Texas Softball Battles in Thriller to Force Game Three of Austin Super Regional

The Texas Longhorns will keep their season alive for just a little bit longer as they battle in game two of the Austin Super Regional to live another day and force a winner-take-all decisive game three on Sunday.

The Longhorns took the field at Red and Charline McCombs Field on Saturday, needing to win no matter what. Texas would put itself into that position after dropping game one of the Austin Super Regional 4-1 to the Arizona State Sun Devils.

And with their backs against the wall, the Longhorns were more than up for the challenge, forcing game three after a 4-3 win over the Sun Devils on Saturday night.

Texas Comes Up Clutch to Extend Austin Super Regional

Texas Longhorns pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez pitches during a game against Ole Miss at Jack Turner Stadium. | Mady Mertens-Imagn Images

The Longhorns needed any offensive production after a disappointing showing in game one, and through the first few innings of game two, history looked like it was bound to repeat itself. Texas did not face off against Arizona State's ace Kenzie Brown, taking on the Sun Devils secondary arm in Meika Lauppe, who picked up right where Brown left off.

The Sun Devils would once again strike first, scoring runs in the second and third innings while the Longhorns' bats continued to be held in check. Texas would be held scoreless through the first four innings, only registering a pair of hits.

And while the Longhorns started the game struggling inside the batter's box, the struggles bled into the pitcher's circle. The Longhorns, unlike the Sun Devils, started their ace in junior Teagan Kavan.

However, Kavan wouldn't have her best start, pitching in just two innings on Saturday, exiting the game after tossing 42 pitches. The junior surrendered three hits, a pair of walks, and two earned runs while leaving the game without a strikeout.

Kavan would start the third inning but would be pulled after allowing the first two batters on base, and the Longhorns would turn to a veteran option in senior Citlaly Gutierrez to help minimize the damage. The senior would get out of that inning with just one run scoring, keeping the Longhorns in the game.

It wouldn't be until the top of the fifth inning that the Longhorns' offense finally got rolling. Leading 2-0, the Sun Devils would bring in their ace, Brown, to protect the lead. However, the Longhorns would have other ideas as they received big-time hits from their big-time players with junior Katie Stewart and senior Reese Atwood driving in two runs to square the game.

While the Longhorns breathed a little bit of hope late in the game, the Sun Devils responded in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run off of Gutierrez to retake a 3-2 lead. However, the Longhorns would gain their first lead of the Austin Super Regional in the sixth inning thanks to an unlikely source.

With the tying run aboard, Longhorns head coach Mike White went to a pinch hitter in junior Victoria Hunter, and the decision would pay off. Hunter would square up a 2-0 offering from Brown, and she would blast it to left field for a two-run and go-ahead home run.

"Just what you see day in and day out in practice, the way she's (Hunter) hitting the ball hard," White said. "She squashes the thing in practice, not so much the home runs, but the exit velocity is eighty plus all the time, and making solid contact. Getting her an opportunity to show that and do that was just what we needed at that time."

For the Sun Devils, their single run in the fifth inning would be the last bit of offensive production that they would manage. Gutierrez would shut down the Sun Devils in the final two innings, retiring the final six batters she faced.

The senior turned in a gutsy performance, giving the Longhorns five innings of relief while allowing three hits, an earned run, and striking out six batters.

"I just wanted to lay it all out there, no matter what the outcome would be," Gutierrez said. "Last night after the loss, Coach Z mentioned if that was our last game, did we leave it all out there?" And I just thought about it a lot last night and reflected on the game, and no matter what my role was going to be in the game...to leave it all out there and play for everybody on the team.

The Longhorns and Sun Devils face off in game three of the Austin Super Regional with a ticket to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series on the line. First pitch for game three is set for Sunday, May 24 at 3:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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