Some extra-inning dramatics lifted No. 5 Texas softball to a 6-3 win in Game 3 against No. 15 Georgia Monday in Athens, Ga. More importantly, it clinched a 2-1 SEC series victory for a Longhorn squad reeling a bit following back-to-back series losses against Alabama and Oklahoma.
Leighann Goode and Hannah Wells blasted back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie, and that sudden power surge proved enough for Texas ace Teagan Kavan to get her first win in her past five starts. Kavan worked all eight innings to earn her 12th complete-game win of the season.
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It appeared that Kavan would get the victory in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Georgia’s Jayden Goodwin tied the game with a 1-out, 2-run homer over the right-field wall. Undaunted, Texas opened the top of the eight with a fourth hit of the game by shortstop Vivi Martinez. Goode followed with her ninth homer of the season, and Wells added a solo shot to cap the scoring.
MORE: How ‘Smash Sisters’ Reese Atwood, Katie Stewart super-charge Texas softball
Texas, which faces former Big 12 rival Oklahoma State in a nonconference game Wednesday at McCombs Field in Austin, will resume SEC play this weekend with a home series against Kentucky. The Longhorns (35-7, 12-6 SEC) trail first-place Oklahoma and Alabama by three games in the SEC standings with six games left in the regular season. Georgia (33-13, 10-8) will travel this weekend to Oklahoma.
Read below for a replay and highlights from Monday as the Texas Longhorns won the series against the Georgia Bulldogs.
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Texas Longhorns infielder Leighann Goode (43) reacts to a play for an out during the game against Baylor at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday, March 20, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Teagan Kavan entered the eighth with only 119 pitches, which gave Texas coach Mike White confidence that his ace could finish the game. She rewards that faith with a complete-game win, which is her first win in her past five starts. Georgia draws a walk but nothing else in the bottom of the eighth as Texas escapes Athens with a hard-fought series win.
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Ada Little comes in and avoids any more trouble after Kayden Henry gets called out for leaving first early, but that’s, well, little solace for the Dawgs. The damage has been done by Leighann Goode and Hannah Wells. Can either Teagan Kavan or the Texas bullpen now do its job and win Game 3?
SS Vivi Martinez is 4-for-4 after another single, and 2B Leighann Goode follows with a massive 2-run homer. That infield duo has six of the Longhorns’ 11 hits tonight. Hannah Wells then joins the longball action with a solo homer, the ninth of the season for the freshman. That’s all for Georgia reliever Randi Roelling. Texas hasn’t lost three straight conference series since 2018, which was final season for former head coach Connie Clark.
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Georgia’s Bailey Lindemuth leads off with a double into the left center gap, and Jayden Goodwin follows with a 1-out, 2-run homer over the right-field wall to tie the game. Kavan has now allowed seven home runs in her last four starts, and the latest sends this Game 3 into extra innings.
After walking Ashton Maloney and Kayden Henry, Georgia reliever Randi Roelling gets out of trouble the hard way. She fans Katie Stewart and Reese Atwood to prevent Texas from adding any insurance. Now, it’s up to Teagan Kavan for Texas to win the series, with reliever Citlaly Gutierrez has been staying loose in the bullpen.
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The bad news for Texas? An error on Texas SS Vivi Martinez deep in the hole and a walk and wild pitch from Teagan Kavan put runners on second and third. The good news? Kavan fans the side and how has four strikeouts in her last six batters faced. Clutch pitching has Texas within three outs of a series win.
Texas SS Vivi Martinez bloops a hit into shallow right field, which is her third hit of the game. But Randi Roelling handles the rest of the Longhorns and ends the frame with back-to-back strikeouts.
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Teagan Kavan shakes off that rough fourth inning and retires the Dawgs in order. She’s up to three strikeouts and hasn’t walked a batter or thrown a wild pitch, which coach Mike White likes to refer to as “pitching errors.”
Randi Roelling enters the game in the top of the fifth for Georgia and retires the Longhorns in order. The hard-throwing lefty threw 5 ⅔ innings against Texas in Saturday’s Bulldog win and got knocked around for nine hits and six runs, but she seems to have learned some lessons.
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Texas starter Teagan Kavan had retired eight straight batters before Georgia rallies with two outs. Emily Digby delivers the big hit with a RBI double into left field. The Dawgs had three hits through the first three innings and get that many in the bottom of the fourth. But they do strand two.
Jaycie Nichols get a one-out single up the middle for Texas’s seventh hit but gets caught by Georgia C Marisa Miller. while trying to steal second. The ball quickly goes back to Texas starter Teagan Kavan.
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Teagan Kavan follows the Longhorns’ 3-run inning with a 1-2-3 frame. She gets it with three shallow flyouts. Kavan’s rise ball is working tonight.
Two errors and several misplayed balls cost Georgia. Ashton Maloney reaches base on an error by Georgia SS Emily Digby, Kayden Henry follows with a single to snap an 0-for-8 skid in the series, and Katie Stewart reaches first on a sharply hit ball ruled a hit. Reese Atwood almost hits into her second double play of the game but 2B Keirstin Roose sails a throw into the dugout. Leighann Goode drives in the final run of the frame with a shot off the leg of 3B Bailey Lindemuth. What a wild inning; four Texas hits and all but one went off a Georgia glove and/or body.
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Like Texas, Georgia gets a leadoff hit. But like the Horns, Georgia can’t move Marisa Miller around the bags. Kavan hasn’t had a win in her last four starts, but she’s off to a good start after fanning Bailey Lindemuth for the third out.
Vivi Martinez leads off the frame with a single into center, and Leighann Goode moves her to second with a sacrifice bunt. But Hannah Wells and Kaydee Bennett can’t do anything with Martinez in scoring position.
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Georgia gets a pair of base hits but they strand two after Texas starter Teagan Kavan gets Natalie Ray to hit a soft grounder to first for the third out.
Katie Stewart gets a one-out single for Texas, but Reese Atwood follows with a grounder up the middle that Georgia turns into its fourth double play of the season. The Dawg defense has shown up this series.
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It’s the first time since the opening weekend that Georgia’s Addisen Fisher has started two days in a row. Let’s see if the Longhorns figured anything out from yesterday as Kayden Henry takes a called first strike in Game 3 of the SEC series between two ranked teams.
Texas will start ace Teagan Kavan in Game 3 while Georgia will again turn to Addisen Fisher. Kavan leads Texas with a 15-3 record and boasts a 3.00 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, but she struggled in Game 1 Friday, when she allowed five runs and seven hits in 3 ⅓ innings during the Bulldogs’ 7-5 win. Fisher has a 10-4 record with a 2.23 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, and she’s coming off a complete-game win in Sunday’s 4-2 victory by the Bulldogs.
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SpotPos# PlayerBatsAvg1cf21 Kayden HenryL.39821b20 Katie StewartR.4773c14 Reese AtwoodR.3764ss23 Viviana MartinezL.36652b43 Leighann GoodeR.4006dp13 Hannah WellsR.2917lf5 Kaydee BennettL.30683b24 Jaycie NicholsR.3429rf7 Ashton MaloneyL.30210p17 Teagan KavanR
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SpotPos# PlayerBatsAvg12b42 Roose, KeirstinR.3442lf2 Goodwin, JaydynL.3763dp4 Ellison, TylerR.4364rf7 Gordon, SarahR.4115cf12 Ray, NatalieL.4686c56 Miller, MarisaR.27571b32 Novickas, GabiR.3908ss22 Digby, EmilyR.36393b55 Lindemuth, BaileyR.34310p11 Fisher, AddisenR-
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Where: Jack Turner Softball Stadium in Athens, Ga
TV/radio: SEC Network; texaslonghorns.com