Victoria Hunter's homer lifts Texas past Arizona State, forces Game 3 in softball super regional - Texas News Beep

AUSTIN – Victoria Hunter slugged a pinch-hit, two-run home run over the left field wall in the sixth inning to spark No. 2 seed Texas to a 4-3 comeback win over Arizona State on Saturday night and give the defending national champions new life in the post-season.

Down to their last four outs to avoid elimination, the Longhorn junior from Houston got enough lift off a pitch from Sun Devils ace Kenzie Brown to bring Texas back after trailing most of the game.

Arizona State’s Samantha Swan had just crushed a solo home run off the center-field scoreboard to break a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning and to give the 19th-ranked Sun Devils all the momentum.

Until Hunter changed all that with one electric swing and force a winner-take-all third game at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The come-from-behind win upped Texas’ record to 46-11 and brings it to within one more victory of advancing to the Women’s College World Series for the third straight year.

The right-handed power hitter from St. Pius X had just one home run season in a non-conference game against St. Bonaventure and only six hits and four RBIs all season, but connected off Brown to score herself and Ashton Maloney, who had reached on a single.

Swan, an Austin-area player from Georgetown who was not recruited by Texas, made the Longhorns pay dearly all weekend when the junior catcher rocked Texas pitching for four hits and five RBI in the two games,

Arizona State wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Teagan Kavan because it knocked the reigning WCWS Most Outstanding Player out of the game early for the second consecutive night.

However, No. 2 pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez came to the rescue and the senior right-hander threw five innings of three-hit, one-run softball to improve to 9-3.

Sun Devils ace Kenzie Brown, on the other hand, was in position to win her second game in as many nights, but Hunter had other plans. The senior right-hander struck out 10 in a four-hit complete game Friday night and came on in relief Saturday and gave up one unearned run before Hunter’s blast.

Texas tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth on Katie Stewart’s rocket RBI double inside the third base bag and Reese Atwood’s soft single into center. Atwood was mired in an 0-for-5 slump in the super regional before delivering the clutch hit.

Arizona State was guilty of its first error of the tournament when third baseman Emily Schepp momentarily bobbled Kaiah Altmeyer’s routine grounder and failed to throw out the Longhorn. It was pretty much the only misplay by the visitors in two days.

Arizona State scratched across a run in the second on Brooklyn Ulrich’s smash RBI double off the glove of left fielder Kaiah Altmeyer in the left-center gap, scoring Katie Chester who had walked.

The Sun Devils pushed across another run in the third on three hits for a 2-0 lead, including a double that was misplayed by right fielder Ashton Maloney, and knocked Kavan out of the game.

The game started poorly for the home team when it stranded runners at the corners. Kayden Henry was cut down at the plate on a grounder to shortstop, and Leighann Goode struck out looking.

It got worse in the third when the first two batters reached on Henry’s leadoff double and a Katie Stewart walk. Center fielder Kaylee Pond ran down Viviana Martinez’s shot to the warning track, and Reese Atwood hit into a third-to-first, inning-ending double play.

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This article originally published at Victoria Hunter’s homer lifts Texas past Arizona State, forces Game 3 in softball super regional.

Victoria Hunter’s homer lifts Texas past Arizona State, forces Game 3 in softball super regional

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