The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
22-3, 0
BYU
16-7, 0
No. 3/3 Softball’s Morgan shuts down high-scoring BYU offense
03.14.2024 | Softball
Texas’ junior right-handed pitcher Mac Morgan retired last 15 consecutive Cougar batters en route to win
AUSTIN, Texas – Picking up where she left off in a two-inning relief pitching appearance at No. 2 LSU on Tuesday morning, Mac Morgan was nearly unhittable throughout No. 3 Texas' 13-0 win over BYU in five innings on Thursday night.
Morgan, who retired all six Tiger batters she faced in Baton Rouge earlier in the week, got the starting assignment in the pitching circle for the Longhorns against the Cougars and was nothing short of spectacular.
After allowing an infield single to BYU's leadoff hit Ailana Agbayani on a 3-2 pitch in the top of the first, Morgan (5-0) went on to retire the next 15 consecutive Cougar batters without a batted ball leaving the infield dirt at Red & Charline McCombs Field. Of the 16 total batters faced, Morgan retired 12 on groundouts — a season high — while mixing in three strikeouts during her time in the circle. She did not issue a free pass despite going to a full count on three different batters.
Morgan's performance — a 68-pitch, five-inning complete game shutout — on Thursday evening marked the second complete game shutout for the junior right-handed pitcher on the season after tossing a five-inning no-hitter against San Diego on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.
BYU's offense arrived on the Forty Acres with the fifth-highest team batting average (.355) and ninth-highest scoring team offense (7.64) in the nation. The Cougars also held a .537 slugging percentage, which was good enough for 19th in the country, prior to Morgan taking the circle to begin Thursday's contest.
FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE
"We needed a pitching performance like we got from Mac (Morgan) tonight. We needed someone to go out and take charge in the first inning. There were some long at bats and she threw a lot of pitches there in the first inning, but she kept posting zeros (in the run column) and that's what we needed to do. And then, of course, our offense coming out in the first inning and scoring a run, that was good, too."
FROM JUNIOR PITCHER MAC MORGAN
"I feel like I'm getting back to what I know in keeping the ball down and feeding my defense. It's always great to watch your teammates take the lead in the first inning, but I still had a job to do, and I wanted to make sure I did just that in order to help my team tonight."
GAME NOTES
- Thursday night marked the third time in four Big 12 Conference games so far this season that the Texas Longhorn offense has connected for three home runs in a single game.
- Last season, the Longhorns began conference play by hitting at least one home run during their first nine conference games, but never hit three home runs against a Big 12 opponent during the regular season in 2023.
- With her run-scoring double in the bottom of the first, Mia Scott has extended her on-base streak to 14 consecutive games, which is the second most by an active Longhorn softball student-athlete this season as Katie Stewart recorded a 19-game on-base streak.
- With her two-run single off the left field wall during the Longhorns' seven-run bottom of the second, Reese Atwood has now tied her run batted in (RBI) total from the 2023 season with 43.
- Atwood reached 43 RBIs in 172 at bats as a true freshman in 2023, while reaching the mark in just 77 official plate appearances as a sophomore in 2024.
- She will enter Texas' next game just three RBIs back of tying Lindsey Stephens' 2016 season total (46) for 10th on the program's single-season RBI list.
- With her stolen base against the Cougars on Thursday, Texas freshman Kayden Henry is now halfway to 10th place on the program's single-season stolen base list (24) with 12.
- Henry, who is 12-of-14 in stolen base attempts so far this season, has been credited with at least one stolen base in six of the Longhorns' last seven games.
UP NEXT
- Texas (22-3) will look to clinch its second consecutive Big 12 Conference series of the season when the Longhorns and Cougars meet, again, on the diamond at Red & Charline McCombs Field at 11:30 a.m. CT on Friday, March 15.
- The game was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday, but due to impending weather in and around the Austin area, officials at both institutions have agreed to move up the start time.
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.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morgan, Mac (5-0)
L: Dahle, Kate (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Scott, Mia 1
HR: Mitchell, Joley 1 ; Stewart, Katie 1 ; Cimusz, Katie 1
RBI: Henry, Kayden 2 ; Scott, Mia 1 ; Mitchell, Joley 3 ; Atwood, Reese 2 ; Stewart, Katie 1 ; Martinez, Viviana 1 ; Dayton, Bella 1 ; Cimusz, Katie 1
SH: Maloney, Ashton 1
SF: Martinez, Viviana 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Henry, Kayden 3 ; Scott, Mia 1 ; Goode, Leighann 1 ; Mitchell, Joley 2 ; Wallace, Adayah 1 ; Stewart, Katie 2 ; Martinez, Viviana 1 ; Dayton, Bella 1 ; Cimusz, Katie 1
SB: Henry, Kayden 1 ; Mitchell, Joley 1 ; Dayton, Bella 1
