Reese Atwood breaks Texas softball single-season home run record with third-inning blast vs. Texas Tech
As Texas headed to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech in the final regular-season series, Reese Atwood made history. With a third-inning home run – her second of the day – she set the Longhorns’ single-season record.
Atwood hit a three-run shot to straightaway centerfield for her 19th home run of the year. That broke the previous mark held by Taylor Hoagland, who hit 18 homers during the 2012 season.
Atwood’s record-breaking home run was part of a monster day for Texas. She extended the lead to 12-0 in the top of the third inning as the top-ranked Longhorns look to close out the regular season strong before their final Big 12 Tournament starts next week.
All told, Reese Atwood had seven RBI against Texas Tech after entering the game with the second-highest batting average on the team, trailing only Ashton Maloney. She also extended her all-time program lead for single season RBI, now with 78 to her name entering Sunday’s regular season finale.
Texas is in the midst of a strong last season in the Big 12 before leaving for the SEC next year, along with Oklahoma. The Longhorns brought a 43-6 overall record into Saturday’s second game of the series against Texas Tech, although they faced an early deficit. The Red Raiders jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Texas turned on the jets en route to the 13-3 victory via the 5-run rule.
Both teams also had to battle the weather, and Mike White praised his group for staying the course through the delays and bouncing back strong after trailing 2-0 early.
“Obviously, there were a lot of delays because of the weather and uncertainty if there would be hail, tornadoes or whatever,” White said. “So, I thought the team did a really good job of staying present in the moment, then being down 2-0 was tough as well.
“Mac (Morgan) had to battle through a little bit, then Teagan (Kavan) came in and did a good job. We fought back from that 2-0 deficit straightaway, and I thought that was really important and then we just kept on putting runs up on the scoreboard.”
Texas now moves up a half game on Oklahoma in the Big 12 standings as the Sooners wait to play the second game of their series against Oklahoma State. The race for the conference title remains interesting heading into the final game of the 2024 regular season on Sunday.