Texas Softball Sweeps Auburn In First SEC Home Series

Texas softball's first home series in the Southeastern Conference has been a wirlwind of emotions.

In its first matchup with No. 23 Auburn on Friday, Texas took down the Tigers in five innings in a dominating performance. On Saturday, Auburn found some force. In a thriller, after beign down 5-0 for the first few innings, sophomore outfielder Katie Stewart homered to the left field in the bottom of the seventh to give the Longhorns' their first and only lead of the game at 7-5, but it was all they needed.

When Auburn started the Sunday game once again with two runs in the first inning, it could have been a bad flashback, but instead, Texas took it all in to come through with an unbelievable performance at the bottom of the second.

While the first inning for scoreless for the Longhorns, the second was the exact opposite. Texas couldn't stop putting runs on the board, and Auburn couldn't get the outs it needed to end the inning. The Horns put on nine runs.

Bases were loaded when Leighann Goode walked, and Joley Mitchell, waiting at third base, got to walk home. By the end of the inning, Katie Cimusz, Stewart, Goode, Kayden Henry, Mia Scott and Reese Atwood had scored.

Besides the early momentum, the Tigers disappeared for the rest of the game, not putting any other runs up. Meanwhile, Texas kept it up. Ashton Maloney scored the sole run of the third inning, and Atwood and Stewart both got their second of the day in the fourth. Adayah Wallace sealed the deal with the 13th run.

On the defensive side, sophomore pitcher Teagan Kavan earned her third pitchers duel win.

“The goal for the weekend was to end Sunday with three more wins and stay near the top in the race for the league championship," head coach Mike White said. "I thought the team played really well over the weekend; offensively, for sure, without a doubt. And Teagan Kavan earning three wins was stellar for us."

Texas will host Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, hoping to avoid a similar fate from its baseball counterparts in last week's loss to UTSA. Then, the Longhorns will travel to Starkville, Miss. for the weekend conference series.

“Looking ahead, Stephen F. Austin will be coming in here looking to upset us – like everyone does because we’ve got a target on our back, and we know that – but it’s going to be on us to play our game and be able to do what we need to win and get better each week," White said. "Each weekend is a new opportunity to get better. Mississippi State is a tough team. They swept Auburn at their place, and I know their crowd will be very vocal and it’s going to be a tough place to play.”