No. 3 Longhorns softball notch two more ranked wins to stay undefeated
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The No. 3 Texas Longhorns softball team put up two more impressive wins, beating No. 2 Tennessee 2-1 and No. 9 Stanford 9-2 Friday on the first day of the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Florida.
Texas (7-0) topped the Cardinal in the nightcap by slugging four home runs to drive in all nine runs. Freshman Kayden Henry hit two home runs, a 3-run shot in the third and a solo in the fifth, to lead the way for Texas. Her homer in the third was part of a 5-run third inning that also included a Reese Atwood 2-run blast.
Katie Stewart, another freshman for the Longhorns, got the party started with a 3-run home run in the first inning.
Jade Berry hit a 2-run home run for Stanford in the second inning off freshman pitcher Teagan Kavan, but that was one of two hits Kavan allowed in four innings. She struck out nine without a walk in 14 batters faced. Sophia Simpson and Mac Morgan pitched in relief to help seal the win.
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Against the Lady Volunteers, Texas pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez was terrific at pitching to contact. She went all seven innings, scattering eight hits with six strikeouts while allowing one earned run. She coaxed Tennessee into 11 groundball outs and threw 76 strikes out of 106 pitches for her second win of the season.
Henry had three of Texas' six hits and Atwood smacked an RBI double in the first inning to get things going. The other run for the Longhorns came home on a Tennessee error in the second inning.
Tennessee eliminated the Longhorns from the postseason last year in the super regional round.
Texas resumes tournament play Saturday with a pair of games against North Carolina and No. 18 Kentucky.