No. 3/3 Softball clinches, sweeps series against BYU

Friday, March 15

Austin, TX

11:30 AM CT

University of Texas

23-3, 0

BYU

16-8, 0

BYU

Texas

No. 3/3 Softball clinches, sweeps series against BYU

03.15.2024 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Freshman Kayden Henry scored four of Texas’ 17 runs during Friday’s doubleheader.

By: Chris Allen Brown

AUSTIN, Texas – Despite the start time change and the addition of a second game for Friday's slate, The University of Texas softball showed it would do whatever needed to fit its three-game Big 12 Conference series against BYU in before approaching weather affected the area.

Less than 18 hours after knocking off the Cougars by 13 runs in five innings, the Longhorn offense picked up where it left off as third-ranked Texas swept the three-game series following 7-3 and 10-0 victories over BYU to cap a 13-game-in-15-day span for UT, a span that saw the Burnt Orange and White go 11-2 during.

Providing the spark at the top of a lineup that a traditional leadoff hitter provides, Kayden Henry continued her trend of scoring in the first inning as the freshman speedster led off both contests Friday with a base knock — a single in the first game, followed by a double in the second — before working her way around the base path before touching home plate. As a result, Texas held early first-inning leads during both contests and eventually moved to 21-0 on the season when scoring first and 16-1 when scoring in the first inning.

With Texas clinging to a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning of game one, Henry roped an 0-1 pitch into left field and — without hesitation — continued running towards second base for a double on a play most student-athletes would've stopped at first. As a result, the hustle allowed Mia Scott to drop a sacrifice bunt to advance Henry to third, where she would score from on an Alyssa Washington sacrifice fly two batters later.

Henry started the second game with a very similar scenario as she hit a 2-1 pitch to the right-center field gap for a double, then stole third. But this time she scored on a wild pitch that sailed over the Cougar catcher's head during Scott's at bat. She found her way back to the dish the following inning and expanded Texas' lead with a two-run double to the left-center field gap.

With a chance to become just the fourth student-athlete in program history with a three-double game, Henry opened the bottom of the fourth with an infield single, before stealing second and scoring off a Joley Mitchell double into the left-field corner. The sequence sparked a three-run inning for the Longhorns, who pushed their lead from 7-0 to 10-0 by the final out.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"(Kayden) is able to drop a bunt or hit a good gapper, a triple or a home run. She just has that ability to do everything, which is nice because it gives us the ability to do a lot of different things out of that leadoff position."

FROM FRESHMAN OUTFIELDER KAYDEN HENRY

"(Setting the tone early) was sort of something I talked about going back to the University of Houston series; being useful for my team and to get those leadoff hits and start off the game right and set the tone and get my team fired up."

GAME NOTES

With her three runs batted in (RBI) during Texas' four-run victory to begin the day, Reese Atwood is now tied for ninth on the program's single-season RBI list with 46.
- Atwood now finds herself in a four-way tie for the spot with Lindsey Stephens (2016), Erin Shireman (2015) and Nikki Cockrell (1998).
  - The sophomore catcher is now just one RBI back of Stephens' 2015 total (47) that represents eighth place and four RBI back of recording just the eighth 50-RBI season in program history.
After retiring the final 15 consecutive batters to conclude Thursday night's contest, Mac Morgan re-entered the circle for Texas with one out in the top of the fifth inning of Friday's first game and went on to retire eight of nine batters faced with the lone baserunner coming via a two-out walk in the top of the seventh.
- In 9.2 innings of work throughout three appearances on the week, Morgan has retired 29 of 31 batters and allowed just a single and one walk while striking out five.
Mirroring Mac Morgan's pitching performance against BYU on Thursday night, Citlaly Gutierrez (5-0) faced one over the minimum for a five-inning contest as the sophomore right-handed surrendered just two-out single in the top of the second.
- The Stamford native threw a 53-pitch, five-inning complete game shutout with two strikeouts, one hit — a single — and zero walks.
  - Mixing in the two strikeouts, Gutierrez retired 10 Cougar batters via a groundout, while three more flew out.

UP NEXT

Due to a combination of BYU's schedule and the potential weather in and around the Austin area resulting in a shift to the three-game series, Texas (24-3) will now have five days before it returns to a softball diamond for its next regular season game.
- The Longhorns will travel down to the Sunshine State for its next contest as a matchup against No. 16/18 Florida State (17-6) at 7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 20 in Tallahassee, Fla., now awaits Texas.
  - From Tallahassee, UT will travel down to Orlando for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at UCF beginning at 5 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. ET on Friday, March 22.

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