The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
Pair of home runs and Osterman's 1,000th inning highlight Softball's win over Oklahoma
04.14.2006 | Softball
NORMAN, Okla. -- Senior Amber Hall (Deer Park, Texas) and junior Jacqueline Williams (Arlington, Texas) both drove balls over the outfield wall at the OU Softball Complex to lead Texas to a Big 12 conference victory, 9-4, against Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. on Friday night.
The Longhorns scored the most runs ever against Oklahoma with nine and registered their second highest hit total of the year with 15 to improve to 42-4 overall on the season, 8-1 in the Big 12. The Sooners move to 27-16-1 overall, 4-8 in conference action.
Senior pitcher Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) took the win (26-1) and tossed 5.1 innings in the game to reach the 1000.2 career innings mark. The span is a first in UT softball history and puts her in 21st all-time in NCAA history for innings pitched. Osterman finished the night with 13 strikeouts out of 19 batters faced, one home run and one walk.
Texas opened the game scoring two runs off three hits, including a two-RBI double from senior Chez Sievers (Mission Viejo, Calif.) in the opening stanza. Sievers brought home sophomore Desiree Williams (Tucson, Ariz.) and junior Megan Willis (Chandler, Ariz.) after both reached on singles, helping to give the Longhorns a 2-0 lead from three hits.
Oklahoma struck back with a home run by Samantha Richetts over the left field fence to bring the Sooners within one and make the score 2-1.
In the top of the third, Hall came to the plate with two outs on the board and hit a 2-2 pitch straight over the right field fence for her fourth home run of the season. It was the 37th home run for the Longhorns this season setting a new school record.
Following suit both Willis and Sievers would knock balls around the outfield to record UT's fifth and sixth hits of the game before Oklahoma would make a change in the circle by bringing in D.J. Mathis to close out the inning with the score 3-1.
Sievers tied her own school record with four hits in the game in four at bats and recorded two RBI and one run. Willis finished 3-of-4 on the night with 18 putouts and one run. Jacqueline Williams, senior Tina Boutelle (Katy, Texas) and Hall each finished with two hits.
Jacqueline Williams recorded her fifth home run of the season and the team's 38th in the fourth inning with a shot over the left center field wall. The last time Texas hit two home runs in a game was against Iowa State in Des Moines, Iowa, in the second game of a Big 12 series on April 1, 2006.
The Sooners rallied in the bottom of the sixth by scoring two runs off back-to-back home runs against sophomore Meagan Denny (Crowley, Texas) who entered in the bottom of the fifth inning in relief to cut the UT lead to 6-3 after the Longhorns added a run in the top of the inning.
Texas closed the door on a comeback victory for the home crowd with a three-run top to the seventh inning, but also re-entered Osterman into the lineup to close out the last 1.1 innings.
The Longhorns will return to the diamond tomorrow to close out the weekend series with the Sooners in an afternoon game on ESPN with the first pitch scheduled at noon.
