Texas Softball alive in NCAA Tournament after epic comeback

It looked like the season was over for Texas Softball on Saturday afternoon. It was going to be four frustrating losses this season to Texas State.

Then, the Longhorns softball team had enough. Texas mounted an epic rally to beat Texas State 6-3 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the final day of the College Station Regional on Sunday.

Texas State already beat the Longhorns 2-1 in 12 grueling innings on Friday. But, on Saturday, Texas State lost to Texas A&M and the Longhorns beat Texas Southern in an elimination game.

That set the stage for an elimination game between the Longhorns and Bobcats. After losing three battles against Texas State by the exact same score of 2-1 this season, Texas finally broke through in a big way.

The Rally to Save a Season

Texas Softball was down 3-0 entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Not only had they not scored a run in the game, but they were being no-hit by Texas State pitcher Quincy Charleston.

Texas has struggled offensively all season, but this would have been the ultimate gutpunch to have the season end on a no-hitter against an in-state opponent.

However, Stephanie Wong, the hometown senior from Austin said this was not happening on her watch. And, definitely not in possibly her last at-bat as a Longhorn.

Stephanie got things started with a leadoff walk. So many rallies start this way in baseball and softball, creating a snowball effect.

Devon Tunning then picked up Texas’ first hit of the day to put runners on first and second. Down 3-0, Texas proceeded to explode for six runs:

• Wong walk
• Tunning single
• Groundout to advance the runners (first out)
• Two-run single (Texas State 3-2)
• Single
• Walk (based loaded)
• Infield Fly (two outs)
• Infield single (tied 3-3)
• Kaitlyn Washington three-run double (Texas 6-3)

That is the anatomy of a perfect softball rally. It was stunning to see Texas go from zero runs on zero hits to six runs on five hits in one inning.

The benefactor was Erica Wright, who pitched all seven innings in the game, including the top of the seventh to seal the win.

It was magical, unexpected, stunning, and needed. It looked like the season was going to end without even facing Texas A&M in the regional.

Next Up: An Old Rival

Now, Texas Softball has two choices:

(1) Be content with a magical rally to beat Texas State after losing three times by the same frustrating 2-1 score.

(2) Springboard off the win into an even more shocking result on Sunday.

Texas has to beat the Aggies twice on their home field on Sunday. This will be difficult against one of the best teams in college baseball, especially when the Longhorns’ offense has been so inconsistent this season.

Texas Softball showed a lot of heart and Texas Fight on Saturday to even make it this far in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they need a little bit more on Sunday against their long-time rival.