Texas softball continues early-season dominance vs. top 10

In the first couple of weeks 2024 regular season, No. 3 Texas softball has been on fire. Texas swept the competition, going 4-0 in the Stacy Winsberg Tournament last weekend to open the 2024 campaign.

Two of those wins for Texas in the Stacy Winsberg Tournament last weekend came against a top 10 foe in the No. 8 UCLA Bruins. One of those two wins over UCLA saw the Longhorns amass a historic 16-0 shutout win in five innings on Feb. 10.

After the electric 5-0 start that the Longhorns got off to in southern California last weekend, the major polls boosted this team up deservedly into the top five. D1Softball even ranked the Longhorns as high as No. 2, behind only the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, in this week's poll.

Kayden Henry and Reese Atwood lead No. 3 Texas softball to two more top 10 wins to open up this weekend in Clearwater

Texas got another set of tough challenges this weekend in the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, FL, against multiple top 10 foes in the first day of action alone. Sophomore Reese Atwood and the Longhorns battled two top 10 foes just a few hours apart from each other to kick off the action in Clearwater this weekend.

First, Atwood registered the Longhorns' only run batted in to get the narrow 2-1 victory over the No. 2 Tennessee Lady Vols on Feb. 16. Atwood's first-inning RBI combined with three hits and a run from freshman outfielder Kayden Henry was enough to get the Longhorns over the hump against the Lady Vols.

Then, Henry had another big outing for the Longhorns to salt the game away in an impressive and convincing 9-2 win over the No. 9 Stanford Cardinal in the second of two games in Clearwater on Feb. 16. Henry delivered four RBIs on two home runs, along with two RBI and one home run from Atwood in the seven-run win over the Cardinal.

Texas's pitching staff also complimented the Texas bats with another dominant showing on the mound on Feb. 16. The Longhorns still have yet to allow over two runs in a game, which is insane given that four of their first seven contests have come against top 10 foes this season.

Two more ranked foes remain in the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational for Texas

The tough tests keep coming for the Longhorns in Clearwater this weekend. Texas battles the North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats on Feb. 17 in the afternoon and evening for the back-to-back games.

The Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational wraps up for the Longhorns on Feb. 18 against the No. 22 Northwestern Wildcats, with an early-Sunday morning first pitch time at 8:30 a.m. CT.

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