The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Missouri
Softball earns weekend split at Mizzou
04.17.2005 | Softball
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Wynter Turner (San Pedro, Calif.) smacked her first home run of the year to stake Texas to an early 1-0 lead in the third inning and Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) made it stick with her 13th shutout of the season as the fourth-ranked Texas softball team earned a weekend split at No. 15 Missouri with a 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at University Field.
With the victory, Texas (32-7, 7-3 Big 12) earned a just its second-ever victory at Missouri (32-7, 6-5 Big 12) and the first since 2000.
Turner's homer was the 20th of her career, moving her to within one shot of the school record, held by Jodi Reeves '00, who had 21 in her four-year career.
Osterman (19-4) tossed her 19th complete game of the year, and her second two-hitter of the week, as she shutdown the Tigers. She threw 14 strikeouts and walked two while not allowing a run.
Jen Bruck (13-2), the Tigers' hero on Saturday after she smacked a lead-off double in the 13th inning to score the runner placed on second and gave Missouri a 3-2 upset victory over Texas, started in the circle for Mizzou and took the loss. She went 4.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits while walking one. Erica Peterson entered in the fifth, striking out the first three batters she faced, throwing 1.1 innings of hitless ball. Erin Kalka then came in for a hitless seventh in which she walked one.
After Turner's blast, the Longhorns continued to put pressure on the Tigers. In the fourth inning, Chez Sievers (Mission Viejo, Calif.) reached on a fielder's choice and then moved to second on a groundout. She rounded third on Desiree Williams' (Tucson, Ariz.) single to center, but for the second game in a row, a UT runner was called out at home on a throw from center field.
In the fifth, Turner singled with two outs and then Christina Gwyn (Keller, Texas) drew a pinch-hit walk, but Peterson replaced Bruck in the circle for Mizzou and struck out the Horns' pinch hitter to end that inning.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, April 20, when the team hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a mid-week, non-conference doubleheader at McCombs Field. The first game is set for 5 p.m.
Wednesday's contests could potentially feature three of the nation's top three strikeout artists, with Osterman, who leads the nation (16.0 K/gm.), the Islanders' Sarah Pauly, who is second nationally (12.6), and UT's Meagan Denny, who is eighth (11.4).
