
Just seven games into the 2024 season, the Texas Longhorns have won four games against top-10 ranked opponents following Friday night's pair of victories.
- The four wins over top-10 opponents over a seven-day span mark the most by a Longhorn team within that span since the 2020 season, when Texas beat then-No. 10 Louisiana — twice (2/25, 2/25) — before knocking off then-No. 1 UCLA (2/27) and then-No. 2 Washington (2/28).
With her home run against No. 9/9 Stanford, Reese Atwood now has four home runs in seven games so far this 2024 season.
- Atwood's home run total (4) so far this campaign is already 36.4 percent of her team-leading home run total (11) from a season ago.

UP NEXT

With Friday's pair of games against top-10 opponents now in the rearview mirror, Texas (7-0) now turns its attention to North Carolina (1 p.m. CT / ESPN+) and No. 18/18 Kentucky (6 p.m. CT / LHN) on Saturday, Feb. 17.
- Saturday's weather forecast in Clearwater, Fla., has a high probability for rain, so any potential schedule changes will be announced on the program's social media accounts.

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