Texas softball’s first conference series against South Carolina last weekend allowed fans to catch a glimpse of a team that isn’t coasting on its ace pitcher and isn’t rattled when mistakes are made.
The Longhorns swept the Gamecocks in Columbia, South Carolina, in a display of mental toughness and the ability to adapt when mistakes were made. Despite over half of Texas’ games ending in run-rule victories going into the weekend, Texas played all 21 innings and outscored South Carolina 12-4.
Texas’ pitching was one of the main reasons the Longhorns were able to clinch their first series against a Southeastern Conference opponent. Junior pitcher Teagan Kavan threw a total of eight innings across the weekend in a full game on Friday and the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday to secure a title as the SEC Pitcher of the Week. She recorded a .88 ERA and surrendered one earned run on six hits.
“I think in any opportunity we get where we’ve got a lead, and we can hang onto it by using our ace, I think we’ll do that,” head coach Mike White said. “You don’t want to overwork anybody, and not only is it physically tough, it’s mentally tough.”
Senior pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez started and pitched six innings in Saturday’s shutout, giving up just four hits in 22 at-bats and a lone wild pitch early in the first inning. Freshman pitcher Hannah Wells got the start on Sunday, with sophomore pitcher Cambria Salmon wrapping up the game in 1.1 innings.
White is pleased that the pitching depth allows Kavan to rest while giving underclassmen opportunities to grow against opponents.
“The more we can save her and keep her fresh, the better,” White said. “We’ve got to be able to use everybody to give them opportunities as well and be ready for a deep run.”
Even with a stacked pitching roster, Texas’ defense can’t get complacent. White noted that the team still has to clean up its errors if it wants to be fighting for another championship.
“We do have a number of errors, though,” White said. “We are making some mistakes. We were just fortunate that our pitching was able to shore that up.”
Across three games, Texas committed four fielding errors, but combined with the pitching, the Longhorns were able to secure all three wins. The infield is still committed to cleaning up its performance.
“Having a lot of veterans on the infield with (senior infielder ) Leighann (Goode), and (junior infielder Viviana Martinez), and so having their presence there, it really helps us stay connected,” junior catcher and infielder Katie Stewart said last week ahead of the South Carolina series.
Texas plays East Texas A&M on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at Red & Charline McCombs Field.