No. 1 Texas softball rolls in Big 12 tournament opener, will face Baylor in semifinals

Thomas Jones, Austin American-Statesman
Texas Longhorns infielder Katie Stewart (20) celebrates a home run hit during the game against Iowa State at Red and Charline McCombs Field on Friday, April 26, 2024 in Austin.
Texas Longhorns infielder Katie Stewart (20) celebrates a home run hit during the game against Iowa State at Red and Charline McCombs Field on Friday, April 26, 2024 in Austin.

Texas picked up where it left off with a 13-4 win over Texas Tech in its first game at the Big 12 softball tournament on Thursday.

Now, the No. 1 Longhorns hope to stay hot against Baylor in a Big 12 semifinal Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Texas Tech, which lost all three of its game in the final series of the regular season against Texas last weekend, took an early 1-0 lead but Texas (46-6) didn't waste any time in gaining the lead at Oklahoma City's recently renamed Devon Park. Freshman Katie Stewart smacked a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the first, and Stewart, Joley Mitchell and Mia Scott all blasted home runs in the second inning as the Longhorns' lead ballooned to 8-1.

More: Will the Big 12 Tournament champ be the No. 1 overall NCAA seed? Texas says likely yes.

Vivi Martinez added a 3-run homer in the third inning as Texas set a program record for the most runs scored in a single game during the Big 12 tournament.

"Obviously, playing Texas Tech for a fourth time in a week, you always kind of worry about those kinds of setups and how things are going to go and being down one run straight away, but we were able to bend but not break and came right back out and score," Texas coach Mike White said. "And we needed that, then we kept the momentum. You have to credit (Texas Tech) for everything, because they were down but never stopped fighting just like they did yesterday. But we were able to push runs across, so I was really happy with the way the ladies played."

Top-seeded Texas, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation by every major poll, will face off with fourth-seeded Baylor Friday. The Longhorns scored 32 runs while sweeping the Bears in their three-game series earlier in the season.

Second-seeded Oklahoma will face No. 6 BYU in the other Big 12 semifinals after BYU stunned third-seeded Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: No. 1 Texas softball rolls in Big 12 tournament opener, will face Baylor

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