(Photo Courtesy of Texas Athletics)
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 15/16 Texas Softball rattled off two victories on the second day of the Texas Classic, earning it a spot in the Championship game against No. 7/9 Kentucky on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.. The Longhorns (6-5, 0-0) demonstrated their resiliency and rebounded from Friday’s disappointing outing by defeating Louisiana Tech, 7-2 in a round robin contest before run-ruling Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 10-2, in five innings in a semifinal game on Saturday at Red and Charline McCombs Field.
On the day, senior Brejae Washington went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and reached base in each plate appearance. Sophomore Holly Kern had five RBIs between the two games behind four hits. Her classmate, Lindsey Stephens also had four hits on the day and knocked in two runs for Texas. Texas pitchers (Smith, Davis, and Slatten) combined to allow only two earned runs and nine strikeouts.
For the day, Texas showed a drastic change in its efficiency at the plate. The Horns hit 14-foor-27 with runners in scoring position. UT totaled 17 runs on 24 hits between the two contests.
Freshman pitchers Lauren Slatten picked up her second win of the season, while rookie lefthander Tiarra Davis picked up her first career save. In the win against IPFW, junior ace Gabby Smith tossed her second complete game of the year to earn her third win of the season.
Against Louisiana Tech (2-6), the Horns had 13 hits recorded by 10 different players and were paced by sophomore Holly Kern’s three RBIs. Washington reached base safely three times (two hits and a walk), stole a base (8-8 on the season), and scored twice. Slatten gave up six hits, two runs, and had a season-high two strikeouts to push her record on the season to 2-1. After leaving 32 runners on base the past three games, Texas only left five on base.
After the Lady Techsters scored one in the top of the first, the Longhorns responded with five runs to take a 5-1 lead and knocked Louisiana Tech’s starting pitcher Bianca Duran out of the game after five batters. The five runs marks the second time this season that Texas has scored five runs in a single inning. The offense started with the first six batters recording hits.
All-American senior Taylor Thom led off the inning with a double to right field. Washington followed with her first double of the season and Davis singled to right to score Thom to tie the game at one. After Davis stole second, Kern put Texas ahead 3-1 with an RBI double down the left field line. An RBI single by sophomore Lindsey Stephens added to her team lead in RBIs with a single to score Kern and put the Horns ahead 4-1. Freshman Stephanie Wong finished the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly to right to score Stephens.
Slatten was able to stifle two Louisiana Tech rallies in the third and fourth innings. In each inning, the Techsters put runners on second and third with two outs. In the third inning, Washington made a diving catch in center field to end the threat and Slatten struck out Anna Cross looking for her first strikeout of the day in the fourth.
Tech broke through in the fifth with one run after an RBI single by Duran and loaded bases with two outs. Davis entered the game with two outs and struck out Louisiana Tech’s Alayna Kipp to limit the damage and keep the 5-2 Texas lead.
Texas responded in the bottom half of the inning with Washington reaching base on a walk. She stole second base and was singled home by Kern to push the Longhorns lead back to four, 6-2.
Freshmen Taylor McAllister and Mickenzi Krpec picked up their first career hits in the sixth inning. Thom finished the scoring for Texas with an RBI single.
In the second game, Texas defeated IPFW (6-2, 0-0) in the first semifinal game behind junior ace Gabby Smith and freshman Stephanie Wong’s breakout game at the plate. The Horns scored in each inning and forced the run rule to be in effect after five innings. Smith pitched a complete game allowing two hits, striking out two, and no earned runs. The win moved Smith’s record to 3-1 on the season. Wong paced the offense by going 3-for-3 , producing two RBIs and a run scored. The three hits pushed her average on the season to .429, which leads the Longhorns. The three hits and two RBI are season highs for the freshman outfielder.
Texas jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first with help from two IPFW errors. Thom reached first base on an error by the Mastodons’ third baseman. After stealing second, Washington bunted for a single and was able to reach second on another throwing error by the third baseman. Thom came into score the unearned run.
The Horns added to their lead in the second after Wong had a bunt single. She used her speed to steal second and reached third base on a wild pitch. Thom put the Horns on top, 2-0, by beating out an infield single to shortstop to score Wong and record her eighth RBI on the season.
The Mastodons had their first threat of the game in the top half of the third inning as they put their first two batters on the base path, one on a throwing error by Thom and a single up the middle. After a sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third with one out, Larissa Franklin hit into a fielders’ choice that scored her team’s first run in the game. Ashleigh Bousquet followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game at two.
Junior Lindsey Stephens responded right away by lacing a 2-2 pitch down the right field line to score Kern, who walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Senior Mandy Ogle followed by walking and Wong laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Following a strikeout, sophomore Stephanie Ceo hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Kern and give the Horns a 4-2 lead; but freshman Kelli Hanzel, pinch running for Ogle, was thrown out trying to advance to third.
IPFW threatened with a bases loaded rally with two outs in the fourth inning behind two walks and a single. Gabby Smith was able to get Franklin to ground out to third base to squash the rally and maintain the two-run lead.
Thom put Texas in business in the bottom of the fourth with a four-pitch walk and swiped her third base of the game. After being sacrificed over to third by Washington, Davis knocked in Thom with a single that found its way past the shortstop for the 5-2 lead. It was Thom’s second run of the game and third of the day. After a fly out to centerfield, Stephens hit a sharp single to right and Ogle walked to keep the inning alive. Wong came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a two run double over the right fielder’s head for her third hit of the game to take a five-run lead with a 7-2 score.
The Horns continued their offensive onslaught by putting their first three batters on base behind two singles and a walk. Davis walked with the bases loaded to score Ceo and give the Horns an 8-2 lead. Kern finished the game with a two run single to finish the scoring and give the Horns the 10-2 victory in five innings.
Texas will look to avenge Friday’s 6-4 loss to No. 7/9 Kentucky when the teams go head-to-head on Sunday in the Championship game of the Texas Classic. First pitch is set for 10:00 a.m. and will air nationally on Longhorn Network.
POSTGAME NOTES
For the two Saturday games…
– Texas hit .519 (14-27) with runners in scoring position
– Brejae Washington hit a perfect 4-of-4 with two walks, three runs, and a stolen base
– Texas hit five doubles with five different players in just 11 offensive innings Saturday
– Lindsey Stephens went 5-of-6 with three runs, and two RBI
– Holly Kern led Texas with five RBI Saturday, going 3-of-6, including the game-winning double
IPFW Game…
– Wong went 3-for-3, setting season-highs in hits (3) and RBI (2)
– Hitters 1-5 went a combined 7-12 with 8 runs and 6 RBI
– Gabby Smith allowed a season-low two hits in a complete game performance (5)
– Thom stole a career-tying three bases, giving her 50 total for her Texas career
Louisiana Tech Game…
– 13 hits by 10 different hitters.
– Freshman Taylor McAllister made her Texas debut, picking up a hit in the sixth inning
– Freshman Mickenzi Krpec recorded her first career hit with a sixth-inning single
– Sophomore Holly Kern picked up her second two-hit game of the season,
For the Texas Tournament thus far…
– Stephanie Wong is hitting .625 (5-8) with 3 RBI
– Tiarra Davis is holding opposing batters to an .086 batting average, sustaining an 0.87 ERA. In her 10.1 innings pitched, she has 15 strikeouts, one save, and her first career complete game.
– Texas is 8-for-8 in stolen bases, with Taylor Thom leading the pack with three in the tournament. Washington and Wong have two stolen bases apiece.
