After dropping the first game of the series, Texas was able to turn things around and win two straight games on the road. Texas outscored Mississippi State 14–5 in the final two games, remaining undefeated in conference series and claiming its 34th season victory.
Originally scheduled to play just one game against Mississippi State on Friday, the potential for inclement weather pushed Saturday’s games to Friday evening for a thrilling doubleheader.
In game one, the Longhorns lost to the Bulldogs on a devastating two-out and two-strike double, which saw Mississippi State score the game-winning run. The Texas offense was at a stalemate for most of the matchup, going scoreless through the first five innings, struggling against the Bulldogs’ senior star pitcher Raelin Chaffin.
“Obviously, Mississippi State played very well today; great pitching by (Raelin) Chaffin, who did a great job against us, and we had a hard time adjusting to it,” head coach Mike White said. “They came out and swung the bats and won the game there in the last inning with the walk off. They played better than us and they deserved that win.”
The Bulldogs’ hitting wasn’t much better, creating a deficit of just two, which the Longhorns cut down and overtook in the top of the sixth. After junior utility Leighann Goode hit a home run and senior utility Mia Scott and junior catcher Reese Atwood hit RBIs, Texas went up 3–2.
The excitement of a looming comeback was cut short as Mississippi State immediately responded, tying the game in the bottom of the sixth before handing Texas its third loss of the season via a walk-off double down the left field in the seventh.
There was no time to pout over the loss, as Texas had to refocus and regroup to tie the series.
In game two, Texas’ batting was again deflated, having to rally from a 3–0 deficit heading into the fourth inning. Scott sparked the comeback off of a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, which was followed by a run scored by sophomore outfielder Kayden Henry off of a single by Atwood in the sixth inning.
Down by just one run, Texas’ offense put the game to rest in the top of the seventh, scoring five unanswered runs. Graduate infielder Joley Mitchell tied the game with a solo home run, followed by a run scored by junior utility Kaydee Bennett off of a single by Henry. The lead was inflated after Scott blasted a three-run homer.
“Being down in the second game, we were leaking a little bit but were able to string some hits together and found a way to hit Chaffin the second time and hopefully we’ll be able to carry some momentum over into the next game,” White said.
After a competitive doubleheader on Friday night featuring a walk-off victory in game one and a five run final inning in game two, Texas looked toward Sunday to settle the series. Texas clinched the series win, with a dominant 7–2 performance.
Texas kept the momentum it had built at the conclusion of the games on Friday, opening game three of the series with a pair of runs in the first inning of the game. A triple hit to center field from Henry brought home redshirt junior outfielder Ashton Maloney and a sacrifice-fly from Scott added one the second run of the game.
After the early start from Texas, the scoreboard would not move for the next three innings but in the fifth the Longhorns would break the game open with a four-run inning. A repeat of inning number one added to the score. Another base-hit off the bat of Henry once more brought home
Maloney and another hit from Scott brought home Henry. Capping off the inning, Mitchell blasted a two-run home run to center field extending the score six. Texas added one last run in the top of the seventh.
In her six shutout innings of work, Kavan controlled the Bulldogs batters striking out seven and rendering three hits. The Bulldogs took their last opportunity to bat, loading the bases against freshman Cambria Salmon, who came in for Kavan in the seventh.
A mid-inning pitching change from head coach Mike White brought in junior Citlaly Gutierrez to close the door, she did just that striking out the final batter and ending the game with only two runs being given up in the inning.
Texas continues its road trip this time off to Columbia, Missouri as it enters its fourth SEC series on the season, the series against the Missouri Tigers kicks off Friday at 6 p.m.
