Martinez belts game-ending grand slam in Longhorns' 12-2 win over Sam Houston

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After 11 days between games, the No. 5 Texas Longhorns made easy work of the Sam Houston State Bearkats 12-2 in five innings on Wednesday at McCombs Field.

A grand slam by Texas shortstop Viviana Martinez in the bottom of the fifth pushed the score past the 8-run mercy rule limit and sent the Longhorns to victory in walk-off fashion. It was part of a 6-run frame for the Longhorns as Bella Dayton and Mia Scott both had RBI singles before Martinez's fourth home run of the season. She hit a 2-run double in the first and had six RBIs in the game. She leads the team with 46 RBIs on the year.

Catcher Reese Atwood clubbed her team-leading 11th home run of the season in the third inning, turning a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 Texas lead when she deposited an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall.

Mia Scott went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs from the leadoff spot in the order for Texas. She raised her team-leading batting average to .411 on the year.

Mac Morgan, Estelle Czech and Citlaly Gutierrez split up pitching duties for the Longhorns. Morgan allowed one hit in two innings with a pair of strikeouts and Czech allowed two runs on three innings in the third inning. Gutierrez pitched the final two innings and all three pitchers faced six batters each.

It was the 40th win of the season for the Longhorns and the 200th win at Texas for head coach Mike White. Texas has just three games left in the regular season — a Big 12 Conference series against No. 21 Baylor. The first game of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at McCombs Field with the next two in Waco. The Big 12 Conference tournament is scheduled for May 11-13 in Oklahoma City.