The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Northwestern State
No. 2/2 Softball preview: Longhorn Invitational
02.29.2024 | Softball
Texas returns to the Forty Acres to host this weekend’s Longhorn Invitational
AUSTIN, TX – Following a successful trip to San Marcos on Wednesday, The University of Texas softball program will return to the friendly confines of Red & Charline McCombs Field for a five-team Longhorn Invitational this weekend, when the Longhorns begin play at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 1 against Northwestern State.
After its game against Northwestern State, Texas will, then, play Tarleton State 30 minutes later. On Saturday and Sunday, the Longhorns will play single games against Hofstra (3 p.m. on Saturday, March 2; 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 3), before concluding the four-day slate against Penn State at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 4.
GAME SCHEDULE (all Texas games are available to watch and/or listen)
- Friday, March 1
- Hofstra vs. Northwestern State (10 a.m. CT) – LHN
- Hofstra vs. Tarleton State (12:30 p.m. CT) – LHN
- Northwestern State vs. Texas (3 p.m. CT) – LHN
- Tarleton State vs. Texas (5:30 p.m. CT) - LHN
- Saturday, March 2
- Penn State vs. Hofstra (10 a.m. CT) – LHN
- Penn State vs. Tarleton State (12:30 p.m. CT) – LHN
- Hofstra vs. Texas (3 p.m. CT) – LHN
- Tarleton State vs. Northwestern State (5:30 p.m. CT)
- Sunday, March 3
- Hofstra vs. Texas (10 a.m. CT) – LHN
- Northwestern State vs. Penn State (12:30 p.m. CT) – LHN
- Tarleton State vs. Penn State (3 p.m. CT) – LHN
- Monday, March 4
- Penn State vs. Texas (5 p.m. CT) – LHN
LEADING OFF
- Texas will enter this weekend's action as the only Big 12 softball program to be ranked in the top five in both team batting average and team earned run average (ERA).
- The Longhorns are second in the country with a .392 batting average, while also boosting a 0.88 ERA, which is good enough for fifth in the nation.
- If Texas wins all five of its games during the Longhorn Invitational, the Longhorns will move to 18-1 on the season, the best start to a season through 19 games for UT since the 2012, when it began 22-1 before falling to then-No.2 California, 6-3, on March 15 for its second loss on the season.
- Teagan Kavan's active streak of 22.0 consecutive scoreless innings is the longest by a Longhorn pitcher since Mac Morgan kept opponents out of the run column for 31.2 straight innings from April 6, 2013 to May 3, 2023.
- If Bella Dayton appears in four games over the weekend, the fifth-year senior out of Wylie, Texas will have appeared in 200 career collegiate softball games dating back to her first season of Division I softball at the University of Arizona in 2020.
- By maintaining its No. 2 ranking in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll for a second consecutive week, it marks the highest the Texas softball program has been ranked in consecutive weeks since May 3 and May 10, 2006, when the Longhorns were No. 2.
- The ranking release on May 10 capped a five-week streak that saw the Longhorns be ranked No. 2 following back-to-back weeks (March 29, April 5) ranked No. 1.
FOLLOW US
- For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasSoftball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TexasLonghorns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
