AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 3 Texas and BYU played a doubleheader Friday to quickly end a Big 12 softball series due to potential severe weather in the Austin area, but the only thunder in the area came from the Longhorns’ offense.
Texas won the first game 7-3 and capped it with a 10-0 mercy-rule victory in five innings to move to 5-1 in conference play.
Freshman Kayden Henry went 3-for-3 in the second game with two doubles, two RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. She drove in two runs with a double in the second inning and scored on a wild pitch in the first. She also picked up two hits in the opening game including a double and another stolen base.
Ryan Brown, another Texas freshman, had the first hit of her college career clear the wall. She smacked a 2-run homer over the left-center field wall as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning
Texas had 16 hits across the doubleheader, eight in each game, including a bases-clearing triple by Viviana Martinez in the third inning of the second game. The Longhorns had six hits for extra bases on the day with five in the second game.
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Citlaly Gutierrez was terrific in the second game for the Longhorns in the circle. She allowed just one hit in five innings with two strikeouts, forcing 10 of the 16 batters she faced to ground out. She needed just 53 pitches to get through the game and lowered her season ERA to 1.17. It’s her fifth win of the season.
In the opener, freshman Teagan Kavan pitched 4 1/3 innings but didn’t factor into the decision. Mac Morgan pitched 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief to earn credit for her sixth win of the year.
The Longhorns (24-3, 5-1 Big 12) will hit the road to Florida for four games starting Wednesday against No. 16 Florida State, then a 3-game Big 12 series with Central Florida starting Friday.