Longhorns advance to eighth Women's College World Series
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas softball had their hands full with ACC champs Clemson Tigers in a three-game series in Super Regionals, but managed to punch their ticket to Norman, OK with a 6-5 win Saturday night.
Three gritty games against 11-seed Clemson were probably the last thing Longhorns’ fans expected, after 6-seed Texas swept through their opponents in Regionals.
Clemson arrived on the 40-acres with every intention of spoiling the Longhorns’ season, and until the final out Saturday night, they were able to back it up.
Starting with game one on Thursday, a 90-minute weather delay worked in favor of the Tigers, who eventually won 7-4 to start the series.
The ACC champs followed up game one with 10 innings in game two, which lasted nearly four hours, until Texas tied the series 1-1, winning 7-5.
Finally, on Saturday, Clemson started the game down 3-0 after two innings but fought back and trailed 6-2 going into the seventh frame. Texas put on a hitting display with the help of Leighann Goode, finishing the night at the plate 3-3, two runs batted in, and crossing home plate once.
In the final plate appearance, Clemson had Texas fans on the edge of their seats after a two-run homerun by Julia Knowler, making it a 6-5 Texas lead with one out.
With a runner on second and two outs, senior pitcher Mac Morgan fielded a groundball to earn the final out and a 5-6 victory and head to the WCWS for the third time in four years.
