The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
Softball sweeps Iowa State with pair of shutouts
03.29.2008 | Softball
AMES, Iowa -- The Texas Softball team hammered five home runs, registered 16 hits and received a pair of complete game shutout pitching performances as it swept Iowa State, 10-0 and 4-0, Saturday afternoon in Big 12 Conference action. The victories improved the Longhorns to 18-12-2 on the season and 4-1 in league play, while the Cyclones fell to 23-14 and 1-3 in the Big 12.
In game one, senior hurler Meagan Denny (13-4) tossed her sixth complete game shutout of the season, throwing 5.0 innings, scattering five hits, fanning nine and walking none. Iowa State starter Amie Ford (4-4) suffered the loss for the Cyclones, surrendering five runs on three hits and striking out three.
Sophomore shortstop Loryn Johnson led the Horns with three hits and two runs scored in their game one victory. Sophomore designated player Tallie Thrasher and junior second baseman Kelly Melone each recorded two hits, blasted a home run and tallied three RBI.
In the second game, freshman righthander Brittany Barnhill (4-6) threw the first complete game shutout of her career, tossing 4.1 innings before surrendering her first hit. The freshman faced just two over the minimum, scattering two hits, striking out six and walking none. Cyclones' starter Rachel Zabriskie (11-5) took the loss for ISU, going 7.0 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and striking out seven.
Johnson headlined the Texas offense in the second game of the twin-bill, going 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. The sophomore shortstop led the Longhorns on the day recording five hits, three runs scored and two RBI in the pair of victories.
Texas returns to action at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 against No. 18 Baylor at McCombs Field. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
Game 1: Texas 10, Iowa State 0
Texas jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage in the first when sophomore designated player Tallie Thrasher hammered a two-run home run to straightaway centerfield.
The Longhorns tacked on five more runs in the third, using a leadoff walk by Thrasher and a two-run home run by Melone to push the lead to 4-0. Junior first baseman Desiree Williams followed with a walk and Barnhill added a single before they both came home on Brittany Chalk's two-run double that pushed the UT edge to 7-0.
The Longhorns added another run in the fourth, using a really-starting double by Johnson and an RBI single by Thrasher to move the Texas advantage to 8-0. Texas registered two more tallies in the fifth, taking advantage of a pair of RBI singles by sophomore pinch hitter Kori Cook and Johnson to push the UT lead to 10-0.
Game 2: Texas 4, Iowa State 0
The Horns got on the board first taking a 1-0 edge in the second inning, starting their rally with a leadoff walk by Williams. A sacrifice bunt by Barnhill moved Williams to second, before a Chalk fly-out and an ISU error plated Williams and gave UT the lead.
Johnson pushed the Texas advantage to 2-0 in the sixth inning, ripping her ninth home run of the season to straightaway centerfield.
The Horns tacked on two more runs in the seventh, using a pair of longballs to push their lead to 4-0. Chalk started the rally when she smacked her third homer of the season into the jet stream in left centerfield. Freshman pinch hitter Shelby Savony added another run to the Horns' total when she laced a line drive just inside the leftfield foul pole for her second career round-tripper.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS HEAD COACH Connie Clark
On the victories: We talked long and hard after losing to Texas Tech on Thursday about needing to get better mentally. At Tech we did a good job offensively, but we challenged the team to put together a complete game with good offense, defense and pitching this weekend. I thought we were exceptional mentally today and I think that being mentally focused is the key for this team and has been over the last couple of weeks. I think we are very talented and it is just a matter of the players getting their minds right and having a good approach to the game. The team really took it upon itself to come out and have a very good mental and physical outing against Iowa State.
On Texas' offensive explosion: I think our offense really built on what they started on Thursday night. They had some very good at-bats then and we continued to build on that today. Coach (Corrie) Hill has been working with our hitters on their mechanics and preparing them as we get into conference play and see better pitching. In conference play we know so much about each other from a scouting standpoint and what our offense is doing is paying dividends. Today we were able to get several people into the lineup, including Shelby Savony who came in and had two great pinch-hit at-bats, resulting in a hit and a home run.
On Texas' pitching performances: I think (Meagan) Denny and (Brittany) Barnhill have made some good strides recently, but unfortunately on Thursday they struggled, allowing Tech to have extra opportunities. We talked about that with both of them and today they were tremendous bearing down and trusting their stuff. (Catcher) Kacie Gaskin was very helpful today helping both pitchers mix things up and not allowing any walks. The final piece of the puzzle today was our defense which played very well, playing one pitch at a time and having great intensity.
TEXAS ASSISTANT COACH Corrie Hill
On Kelly Melone's performance: After Tallie (Thrasher) hit a homer early in game one Iowa State pitched around her in her next at bat. However, when Kelly Melone followed that walk with a home run, she forced Iowa State to pitch to Tallie the rest of the day. Having the kind of stability that we have in the heart of our order with Loryn Johnson, Tallie and Kelly will help us see better pitches as we progress through conference play.
