The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Sam Houston State
Denny fans 15 as Softball downs Sam Houston State, 5-1
03.02.2007 | Softball
AUSTIN, Texas -- The 10th-ranked Texas Softball team used a season-high 15 strikeouts by junior righthander Meagan Denny to knock off Sam Houston State, 5-1 in the Longhorns first game of the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational. Live stats for Texas' nightcap game against St. John's will be available on TexasSports.com.
Denny (8-2) tossed a complete game three-hitter, allowing just one run, walking one batter and fanning 15 Bearkats.
"It was fun to start the weekend well, and I was proud how well the team played behind me," stated Denny.
Texas' (13-3) sophomore rightfielder Kacie Gaskin helped the Longhorns take a 1-0 lead in the first inning when she slammed a wall-banging RBI triple to score Megan Willis. Sam Houston State (5-8) evened the tally in the second frame, but Texas regained the advantage in the fifth when freshman shortstop Loryn Johnson connected for a solo home run, her second of the season, pushing the tally to 2-1.
"The way that our younger players have stepped up and played this season has been great," commented head coach Connie Clark. "They are playing with a veteran mentality, which is tremendous at this point in the season."
The Longhorns added three more runs in the sixth inning, when Gaskin led off with a double and then scored on an errant throw after stealing third base. Texas tacked on two more runs on a two-RBI single by sophomore third baseman Crystal Saenz, moving the score to 5-1, where it would stand for the duration of the game.
Gaskin and Johnson headlined Texas' nine-hit effort, recording two hits apiece, with Gaskin notching a double and an RBI triple.
Bearkats starter Brandi Crnkovic (1-4) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits, striking out three and walking two Longhorns.
