AUSTIN (KXAN) — Behind the strength of a 5-inning no-hitter to open the series Saturday, No. 1 Texas swept a 3-game series at Missouri over the weekend in Southeastern Conference softball action.
Teagan Kavan spun a gem in Saturday’s opening game, striking out 11 without a walk while facing 17 batters to lead the Longhorns to an 8-0 run rule-shortened win. Texas then swept a doubleheader Sunday 4-3 and 3-1 to stay on top of the SEC standings at 10-2.
Two fielding errors kept Kavan from a perfect game. It was the first no-hitter of the sophomore’s career at Texas and the 57th in program history.
“Teagan was just in control,” Longhorns head coach Mike White said. “She was just down to business and able to shut Missouri down.”
The conditions in Columbia, Missouri, weren’t ideal for outdoor activities with a high temperature of 46 degrees, but they didn’t seem to bother Kavan, a West Des Moines, Iowa, native.
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“I was just letting it roll and throwing what was working,” she said. “I was hitting my locations and just trying to take it one pitch at a time.”
The Longhorns offense spotted her four runs before her first pitch with a Reese Atwood sacrifice fly and a Joley Mitchell 3-run home run. Texas scored a run in the third and three more in the fifth.
Kaydee Bennett had three hits from the No. 9 spot in the batting order while Atwood, Mia Scott and Ashton Maloney each had two hits.
In the doubleheader Sunday, the Longhorns were out-hit 6-4 in the first game and had to hold off a rally to win. Like Saturday, Texas plated four runs in the first inning. Mitchell hit an RBI single, and then Katie Stewart blasted a 3-run home run for the early lead.
Texas used three pitchers in the game — Mac Morgan, Citlaly Gutierrez and Kavan — with Gutierrez picking up the win in relief. Morgan went the first three innings with four strikeouts and two walks before Gutierrez entered and tossed 3.1 innings with five strikeouts.
Despite allowing a 3-run home run to Kara Daly in the seventh, Kavan earned a save.
In the finale, Texas needed extra innings to win. Kavan picked up her 17th win of the season, going all eight innings with 13 strikeouts and no walks. She allowed one run, a Madison Walker solo home run in the fourth, and six hits.
Mia Scott hit a solo homer in the fourth, and the game was 1-1 after seven following a replay review that upheld an interference call to end Missouri’s half.
In the eighth, Mitchell hit a deep fly ball to the right-center field warning track with the bases loaded, allowing speedsters Kayden Henry and Maloney to score on a rare 2-run sacrifice fly. Kavan retired the side to preserve the win.
Texas (37-3, 10-2 SEC) hosts Texas State at 6 p.m. Wednesday before welcoming No. 9 Tennessee to Austin for a 3-game series starting Friday.
