Texas softball blanks Baylor, advances to seventh consecutive Super Regional
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Texas softball got the better of an in-state foe on Sunday, shutting out Baylor 7-0 in the Austin regional final to punch its ticket to Super Regionals for a seventh straight season.
In a battle of teams that duked it out in the Big 12 before Texas moved to the SEC, the Longhorns — the designated visiting team in this one and the No. 2 national seed — jumped ahead early. After Kayden Henry led off with a single, Katie Stewart lifted a soaring home run to left field to make it a 2-0 Texas lead in the top of the first.
Texas went up 3-0 on Henry’s RBI single in the second before a Baylor error in the fourth allowed Viviana Martinez to score to make it 4-0. The Longhorns then put it away in the top of the sixth as back-to-back homers by Henry and Stewart and a solo shot from Reese Atwood upped the lead to 7-0.
Henry and Stewart combined to go 5-7 with five RBIs. Stewart was walked twice as she ended up reaching on all four of her plate appearances. Longhorns right-hander Teagan Kavan scattered three hits across seven innings, walking none and striking out three.
The Longhorns were nothing short of dominant in Regionals, outscoring opponents 25-1. Texas pitching struck out 24 batters while allowing just seven hits and three walks.
Texas, looking for a third straight College World Series berth and a second straight national championship, now awaits the winner of the College Station Regional between Texas A&M and Arizona State.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
