Texas softball is moving on. The defending national champion Longhorns slammed Baylor in the NCAA Regional Final to advance to the Super Regional. The Longhorns will face the Arizona State Sun Devils, who upset the Texas A&M Aggies.
UT beat Baylor 7-0 to cap a perfect Austin Regional performance. Texas beat Wagner 9-1 on Friday and Wisconsin 9-0 on Saturday. It was expected the Super Regional would be a showdown of old rivals Texas and Texas A&M. But ASU had other ideas.
The Sun Devils run-ruled the Aggies 9-1 in College Station. An embarrassing end to what was a good season for Aggies softball. The Sun Devils are led by ace pitcher Kenzie Brown. Texas coach Mike White already knows how good the senior right-hander can be.
“She can spin it,” White said. “She’s a really, really good pitcher.”
Over the past two seasons, Brown has thrown 350 innings for the Sun Devils while compiling an overall ERA of 1.78 with a 35-14 record. ASU upset Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament.
Against the Bears, Texas took control of the game early. The Horns blasted four home runs against Baylor, led by Katie Stewart. The junior blasted a two-run shot in the first inning.
“I think I’m getting spoiled with these opening runs in the first inning,” White said. “So it kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off, for sure, and helps out pitching and start and the team play.”
UT built a 4-0 lead into the sixth inning where the Longhorns put the game away with three homers. Kayden Henry blasted a homer out to center to start the fireworks. Stewart would then go back-to-back, hitting her second of the day. Finally, senior Reese Atwood left the park to right-center field.
Texas ace pitcher Teagan Kavan didn’t give the Bears any hope of a comeback, throwing a complete game shutout.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas softball advances to NCAA Super Regional, will face Arizona St.
Reporting by Trey Luerssen, Longhorns Wire / Longhorns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
