The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UTA
No. 2/1 Softball preview: UTA
03.05.2024 | Softball
Texas to play first game since earning No. 1 ranking in USA Softball/ESPN.com poll for first time since 2006
AUSTIN, TX – For the first time since the 2006 season, The University of Texas softball program will play a game as the No. 1 team in the nation when the Longhorns take the field at Red & Charline McCombs Field against UTA at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6.
When the Longhorns and Mavericks meet on the Forty Acres, it'll mark the seventh game for Texas in a seven-day span with UT winning all six heading into the Wednesday night contest.
Alex Loeb and Cat Osterman will call the action on the Longhorn Network, while Andrew Haynes can be heard describing the action at https://texas.leanplayer.com.
LEADING OFF
- Wednesday night's game against UTA will mark the first for The University of Texas' softball program as the No. 1 team in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25 poll since April 4, 2006.
- The Longhorns have a 2-1 all-time record as the No. 1 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25 poll:
- 2-4, L, vs. then-No. 17 Texas A&M on April 5, 2006
- 4-3, W, vs. Missouri on April 8, 2006
- 1-0, W, vs. Missouri on April 9, 2006
- The Longhorns have a 2-1 all-time record as the No. 1 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25 poll:
- When combining both times Texas was No. 1 in either the NFCA/USA Today and USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25 polls, the Longhorns are 4-1 as the No. 1 team in the country.
- Texas will enter Wednesday evening' contest against the Mavericks are the only Big 12 Conference softball program ranked in the top three in both team batting average and team earned run average (ERA).
- Batting Average
- .408, 2nd
- ERA
- 0.72, 3rd
- Second place Harvard has a 0.60 ERA, but has only played 58.1 innings in nine games whereas Texas has totaled 117.0 innings in 19 games.
- 0.72, 3rd
- Batting Average
- If Bella Dayton takes the field against UTA on Wednesday, she'll appear in her 201st career collegiate softball game, tying her for 47th among active Division I softball student-athlete in career games played.
- Florida's Skylar Wallace leads all active Division I softball student-athlete with 237 career games played.
- However, of those 200 career collegiate softball games played, only 136 came while on the Forty Acres as Dayton appeared in 64 games during a two-year stint at Arizona.
- Alyssa Washington is the active leader in career games played in a Texas uniform with 155, while Mia Scott is second with 144.
- Scott is the only active student-athlete on the Texas softball roster to have started 141-or-more consecutive career collegiate softball games.
- Alyssa Washington is the active leader in career games played in a Texas uniform with 155, while Mia Scott is second with 144.
- Heading into Big 12 Conference play this weekend, Texas right-handed pitcher — and reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week — Teagan Kavan has the most strikeouts (48) has the most strikeouts among freshmen student-athletes in the league.
- Additionally, Kavan's strikeout total is good enough for the 10th most in the nation among Division I freshmen softball student-athletes.
- A win over UTA on Wednesday would move Texas' record to 19-1 on the season, tying the 2012, 2006 and 2003 squads for the best 20-game start to a season in program history.
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.
