Texas Softball Returns Home with a Ranked Conference Series Win vs. Georgia

The Texas Longhorns had been in need of a bounce-back performance after having lost back-to-back series to the Alabama Crimson Tide and Oklahoma Sooners. With their losses, the Longhorns had dropped from the No. 1 team in the country to No. 8.

Over the weekend, the Longhorns had their next chance to rebound, this time heading out on the road after hosting the Sooners a weekend ago. This time out, Texas took a road trip up to Athens for a conference series against a No. 13-ranked Georgia Bulldogs squad.

And the Longhorns were more than up for the challenge, taking on a ranked conference foe on the road. Texas will be heading back to Austin with the series victory, as the teams split the first two games on Saturday and Sunday, and the Longhorns won the series on a Monday rubber game.

Texas Grinds Out Series Win

Texas Longhorns infielder Leighann Goode gestures to teammates as she comes to the plate after hitting a home run. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Longhorns started the series out quickly, taking the first game of the series on Saturday, opening the road matchup with a 7-5 win. However, the first game victory did not come easily, with the Longhorns having to work from a major deficit.

Texas took a slight 1-0 early lead in the first inning, but Georgia roared back with a five-run third inning, forcing the Longhorns to work from behind. And they did just that, scoring runs in the final three innings of the ballgame.

A three-run fifth inning from the Longhorns got the ball rolling to close the gap to a 5-4 Bulldog lead. Texas would find the tying and go-ahead runs in the sixth inning courtesy of RBI base hits from senior Reese Atwood and junior Viviana Martinez, taking a 6-5 lead to the final inning. And in the top of the seventh inning, Texas added another run and slammed the door shut in the bottom of the frame.

Sunday was another close ballgame between the Longhorns and Bulldogs, which saw the home team even up the series as Georgia took the second game 4-2.

Texas would once again take an early lead, scoring a pair in the first inning, but like the first game, Georgia responded in the third inning by tacking on three runs. With a 3-2 lead, the Bulldogs this time would not surrender their advantage, hanging on for the rest of the game while adding another run in the fifth inning as the Longhorns were unable to respond.

With the rubber match set up for Monday, the Longhorns managed to rest after the loss on Sunday and came away with a 6-3 win to take the series.

Just as every game this series played out, the final game of the series would come down to the final inning, and on Monday, that took an extra inning to separate the two ranked teams. The Longhorns led 3-1 headed into the bottom of the seventh inning, and while down to their final three outs, the Bulldogs powered a two-run home run to extend the game to an eighth inning.

And it would be in the top of the eighth inning, when the Longhorns put the finishing touches on their conference win. Senior Leighann Goode blasted a two-run home run, and freshman Hannah Wells followed with a solo homer for back-to-back jacks, giving the Longhorns the win after the Bulldogs were unable to muster a response.

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