No. 3 Texas softball returned home for its last invitational before the start of conference play, with four teams scheduled to try and best the 15-1 Longhorns. 

The Longhorn Invitational begins Friday with a matchup between Houston and Texas, a game that, for head coach Mike White, hits close to home. White’s daughter, Nyree White, is an assistant coach for the Cougars. “She wanted to know who was pitching, and I wouldn’t tell her,” White said. “It’s going to be interesting.”

There’s a possibility Texas will face sophomore pitcher Nevaeh Brown, who has a 6-0 record. The Texan holds a 1.52 ERA, only giving up nine earned runs and 24 hits in 41.1 innings.

To compare, junior pitcher Teagan Kavan has pitched 43.0 innings and given up 15 earned runs, registering a 2.44 ERA. However, over half of those runs were against top-20 ranked teams. In the Longhorns’ last game against Southeastern Louisiana, Kavan delivered a strong performance, giving up two runs and five hits while registering eight strikeouts.

“Sometimes, when it gets long counts, I’m just letting the game speed up and not taking it pitch by pitch, just worried about the next pitch instead of the present one,” Kavan said. Saturday is Texas’ last doubleheader of the regular season, in which the team will take on St. Bonaventure and Prairie View A&M. Texas will then wrap up the weekend against University of the Incarnate Word on Sunday.

Texas’ power hitters, senior catcher Reese Atwood and junior catcher and infielder Katie Stewart, will challenge these teams’ defenses this weekend. Against Southeastern Louisiana, Atwood launched the first ball she saw past the outfield fences for her eighth home run of the season. In 16 games, she has racked up 28 RBIs and 21 hits in 42 at-bats. 

Stewart hit four home runs in five straight games at the DeMarini Invitational, making herself an integral part of the Longhorns’ outscoring their opponents 48-9. Even with Texas’ success last weekend, White has certain things he wants to see change going into this tournament.

“I think sometimes we’re really focused on the really high velocity, and the slow stuff can kind of get us a little bit,” White said. “We’re always working on something, especially our base running, too. We had some runners thrown out during the weekend.”

This weekend will give the Longhorns’ pitching staff a chance to make any adjustments before the first Southeastern Conference series of the season at South Carolina. While Kavan is certainly at the top of the depth, sophomore pitchers Cambria Salmon and Brenlee Gonzales, as well as senior pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez, have all been developing their skills for the number two slot. 

“Gonzales pitched well for us in a big situation against Santa Clara,” White said. “They were really hitting the ball pretty well off (Cambria), and she came in and shut them down pretty much.”

Texas will take on the Houston Cougars at Red and Charline McCombs Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m..