Texas Softball Reaches SEC Tournament Championship Game in Walk-Off Fashion

The Texas Longhorns will play for an SEC title for the first time, reaching the championship game of the SEC Tournament in walk-off fashion.

The Longhorns cruised to the semifinal round after taking down the Ole Miss Rebels in dominating fashion on Thursday evening. Texas would stay in command of Ole Miss for the entire seven innings, scoring a shutout 6-0 win to get one game closer to the title game.

With a ticket to the SEC Tournament's championship game, the Longhorns would battle the No. 9-seeded Georgia Bulldogs, who had come to take down the top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners the day before for the final ticket in the title game. And the Longhorns will extend their stay in Lexington, winning in dramatic fashion 5-4.

Texas Walks Off Back and Forth Affair vs. Georgia

Texas Longhorns infielder Viviana Martinez round second base in the fifth inning of the first game of the Women’s College World Series. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

The first three innings of the ballgame were an old-fashioned pitchers' duel. The Longhorns and the Bulldogs headed into the middle innings all knotted up at zero, with only one hit being recorded between the two teams.

It would be the Longhorns to break the ice in the bottom of the fourth inning, finally getting some runs on the board in the game. And it would be senior Leighann Goode once again to get things started with a two-run home run, which was also her second homer of the SEC Tournament.

Texas would see back-to-back balls leave the yard as freshman Hannah Wells followed Goode's big hit with a solo home run of her own to give the Longhorns a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. However, the lead wouldn't last for long with the Bulldogs finding a response right away at the top of the fifth.

The Longhorns interestingly sent out their ace in junior Teagan Kavan back out to start the semifinal round, after tossing all seven innings against Ole Miss. And for the first four innings, she was in control of the Georgia batting order, but Kavan got herself into trouble in the fifth.

The Bulldogs would put up a four-spot in the inning, taking the lead with a rally that was started by a lead-off solo home run. Georgia would string together another pair of hits to bring in two runs, and then Kavan would be pulled with the game even at three. Senior Citlaly Gutierrez would be brought in to limit the damage; however, the Bulldogs would notch another hit to take the lead.

Now trailing, the Longhorns had two innings left to respond and to keep their championship games alive, and Texas would do just that. Wells would drive once again in the sixth inning to even up the game at four.

And it would be junior Viviana Martinez to deliver the clutch hit and put the Longhorns into the title game. With runners at first and second and two outs in the seventh inning, Martinez would come up clutch, knocking down a walk-off base hit up the middle, allowing the run to score from second.

The Longhorns now look to put their hands on SEC hardware for the first time, taking on the No. 2-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide, who took down the Florida Gators earlier in the day. First pitch of the championship game will be on Saturday, May 9, at 4:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google