Texas Longhorns Softball Defeats Aggies in Thriller, Sends Super Regional to Game 3

The Texas Longhorns pulled a ninth-inning win to keep their post-season dreams alive

Texas infielder Viviana Martinez (23) passes to first base as the Longhorns play Texas State at McCombs Field on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA

No.1 Texas softball needed a win to stay alive in the postseason, and after a nine-inning matchup, the Longhorns sent the Austin Super Regional to a tiebreaker game.

Going into the fifth inning, the game's fate looked similar to the first matchup the day before. The Aggies led 5-1, but Texas proved its love for a dramatic sixth-inning comeback. Before a wall-pad malfunction delayed play, freshman Kayden Henry ran home on a grounder from pinch hitter Vic Hunter.

Mia Scott fought efforts from Aggie star pitcher Emiley Kennedy with an RBI single into center to bring Ashton Maloney home, followed by Vivi Martinez's 2-RBI shot. After some duct tape work, the delay was over and Big 12 Player of the Year Reese Atwood gave Texas the lead with a bloop single into the left field.

"It's definitely a lot of emotions," Henry said. "A little bit of frustration, you get some irritation, but at the same time knowing that there's a bunch of girls out there for you so those emotions have to be flushed immediately and it's confidence from there on."

By the middle of the seventh, Texas had a three-point lead over the Aggies after Bella Dayton blasted a 2-run homer. Texas A&M wasn't ready to give up, though. At the bottom of the seventh inning, freshman Mya Perez launched a three-run home run to force the game into extra innings.

After a scoreless eight inning, both teams had everything to play for in the ninth.

At the top of the ninth, Henry gave Texas the winner. Mac Morgan was the third Longhorn pitcher to step onto the game after Teagan Kavan and Estelle Czech and held onto 2.1 scoreless innings.

A shot in the Women's College World Series will be decided on May 26 at 6 p.m.