Saturday started with a familiar heartache for the No. 18/21 Kentucky softball team and ended with the sweet taste of redemption.

The Wildcats (5-5) fell to No. 11 Texas (7-1) in another one-run late-inning loss, their fourth such loss of the young season, during their first game of the day at the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Invitational.

During the evening cap the Wildcats run-ruled No. 22 Oregon in five innings. The Ducks ended the Wildcats seasons the last two years in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory was the Cats first of the campaign against a ranked opponent.

Kentucky concludes their weekend in the Sunshine State at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow against No. 23 James Madison.

Texas 4, Kentucky 3

The Longhorns got a one-out walk-off single from junior first baseman Kaitlyn Washington in the bottom of the 7th inning to edge the Wildcats in a thriller.

Texas took an early lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning thanks to an RBI triple by Bekah Alcozer.

Kentucky answered in the top of the 3rd with two runs from the bats of seniors Jenny Schaper and Abbey Cheek.

Oregon transfer Lauren Burke doubled in the bottom of the 6th, plating two runs in the process and giving the Horns a 3-2 lead.

Kentucky sophomore Mallory Peyton tied the game at 3 in the top of the 7th with a solo home run, her fourth of the season.

Hits were sparse for Kentucky against the Texas pitching combination of Miranda Elish, another Oregon transfer, and Brooke Bollinger (2-1). The pair held the Cats to five hits with not one lady in Blue and White recording a multi-hit game.

Despite taking the loss and dropping her record to 1-3 on the season, UK ace Grace Baalman hung tough against a talented Texas lineup. The right-hander from Illinois threw 6.1 innings in the circle, giving up four runs on nine hits. She also struck out five batters.

Kentucky 12, Oregon 3

The Wildcats pounded out 12 runs on 11 hits, including three home runs, to run-rule the Ducks in five innings.

Mallory Peyton started again at the plate for Kentucky. She crushed a game-clinching home run to left field in the bottom of the 5th inning to go along with an RBI-double in the bottom of the 4th.

Peyton finished the game 2-of-4 in the batter's box. The Madisonville native's homer, her fifth of the year, and three RBI lifted her totals to four and 10 in the respective categories for the tournament.

Senior catcher Jenny Schaper doubled in the bottom of the 1st inning to bring UK's first two runs home. Schaper finished 2-of-3 at bat.

Abbey Cheek homered for the second time in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Maclai Branson's RBI single and Kelsee Henson's RBI double rounded out a three-run rally for UK.

Sarah Rainwater's single in the bottom of the 4th added two more runs to the Cats' tally.

Katie Reed's second home run of 2019, a two-run blast, set the stage for Peyton's finale moonshot.

Freshman Megan Schorman (2-0) vexed the Ducks across 4.2 innings. She allowed three runs in the top of the 5th but remained otherwise unscathed, giving up nine hits and striking out five.