Katie Stewart Powers Texas Softball Over East Texas A&M in Midweek Action

The Texas Longhorns are still rolling as they've been expected to, as the defending national championship returned home after starting conference play on the road against a ranked South Carolina team and pieced together a series sweep to get things started in the SEC.

Coming off the sweep over the weekend and before its next conference series this weekend, the Longhorns paused and took a break from the SEC for some midweek action as Texas hosted the East Texas A&M Lions.

And as expected, against what would be considered inferior competition, the Longhorns dominated with a 10-1 run-rule victory, which makes it 13 run-rule victories for the Longhorns through their first 24 games of the season.

Texas Missed Key Chances Until It Didn't

Texas Longhorns utility Katie Stewart hits a single in the first inning against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

It was a quick start for the Longhorns as they got their first three batters on base with no outs to get things started against the Lions. However, the Longhorns were unable to make the first inning much bigger than it was as Reese Atwood brought a run home with a sac-fly, and that was it.

Getting several runners on and leaving them stranded was a recurring theme for the Longhorns throughout the night, as they did the same in the second inning and managed to get just two runs after having eight batters get into the box.

Texas once again sent eight batters to the plate in the third inning and was unable to come away with a big inning, squeezing just a pair of runners out of the opportunity.

"We want to come into the game and hit the ball hard all night, and we really didn't do that, so credit to them," head coach Mike White said. "They kept us off balance, but then again, I don't know if our preparation was great either, so I'll take the blame."

However, a bat that came to life in the later innings was of junior utility Katie Stewart, who, after being 0-2 in her first two at-bats, settled into the batter's box to lead off the fourth inning and pieced together a no-doubter for a solo home run shot.

And in the fifth inning to seal the run-rule victory, the Longhorns were finally able to cash in on an opportunity with several runners on base. As with the bases loaded, Stewart followed that solo round-tripper with a grand slam to center field to place the finishing touches on the ballgame.

"I know when I hit it good, it should go over," Stewart said. "Me and Coach E (Earleywine) talked one time, just knowing that when I barrel a ball, more likely than not it's going to go over the fence as long as I hit it in the right spot."

The Longhorns get back to the diamond quickly as they get ready to host their first conference series at home, as they welcome in the Ole Miss Rebels, who have a 19-8 record through the first part of the season. The first game of the series is slated for March 13 at 5:30 PM.