The Kansas softball team took down No. 8 Texas 9-3 on Friday night in the opening game of a three-game Big 12 series Friday night at Red & Charline McCombs Field.
It marked KU’s first win over the Longhorns since 2016 and the first time since 2005 that the program has picked up two road wins over ranked teams in the same season. The Jayhawks won at No. 21 Baylor on March 31.
Friday’s win snapped a 15-game losing streak for the Jayhawks against UT.
The Jayhawks prevailed over Texas behind a complete game from junior left hander Kasey Hamilton in the circle and two home runs from sophomore Olivia Bruno.
“We’ve been talking about how close we were,” KU coach Jennifer McFalls said following the victory. “We weren’t caught up in rankings or anything like that. Texas is a great program, we obviously know they’re in the top 10. The whole focus was on us this week and our plan of attack. I had one word for them before the game, ‘believe’, and they just had to trust themselves. We got it from everywhere tonight, in the circle, offensively and defensively. Just really proud of our fight. Total team effort tonight.”
The Longhorns responded to their ninth loss of the season on Friday with a convincing win over the Jayhawks on Saturday.
Texas (35-9-1 overall, 7-4 Big 12) held KU (20-8, 2-6) to just one hit in a 10-0 victory that was shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule.
The Longhorns scored nine of their 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning.
KU and UT will close out the series at noon on Sunday.
