The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
No. 15 Softball stays unbeaten, upends Iowa State, 11-2
02.20.2010 | Softball
Feb. 20, 2010
HOUSTON -- The No. 15 Texas Softball team tied a school record with four home runs as it rolled past Iowa State, 11-2, Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Marriott Houston Classic. The victory improved the Longhorns to 10-0 on the year, while the Cyclones fell to 4-5. The Horns will wrap up tourney play on Sunday, Feb. 21 when they play Houston at 1 p.m. Central.
Senior righthander Erin Tresselt (2-0) picked up the victory for the Horns after throwing her first complete game of the year, scattering eight hits and fanning three. Iowa State starter Tori Torrescano (0-1) suffered the loss, lasting 1.1 innings and allowing five runs on four hits.
Texas jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first, using a leadoff single by senior shortstop Loryn Johnson to set the table for sophomore designated player Lexy Bennett, who launched a two-run homer to leftfield. The Horns tacked on three more runs in the second, putting two runners on base before sophomore centerfielder Courtney Craig drilled a three-run home run to straightaway centerfield to give UT a 5-0 edge.
The Longhorns widened their advantage to six in the third when junior catcher Amy Hooks drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on a double by Taylor Hoagland and came home on an RBI single by junior second baseman Raygan Feight.
The Cyclones got on the board in the third, taking advantage of back-to-back singles to start the frame and an RBI single by Alex Johnson to narrow the score to 6-1. Iowa State added another tally in the fourth when Heidi Kidwell connected for an RBI double that scored Kelsey Kidwell who had reached on a double as well.
Texas tacked on three runs in the seventh when Bennett and Johnson reached on consecutive singles and senior rightfielder Tallie Thrasher roped a three-run home run to put UT ahead, 9-2. The Longhorns added two more when Feight jacked a two-run shot later in the frame to balloon the score to 11-2.
Feight highlighted the Texas offense on the day with 4-for-4 effort that included three RBI and two runs scored. Craig aided the cause with two hits, three RBI, two runs scored and one stolen base.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head coach Connie Clark
On today's wins: We were excited about the match-up with Louisiana Lafayette in game one. They are a quality team and I really liked the way we came out ready to play in a 9 a.m. game after playing two games the night before. Our 'compete factor' is exceptional right now. We talk to the team about being individually accountable and recovering in order to be ready to go the next day and they came out ready today. They had so much energy in both of these games and they were excited about matching up against a pair of quality ball clubs.
On the pitching staff's mental toughness: I love where our staff is at mentally. Kim (Bruins) was obviously ready if we needed her today, but we got Erin (Tresselt) and Blaire (Luna) both to go the distance. Blaire did a nice job of making adjustments in game one. Being more multi-dimensional in what we are throwing was a big goal for us coming in this weekend. They are working to set up their high-percentage pitches a little better. Amy Hooks has a big role in that and her pitch calling has been outstanding. We had a good scouting report against Louisiana Lafayette so that helped us a lot and I was really excited to see Erin go the distance for us against Iowa State. To see her grind it out and feel really good physically was very exciting.
On the offensive explosion: We knew that our offense was capable of this kind of production. The nice part is that it is not just 1-thru-9, but also the contributions of our entire team. We have been able to play with some different lineups and it is not because somebody is playing poorly. It is because we have so many options. You love to have a solid lineup that an opponent has to worry about all the way through the order. After last weekend we knew it was just a matter of time before our top hitters started to produce.
