No. 1/1 Softball’s Morgan opens NCAA Austin Regional with no-hitter

Friday, May 17

Austin, TX

3 PM

University of Texas

48-7

Siena

33-21

Siena

Texas

No. 1/1 Softball’s Morgan opens NCAA Austin Regional with no-hitter

05.17.2024 | Softball

Box Score

For the second consecutive season, Mac Morgan begins Texas’ postseason with a no-hitter effort.

By: Chris Allen Brown

AUSTIN, Texas – With two outs in the top of the seventh, Texas junior right-handed pitcher Mac Morgan was on the verge of something that hasn't occurred within the Longhorn program since 2005: a postseason perfect game. But Morgan had to settle for a seven-inning no-hitter after issuing a two-out walk before closing out Texas' 5-0 win over Siena to begin the 2024 NCAA Austin Regional.

Friday afternoon's pitching performance marked the second consecutive season that the Creighton, Missouri native began Texas' postseason efforts with a no-hit effort after the Arizona State transfer tossed the first four innings of a five-inning combined no-hitter with Estelle Czech against Seton Hall to open the 2023 NCAA Austin Regional.

Over the course of the 1-hour, 46-minute game, Morgan (13-1) tossed 85 pitches — 57 strikes — to 22 opposing batters and did not allow a softball to leave the infield dirt. She retired 16 batters via a groundout, four on strikeouts and one lineout that first baseman Katie Stewart had to snag off the chalk three steps in front of the first base bag.

Morgan, prior to issuing the two-out walk, had only reached a three-ball count on two occasions: to Jocelyn Ulrich with two outs in the top of the first and Madi Silber with one away in the second. She ultimately struck out both batters for two of her four strikeouts on the afternoon, which were the most by the right-hander in a postseason game since arriving on the Forty Acres prior to the 2023 season.

While Morgan was keeping Siena off the base paths, the Texas offense was staying on them as the Longhorns totaled 12 hits, including a 3-for-3, 2-RBI performance by Viviana Martinez. Ashton Maloney and Kayden Henry also turned in multi-hit outing as the outfield duo combined for four hits in eight official trips to the plate.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"Siena played well today. Things could have turned out differently in the first inning, but they made a great double play and kept us at just five runs throughout the game and eventually drew a walk off of Mac Morgan, who pitched extremely well today. I thought she really moved the ball around, had total control and finished off with a no-hitter, which is a tremendous feat so I'm very excited about that."

FROM JUNIOR PITCHER MAC MORGAN

"I was feeling most confident in my defense. I'm a dropball pitcher. I want to get the ball down and let my defense work. That's exactly what I did, and I felt comfortable the whole time."

GAME NOTES

Texas sophomore Reese Atwood inched closer to the Big 12 Conference's single-season RBI record as she plated the Longhorns' first run of the game with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first inning.
- Atwood now has 87 RBI, which is five back of breaking Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings' conference record 91 RBI set throughout the 2021 season.
Every Texas softball student-athlete who found themselves in the starting lineup for Friday's game reached base at least once during the game.
With the win, Texas now has 48 victories on the season, which if one shy of tying the 1998, 2003 and 2005 squads are the fourth-most wins in a single season in program history.
As a result of Viviana Martinez' fourth-inning home run, Texas continued a trend of hitting at least one home run the following game after not hitting a pitch over the outfield wall dating back to the Longhorns' series-opening win over then-No. 1 Oklahoma on Saturday, April 6.
Friday afternoon's win for Texas marked the 30th all-time victory for the Longhorns in NCAA Regional games played at Red & Charline McCombs Field since hosting its first-ever regional in 2003.

UP NEXT

Top-seeded Texas (48-7), with the win on Friday, advances to Saturday's action to play the winner of third-seeded Saint Francis and second-seeded Northwestern at 12 p.m. CT at Red & Charline McCombs Field.

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