It wasn’t always pretty and it certainly wasn’t easy, but the Texas Longhorns did what they needed to do and beat Arizona State 5-0 in game three of the Super Regional to advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The series can be best epitomized by one at bat … Vivi Martinez’s 17 pitch at bat in the bottom of the fifth.
1 Foul Ball
2 Foul Ball
3 Ball
4 Ball
5 Foul Ball
6 Foul Ball
7 Foul Ball
8 Foul Ball
9 Foul Ball
10 Foul Ball
11 Foul Ball
12 Foul Ball
13 Ball
14 Foul Ball
15 Foul Ball
16 Foul Ball
17 Triple
But it was that kind of series for Texas which dropped game one 4-1 and then had to battle back to win game two thanks to Vic Hunter’s pinch-hit two run homer in the sixth to put Texas ahead for good, 4-3.
“We had to do it the hard way to go against their ace, and we were able to kind of string some hits together,” Texas head coach Mike White said after game two. “ And of course, Vic with the big shot to really, really change the momentum of the game.”
Tegan Kavan came up big in game three with a complete game shutout, only allowing five hits and two walks while racking up five strikeouts.
“My teammates and my coaches told me they believed in me every step of the way,” Kavan said after the game.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Kavan called timeout to go talk to catcher Reese Atwood.
“I called that last timeout because I wanted one last moment with her on this field,” Kavan said after the game. “She deserves to end her college career in Oklahoma City.”
Texas was the last team to punch it’s ticket to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series, but they’re in.
“We’re resilient,” Kavan said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes.”
The field is now set with Texas to face off against Tennessee in the opening round.
