Freshman Hannah Wells hit a towering home run and pitched three perfect innings of relief to lead the Texas Longhorns to a 9-1 run-rule victory over the Wagner Seahawks in the opener of the NCAA softball tournament's Austin Regional on Friday at McCombs Field in Texas.

Viviana Martinez, who missed last year's postseason because of injury, had a perfect day at the plate for Texas, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Katie Stewart went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Jaycie Nichols and Wells each added two hits.

Wagner, making its first NCAA postseason appearance in program history, struck first. In the top of the first inning, Payton Janicki hit an RBI double to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead. The Longhorns responded immediately in the bottom half when Martinez hit an RBI double to tie the score.

Texas took the lead for good in the third on another RBI single from Martinez. The Longhorns then broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning, sparked by a solo home run from Wells that landed off the scoreboard. The game ended in the bottom of the fifth when Nichols hit an RBI single, and a second run scored on an error on the play to enforce the run rule.

After entering the game in the third inning, Wells retired all nine batters she faced, striking out seven. Starter Citlaly Gutierrez pitched the first two innings, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts. For Wagner, Janicki finished 1-for-2 with the team's lone RBI. Starting pitcher Samantha Lotus allowed nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits over four innings.

Up next: Regional play in the NCAA softball tournament continues Saturday.

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