The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball preview: Baylor
04.01.2008 | Softball
GAME #33: TEXAS (18-12-2, 4-1 Big 12) vs. Baylor (18-12, 1-5 Big 12)
When: Wednesday, April 2 at 6:05 p.m.
Where: Austin, Texas (McCombs Field)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Record vs. Baylor: Texas leads, 14-7 (9-2 Home, 5-4 Away, 0-1 Neutral)
Last Meeting: Baylor won, 5-2 on May 3, 2007
Last Texas Victory: Texas won, 6-3 on May 3, 2006
Current Streak: Baylor swept the 2007 two-game season series
Internet Audio Broadcast
Zach Hill and Kyle Boenitz will provide Texas fans with the play-by-play of all Longhorns home games and select in-state road games through Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast subscription-based service ... This season fans can listen to home softball games on 90.9 FM inside McCombs Field.
Tickets
Purchase at TexasBoxOffice.com; by calling 800-982-BEVO or 512-471-3333; in person at any Texas Box Office outlet, including Austin-area H-E-B stores and the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Central); and in person one hour prior to game time at the Red and Charline McCombs box office.
Promotions
- Kids -- Run the bases at the conclusion of the game (weather permitting).
LONGHORNS NOTABLES
- Longhorns' sophomore shortstop Loryn Johnson headlined the Texas offense in its 10-0 and 4-0 Big 12 Conference victories over Iowa State ... Johnson was 5-for-7 with a homer, two doubles and two RBI in the series sweep ... Senior righthander Meagan Denny and freshman hurler Brittany Barnhill tossed back-to-back complete game shutouts against the Cyclones, combining for 15 strikeouts and zero walks.
- In Big 12 play Texas' offense has really come to life, hitting .315 with nine homers in five conference tilts ... Sophomore shortstop Loryn Johnson leads the way with a .611 batting average, three roundtrippers, seven RBI and three doubles in league play ... Sophomore designated player Tallie Thrasher is hitting .500 with a pair of homers and five RBI, while junior first baseman Desiree Williams has improved from a slow non-conference start, hitting .364 with two doubles, five runs scored and three stolen bases.
- The Texas Softball team did not receive any votes in the most recent USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll released on April 1, failing to receive votes for the fourth time this season ... UT fell out of the poll for the first time since the final poll of the 2004 season on March 4 ... the Longhorns were ranked 22nd in the NFCA preseason poll ... Two Big 12 teams are ranked in the Top 25 ...Texas A&M is the highest ranked Big 12 team in the sixth spot and Oklahoma is ranked 11th ... Baylor fell out of the poll this week for the first time all season.
- Texas did not receive any votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll that was released April 1, marking the third time this season that UT did not receive votes ... two Big 12 Conference teams appear in the poll, with Texas A&M holding the No. 6 spot, Oklahoma ranking 12th ... Baylor fell out of the poll this week for the first time all season.
- In 32 games this season, head coach Connie Clark has turned in 30 different lineups, using the same lineup only twice ... Although Texas has put the same players in defensive positions for multiple games, it has only used the same 10 players in the lineup four times this season.
- Sophomore infielder Loryn Johnson and junior infielder Desiree Williams are the only players on the Texas roster to have started all 32 games this season ... Johnson has started at three different positions, while Williams has started at two positions ... Junior Kacie Gaskin is the only other player to have appeared in all 32 games.
- Sophomore designated player Tallie Thrasher was named Big 12 Player of the Week on March 25 for the second time this season after hitting 1.000 in three games and reaching base in all 11 of her plate appearances ... She recorded six hits in six at bats, tallying two runs scored, a double, a homer and two RBI, while adding five walks ... The sophomore slugger notched a 1.000 on-base percentage in UT's three games and slugged at a 1.667 clip for the week.
- Texas' offense has already made vast improvements from the 2007 season ... junior infielder Kelly Melone is currently hitting .304 with 24 hits in 32 games, after totaling just 11 hits in 38 games last season and 12 hits in 32 games as a freshman ... junior rightfielder/catcher Kacie Gaskin has reduced her strikeout totals from a year ago , fanning 16 times in 32 games this season, after going down on strikes a UT single-season record 48 times in 2007 ... in the circle, senior hurler Meagan Denny averaged 10.23 K's per seven innings pitched in 2007 and is currently averaging 11.17 in 2008.
LAST TIME OUT: IOWA STATE (March 29, 2008)
Texas 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 in Big 12 Conference action ... in game one, senior hurler Meagan Denny tossed her sixth complete game shutout of the season, throwing 5.0 innings, scattering five hits, fanning nine and walking none ... in the second game, freshman righthander Brittany Barnhill 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 ... sophomore shortstop Loryn Johnson led the Longhorns on the day recording five hits, three runs scored and two RBI in the pair of victories.
LAST TIME AGAINST BAYLOR (May 2, 2007)
The Texas Softball team fought back late in the game to knot the game at 2-2, but a three-run sixth-inning rally by Baylor pushed the Bears to a 5-2 victory in front of a record crowd of 1,455 at Getterman Stadium ... Texas starter Meagan Denny suffered the loss for the Longhorns, after scattering five hits and fanning five in 5.2 innings of work ... Baylor starter Kirsten Shortridge tossed the first 5.2 innings for the Bears before giving way to Lisa Ferguson in the sixth inning ... Ferguson pitched the final 1.1 innings, holding the Longhorns scoreless en route to picking up the victory.
