No. 8/8 Longhorns Win Austin Regional, Advances to NCAA Super Regional

With their second defeat over Texas A&M, the Texas Longhorn softball program remained undefeated in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals on Sunday.

As the No. 8/8 Longhorns took the field to host the championship game of the Austin Regional against Texas A&M, Texas softball head coach Mike White had a goal for his team: establish and early lead and remain consistent.

Texas' first two batters set that tone.

“First off, what a great performance by our team," White said. "Obviously, we knew that (Texas) A&M was going to bring it today. We knew they’d be a tough, tough opponent. They had plenty of pitching to throw at us. Fortunately, we were able to get off to a great start, and then we were able to escape some jams throughout the game with our pitching."

Texas' lead-off batter, Leighann Goode, was able to draw a walk to kick off the Longhorns' offense after falling behind on a 1-2 pitch count. Up next from the batter's box, Mia Scott's centerfield single, eventually recorded as an error for the Aggies, allowed Goode to score from first and Scott to reach third base.

Thirteen short pitches later, off of junior first baseman Courtney Day's bat to the right field corner, the Longhorns extended their lead to 3-0.

In the top of the fifth inning, Texas had the opportunity to end the game early with a run-rule defeat. Day, once more, proved to be consistently dominant on Sunday by clearing the bases with a double to the left-centerfield gap that brought the Longhorns to a 10-2 lead over the Aggies.

"Obviously, Courtney Day had a day — no pun intended — getting five RBIs and really setting up the tone," White said. "... The players can make you look good and bad at times. Today, they made me look good. But again, A&M, they fought hard and it's going to be an interesting series once we move to the SEC in a couple of years.”

Looking to stay alive, the Aggies hit a three-run home run in the last out of the fifth inning that was able to extend their playing time.

However, Texas' early dominance and consistent at-bats were too demanding of the Aggies and the Longhorns took the Austin Regional Championship title, winning 11-5.

For the first time since 2013, Sunday's win marked the first time the Longhorns have gone 3-0 in the NCAA Regional in program history.

The Longhorns will now hit the road to compete in the NCAA Super Regional against Tennessee on May 26 in Knoxville. 

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You can follow Tori Garcia on Twitter @ToriCGarcia

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