No. 1/1 Softball drops Sunday’s series finale against No. 7/5 Tennessee

Sunday, April 13

Austin, TX

12 PM CT

University of Texas

39-5, 0

Tennessee

34-9, 0

Tennessee

Texas

No. 1/1 Softball drops Sunday’s series finale against No. 7/5 Tennessee

04.13.2025 | Softball

Box Score

Texas suffers first three-game home conference series loss since April 2022

By: Chris Allen Brown

AUSTIN, Texas – The opening moments of Tennessee's 4-1 victory over Texas on Sunday afternoon set the stage for a would-be classic between the two softball programs. But it was the Volunteers who continued to capitalize on run-scoring opportunities that resulted in the Longhorns dropping their first three-game home conference series since 2022.

With the bases loaded in the top of the first, Tennessee's Sophia Nugent fouled off a 2-2 pitch from Teagan Kavan (18-3) that resulted in Texas catcher Reese Atwood and first baseman Joley Mitchell colliding in foul territory after Atwood made the catch. This allowed Kinsey Fiedler to score from third without the ball leaving the infield.

Texas immediately answered back in the bottom half of the inning as Atwood lined a 1-0 pitch from Karlyn Pickens (17-4) off the 10-foot-high left field wall for a two-out double that scored Ashton Maloney, who led off the frame with a single back up the middle, from first.

Two innings later, Tennessee took a 2-1 lead with back-to-back one-out doubles. It was a lead that was extended by a run in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly and then, again, by a single run in the top of the seventh on a two-out single.

The Longhorns had an opportunity to answer in each of the game's final five innings as Texas had at least one runner on base in each frame. In the bottom of the fourth, Vanessa Quiroga represented the game-tying run and stood on second back with only one out but was unable to come around to score. Two innings later, Katie Cimusz represented the go-ahead run as she stepped into the box with only one out and two runners on, but grounded into an inning-ending double play.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"Well, the first inning was a nightmare; it was a really tough one. We just couldn't do anything right. The walks on the day hurt us; three walks equaled three runs and that's the difference in the ball game. And we were facing a really tough pitching today, so you just can't do that. You're only going to get two or three runs max against a pitcher like that. But it wasn't from a lack of effort, though; they tried hard, but we just weren't quite good enough today."

GAME NOTES

With her single up the middle to start the bottom of the first, Ashton Maloney recorded her 31st leadoff hit of the season.
With a two-out infield single in the bottom of the seventh, Ashton Maloney recorded her 20th multi-hit game of the season, marking the eighth consecutive completed season that at least one Longhorn softball student-athlete has recorded 20-or-more multi-hit games in a season.
With her single up the middle to begin the bottom the fourth, Vanessa Quiroga now has a team-high four pinch hits this season.

UP NEXT

Texas (39-5, 11-4) will return to the softball diamond at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Thursday, April 17, when the Longhorns and No. 5/6 LSU begin a three-game SEC series at 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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