The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
47-6
Baylor
32-20
No. 1/1 Softball bests Baylor, sets up fourth game against Sooners
05.10.2024 | Softball
Texas will look for its first regular season, postseason conference championship sweep since the 2003 season
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – In a 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship semifinal game that lasted just 1-hour, 46-minutes, The University of Texas softball program recorded back-to-back six-run innings to open up a double-digit lead after two innings before coasting to a 14-3 victory over Baylor on Friday night.
It took just five batters into the bottom of the first for things to unravel for Baylor after three consecutive base hits, including a run-scoring single off the bat of Mia Scott to score Ashton Maloney from third, set the stage for the Big 12's Player of the Year Reese Atwood to leave her first mark on this season's conference tournament with a three-run home run on the third pitch of her at bat to push the Longhorns ahead 4-0.
Even after making a first-inning pitching change, Texas continued producing run-scoring plate appearances as senior Bella Dayton, the ninth batter of the first inning, scored both Katie Stewart and Leighann Goode with a two-out triple to make it 6-0, Longhorns.
An inning later, Scott and Dayton continued the home run affair with a solo home run and two-run home run, respectively, to give Texas a 12-0 advantage on the scoreboard. The pair of home runs sandwiched a run-scoring single off the bat of Joley Mitchell that scored both Adayah Wallace, who pinch ran for Atwood after she drew a five-pitch walk, and Viviana Martinez.
The 12-run lead stood for Texas until Victoria Hunter and Alyssa Washington both hit pinch-hit solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Longhorn lead to 14-0.
Baylor scored its three runs of the contest with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth, before a ground ball to Hunter at first ended the game.
FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE
"Obviously, the team came out and took control of the game early on. That was an explosive first inning for us, but first we had to shut them down. Baylor was coming off a nice win last night and is a tough team. We've had trouble with them over the years and being able to beat anybody four times is difficult. But it sets up an exciting matchup against Oklahoma tomorrow night, which should be a good one. (Oklahoma) is a very tough team and getting hot again and always play well here, so we are expecting a good matchup."
FROM SENIOR OUTFIELDER BELLA DAYTON
"(With this offense), I think it's just us being us at the end of the day. We come out very confident in ourselves and confident we can pass the bat. Everybody has their own tools, and we are just using those to our fullest capabilities."
GAME NOTES
- With her three-run home run in the bottom of the first of Friday's game, Texas sophomore Reese Atwood pushed her season runs batted in (RBI) total to 86, which moves her into fourth on the Big 12 Conference's single-season RBI list.
- Atwood, the lone non-Oklahoma student-athlete on the list, will enter Saturday's matchup against the Sooners one back of tying Tiare Jennings' 2022 season total (87) for third on the list.
- Jennings holds the top spot as well as the now-senior set the mark at 92 during her freshman campaign in 2021.
- Atwood, the lone non-Oklahoma student-athlete on the list, will enter Saturday's matchup against the Sooners one back of tying Tiare Jennings' 2022 season total (87) for third on the list.
- As a result of hitting five home runs on the evening, the Longhorn offense has now connected for 78 home runs on the season, tying the 2021 Texas squad for the second most in a single season and will enter Saturday's action 10 back of tying the 2010 team for the program's single-season record.
- Friday night's win moved Texas' active winning streak to 18 consecutive games, which is now tied for the third-longest winning streak in program history.
- The current streak is the longest winning streak by a Longhorn team since the 2011 program won 18 consecutive games since March 9, 2011 to April 10, 2011.
- Texas has now set a program record for consecutive run-rule victories with seven consecutive five-inning victories.
- Friday evening marked the 20th different time this season that Texas has beaten its opponent in either the fifth or sixth innings as a result of the eight-run mercy rule.
UP NEXT
- For the second consecutive season, Texas (47-6) will square off against Oklahoma (48-6) for the Big 12 Conference's postseason tournament championship when the two top-five ranked teams meet for a fourth time this season at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 11.
- The Longhorns will be looking for their first three-game winning streak at the league's postseason conference tournament since winning four straight en route to its last tournament championship in 2005.
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: Kavan, Teagan (17-2)
L: RyLee Crandall (14-8)
Batting:
HR: Shannon Vivoda 1
RBI: Shannon Vivoda 2
SH: Presleigh Pilon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Emily Hott 1 ; Shaylon Govan 1 ; Shannon Vivoda 1
Batting:
2B: Quiroga, Vanessa 1
3B: Dayton, Bella 1
HR: Scott, Mia 1 ; Atwood, Reese 1 ; Hunter, Victoria 1 ; Washington, Alyssa 1 ; Dayton, Bella 1
RBI: Scott, Mia 2 ; Atwood, Reese 3 ; Mitchell, Joley 2 ; Hunter, Victoria 1 ; Henry, Kayden 1 ; Washington, Alyssa 1 ; Dayton, Bella 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Maloney, Ashton 1 ; Scott, Mia 2 ; Martinez, Viviana 2 ; Atwood, Reese 1 ; Wallace, Adayah 1 ; Stewart, Katie 2 ; Hunter, Victoria 1 ; Henry, Kayden 1 ; Goode, Leighann 1 ; Washington, Alyssa 1 ; Dayton, Bella 1
SB: Martinez, Viviana 1 ; Henry, Kayden 1
