Reese Atwood Leaves Texas-Arizona Softball Game After Scary Hit-by-Pitch

A scary scene unfolded during the Texas-Arizona softball game on Friday afternoon at the DeMarini Invitational at Stanford Softball Stadium.
In the top of the third inning, Texas catcher Reese Atwood was hit in the face by a pitch from Arizona starter Jalen Adams. She immediately left the game bloodied.
Taylor Anderson was inserted as a pinch runner and Katie Stewart moved from first base to behind the plate.
The game between the No. 3 Longhorns and No. 16 Wildcats is not available via stream but is available via Texas radio.
Reese Atwood left the game after being hit by the pitch. I knew they ran for her, but live stats didn't tell me anything else. Finally got the TX radio to work, though.
— Kim Doss (@KimDoss71) February 20, 2026
Hope Reese Atwood is ok after getting a pitch to the head. Thankful for the good depth Texas has for cases like this.
— Seth-CodyH93 (@Harvey93x) February 20, 2026
Atwood returned to the Texas lineup in the Longhorns' late afternoon matchup against Stanford. She was 1-for-2 with a double and a strikeout.
The senior catcher didn't start against the Cardinal and entered the game a substitution for outfielder Kaiah Altmeyer in third inning. She stayed in the game and returned to her spot behind the plate.
Texas Run Rules Arizona
The Longhorns raced out an early lead against the WIldcats and never looked back, clinching a 12-2 win.
Texas scored two in the first, two in the third, four in the fourth and four in the seventh.
Junior Teagan Kavan pitched a complete game, striking out 10, walking four, and allowing two unearned runs to score on three hits.
Ten different Longhorns recorded a hit with Ashton Maloney and Leighann Good each had two.
Katie Stewart drove in three runs and went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a home run. Mataia Lawson and Kaydee Bennett had two RBIs each.
As for Arizona, Adams was handed the loss after allowing six earned runs to score on six hits and two walks. She also hit three batters and struck out three in 3.0 innings of work.
Rylie Holder pitched 3.1 innings and allowed six runs, five earned, on six hits and one free pass. Jenae Berry got the final two outs of the contest.
Longhorns Hold On Against Cardinal
A three-run third for Texas was enough to hold off a late rally from Stanford in a 4-3 at Stanford Softball Stadium.
Maloney paced the Longhorns at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, but it was Stewart's three-run home run that sealed the victory.
Stanford trailed 4-1 heading into the seventh inning and loaded the bases for Izzy Cacatian with one out. The Cardinal backstop drove in two runs on a sacrifice fly to left field and a throwing error.
Kavan earned the win for Texas, pitching 5.0 innings and allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
Recommended Links
-1d7db99dccc9abef7b9378f016b22b68.webp)
Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.