The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
No. 1 Softball sweeps Iowa State, 3-1 and 6-0
04.01.2006 | Softball
AMES, Iowa -- Meagan Denny and Cat Osterman allowed a total of three Iowa State hits and struck out a combined 31 batters as the top-ranked Texas Softball team swept a Big 12 doubleheader from the Cyclones, 3-1 and 6-0, Saturday at ISU's Southwest Athletic Complex. Texas hitters connected for four home runs and 21 hits on the day in the sweep.
Denny threw a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the first game before Osterman followed with a two-hitter and 19 strikeouts in the second game for the Longhorns.
Texas (38-3, 5-0 Big 12) had five different players collect at least three hits on the day, led by Desiree Williams' 4-for-7 outing. She went 3-for-4 in the second game to match a career-high for hits in a game. Tina Shannon Thomas (3-for-8), Amber Hall (3-for-7, home run), Megan Willis (3-for-6, home run) and Chez Sievers (3-for-7, triple, double) all collected three-hit efforts on the afternoon.
Tina Boutelle, Hall, Willis and Jaclyn Daniels all had home runs for UT as Texas improved to 5-0 in Big 12 play for just the second time in program history.
Williams, Hall, Willis and Daniels also all drove in two runs apiece on the day.
Iowa State's (15-15, 1-3 Big 12) Fallon Johnson collected hits in both games to extend her career-best hitting streak to 10 games. She was the only Cyclone to have a hit in each game and she was the lone Iowa State pitcher to get a hit off Denny in the first game.
With the wins, Texas improves to 22-1 all-time against the Cyclones and pushed its record to 8-0 in Ames.
The Longhorns return to action on Wednesday, April 5, when they host No. 15 Texas A&M in the first of two State Farm Lone Star Showdown rivalry series games in 2006. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. at McCombs Field and the game will be broadcast live on CSTV.
Game 1: No. 1 Texas 3, Iowa State 1
Boutelle gave the Horns an immediate 1-0 lead when she connected for a lead-off home run to left center. That homer gave her nine of the season, one shy of the single-season UT record of 10. The Cyclones responded in the bottom of the inning, bringing lead-off hitter Johnson, who started the frame off with a double, home to tie the score at 1-1. After a passed ball put Johnson on third, Denny got her first strikeout before walking Ashley Killeen. With Katie Reichling batting, Longhorn catcher Willis had Johnson picked off third, but her throw down to the base hit the runner and allowed her to come home to tie the score. The Longhorns got out of the inning without any more runs, and Denny (15-2) sat down 18 of the next 21 batters without allowing a hit. She struck out 12 in the game while walking four in her fourth one-hitter of the season. Willis came through with her third home run of the year - a towering two-run homer to left field in the top of the sixth that also plated Williams - to put the Longhorns ahead for good and give the team a 3-1 lead. Alyssa Ransom (6-8) took the loss, allowing three runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Game 2: No. 1 Texas 6, Iowa State 0
UT again got going quickly, posting four runs in the first inning. Boutelle and Thomas had back-to-back singles and Williams brought them both in with a double down the left-field line. Amber Hall then stepped up and ripped a two-run home run to left field to push the score to 4-0 without any outs. Iowa State got out of the inning without anymore damage, but had a deep hole from which to climb against Osterman. Daniels made it 6-0 with a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the sixth, bringing in Sievers who'd led off with a triple. The homer was Daniels' third pinch-hit homer in her three-year UT career. Brittany Reliford also recorded her first-career hit after subbing in at third base in the fourth inning. Osterman gave up the first hit of the game with one out in the sixth, a double to Jennifer Bigbee. Two batters later, Johnson had a single to right field to put runners on the corners with two outs, but Osterman struck out Ellen Buehner to end the inning and preserve the shutout. Osterman (23-1) threw her seventh two-hitter of the year, striking out 19 in her 16th shutout of the season. ISU's Aime Ford (9-6), a high-school teammate of Osterman's at Houston's Cy Springs, took the loss, allowing six runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts. Reichling tossed the final inning, surrendering two hits with one strikeout.
