No. 3/2 Softball pushes right buttons in right scenarios to clinch series

Saturday, March 23

Orlando, FL

1 PM CT

University of Texas

27-3, 0

UCF

14-13, 0

Texas

UCF

No. 3/2 Softball pushes right buttons in right scenarios to clinch series

03.23.2024 | Softball

Box Score

Texas wins third consecutive Big 12 Conference series

By: Chris Allen Brown

ORLANDO, Fla. – It was getting late in Texas' 4-2 win at UCF on Saturday afternoon and the Longhorns needed something.

Having just earned Texas' first hit of the game with a two-out single to left-center field off the bat of Katie Cimusz in the top of the fifth, ideas began to race through minds of the Longhorn coaching staff. The Longhorns hadn't recorded back-to-back hits since the top of the fourth of Friday night's five-run win. Viviana Martinez watched the first pitch of her fifth inning at bat sail out of the strike zone for a ball.

Texas head coach Mike White called time and walked to the plate. While walking, he and associate head coach Steven Singleton motioned through the plan. Then Adayah Wallace grabbed a helmet and jogged to first out of the first-base dugout to replace Cimusz as the base runner. The next pitch to Martinez was pulled down the right-field foul line and Wallace was off to the race.

Second base. Third base. Then a slide at home plate to give Texas a one-run lead. But the Longhorns didn't stop. Ashton Maloney followed with an infield single that advanced Martinez to third. And then Leighann Goode, who entered the game as a pinch hitter, scored Martinez from third to make it 2-0, UT.

After UCF tied the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the fifth, White, again, opted for a game-altering decision in the top of the sixth.

Following a four-pitch walk to Mia Scott to begin the frame, first-year Longhorn Joley Mitchell hit a 1-0 pitch to shallow center field, where the Knights' centerfielder dove too early allowing the ball to hit the ground. Scott, like Wallace earlier, raced around second and third base before sliding across home plate. However, this time, the umpire initially motioned Scott was out after the UCF catcher appeared to apply a tag on a throw from right-center field.

But, White elected to challenge the call that ultimately resulted in Scott being ruled safe to give Texas a 3-2 lead. On the very next pitch, Mitchell advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring from third on a ground out off the bat of Reese Atwood.

The two-run lead was more than enough for Estelle Czech (4-2), who went on the retire the final six consecutive Knight batters to conclude the game after the Longhorns took the two-run lead.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"Coach (Steve Singleton) had the idea of (having Adayah Wallace pinch run for Katie Cimusz in the fifth inning) and I was something I was thinking about as well. It was getting late in the game, and you only have so many opportunities to bring someone in and it was a good call in the end and, of course, a great hit to be able to score that run from first base."

GAME NOTES

As a result of UCF's run-scoring ground out in the bottom of the fifth, Texas' streak of consecutive scoreless innings pitched was snapped at 25.1, which was the longest such streak by the Longhorns at any point this season.
By earning a one-out walk in the top of the first, Mia Scott extended her on-base streak to 19 consecutive games, which ties Katie Stewart for the longest on-base streak by a Longhorn softball student-athlete this season.
- Scott was the last Texas softball student-athlete to successfully reach base in 20 straight games played when she accomplished the feat from June 9, 2022 to March 4, 2023.
  - The program's record is 57 consecutive games set by Taylor Hoagland from May 18, 2012 to May 3, 2013.
With her run-scoring ground out in the top of the sixth, Reese Atwood has now driven home 51 runs on the season, which breaks a tie with Loryn Johnson (2009) for seventh on the program's single-season RBI list.
- Viviana Martinez is next on the list as the Arizona native drove in 52 throughout her freshman season in 2023.
Following Atwood's at bat in the sixth, Alyssa Washington was hit by the first pitch during her plate appearance, marking the first time this season and ninth time in her career that the senior has been hit with a pitch.
Viviana Martinez' two-hit performance was the first multi-hit outing for the sophomore since going 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored against UTA on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

UP NEXT

Texas (27-3, 7-1) will look to earn its seventh consecutive victory — and second straight Big 12 Conference series sweep — when the Longhorns square off against UCF for the third game of the weekend series at 11 a.m. CT / 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 24.

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