The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Longwood
No. 1/1 Softball preview: Opening Weekend
02.06.2025 | Softball
Texas to open regular season on the road for fifth consecutive season
AUSTIN, Texas – For the fifth consecutive season, The University of Texas softball program will begin a new season on the road as the top-ranked Longhorns will open the 2025 regular season at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 against Longwood in Lafayette, La. UT will, then, conclude its season-opening day with a 6:00 p.m. game against Louisiana, which is receiving votes in both the NFCA and ESPN.com Preseason Top 25 polls.
Friday's action will mark the first time Texas has played a softball game in Lafayette, La., since March 16, 2022, when the Longhorns knocked off the then-No. 23 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 10-2 and 3-2.
Following Friday night's game, Texas will travel back to the Lone Star State to play St. John's (12 p.m. CT) and Lamar (6 p.m.) as part of the UH/LU Tournament in Beaumont, Texas. The Longhorns' three-cities-in-three-days stretch will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 9, when UT plays Tulsa (11:30 a.m. CT) and Sam Houston (2 p.m. CT) in the Bearkat Classic in Huntsville, Texas.
TELEVISION: Only two of Texas' six games over the weekend will be available to watch: Friday night's game at Louisiana (6 p.m. CT) and Sunday afternoon's game at Sam Houston (2 p.m. CT). Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+ on WatchESPN or the ESPN app.
RADIO: Andrew Haynes can be heard with the radio call of all six games this weekend at https://texas.leanplayer.com/.
SERIES HISTORY:
- Longwood – Texas and Longwood have met on a softball diamond just two times prior to Friday afternoon's game. The Longhorns squared off against the Lancers in Austin, Texas on March 6, 2019, when UT took the two-game doubleheader, 8-0 and 9-1, in back-to-back five-inning contests.
- Louisiana – 2025 will mark the sixth consecutive season that Texas and Louisiana have played each other in a softball game. Despite the Longhorns holding an 18-8 advantage throughout the series history, UT is only 4-3 in games played in Lafayette, La., with the record moving over the .500 mark following a two-game doubleheader victory on March 16, 2022.
- St. John's – Saturday's game between St. John's and Texas will mark the first-ever contest between the two softball programs away from the Forty Acres. The Longhorns last played the Red Storm on March 3, 2007 as part of the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational. The two teams linked up twice over a two-day span (March 2, March 3) with UT taking both contests, 6-4 and 7-0.
- Lamar – Following a one-year hiatus in the series history in 2024, Texas and Lamar will add another chapter to its history when the two teams faceoff for the first time since Feb. 15, 2023. The Longhorns have not dropped a softball game to the Cardinals in nearly a decade (Feb. 28, 2015) and Saturday's game will mark the first-ever game against Lamar in Beaumont, Texas for UT.
- Tulsa – Similar to Longwood, St. John's and Lamar, Sunday's softball game against Tulsa will mark the first time Texas has played a softball game against the Golden Hurricane away from Austin. Over the course of the 10-game series history, the Longhorns have racked up seven wins, four of which have occurred during the last four meetings between the two.
- Sam Houston – Sunday's game against the Bearkats will mark the second time over the last three seasons that Texas has played Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas. Prior to the first-ever time (March 14, 2023), the two teams had never met away from Austin. The Longhorns have never allowed a run to the Bearkats in softball games played in Huntsville.
LEADING OFF
- With five wins over the weekend, Texas head coach Mike White will reach the 700-career win milestone. In 16 seasons as a Division I women's softball head coach, White has earned a 695-191-3 (.783) overall record. 260 of those wins have come in six seasons at the helm of the Longhorns, while the remaining 435 occurred as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks (2010-2018).
- Since the program became a varsity sport at The University of Texas in 1997, the Longhorns have not lost a season-opening game. UT will enter Friday afternoon's game against Longwood with a 28-0 all-time record in the first game of a new season.
- Friday's action will mark the first time in program history that the Texas Longhorn softball program will begin a new season as the No. 1 team in either the NFCA or USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25 poll.
- With her next win, third-year Longhorn Mac Morgan will break a tie with Brittany Barnhill (2008-09) and move into sole possession of ninth on the program's career wins list.
- When she hits her next home run, junior catcher Reese Atwood will become the seventh student-athlete in program history to hit 35-or-more career home runs.
- Atwood would become the first Longhorn to reach the milestone since Mary Iakopo hit her 35th career home run on March 5, 2022 during a 2-for-3 performance against Miami-OH.
- A sweep of the six-game opening weekend would mark the second consecutive season the Longhorns have begun a season with six-or-more consecutive road wins after last season's squad won seven straight games between California and Florida.
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.
