The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 7 Missouri
No. 16 Softball completes sweep of No. 7 Missouri, wins 10-2
04.11.2010 | Softball
April 11, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- Senior designated player Tallie Thrasher smashes a UT single-game record three home runs to lead the No. 16 Texas Softball team to a 10-2 run-rule victory over No. 7 Missouri, Sunday afternoon. The victory completed the two-game sweep and moved the Longhorns to 34-9 on the year and 7-1 in Big 12 play, while the Tigers dropped to 27-8 overall and 3-5 in conference action.
Freshman righthander Blaire Luna (21-5) earned the victory for the Horns, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking three and fanning nine. Missouri threw four pitchers in the game with Tigers' starter Kristin Nottelmann (8-6) suffering the loss after allowing five runs on three hits in 1.0 inning of work.
After allowing a pair of singles and one run in the top of the first, Texas bounced back with five runs on three hits in the bottom of the frame. The first two Horns went down in order, but sophomore first baseman Lexy Bennett drew a two-out walk to start the rally. Junior catcher Amy Hooks followed with a single and a walk by sophomore third baseman Nadia Taylor loaded the bases. Senior shortstop Loryn Johnson plated Bennett and Hooks with a two-run single through the left side and Thrasher emptied the bases with a three-run opposite field shot that gave UT a 5-1 edge.
Missouri narrowed the lead to 5-2 in the third on a sacrifice fly by Ashley Fleming that scored Jenna Marston who singled and advanced to third on a two-base error.
Thrasher answered in the bottom of third when she drilled her second longball of the day off the façade on top of the scoreboard to move the tally to 6-2.
The Longhorns tacked on four more runs in the fifth to end the game 10-2 via the run-rule. Hooks led off the frame with a solo home run to left centerfield, widening the margin to five. Taylor followed with a hit-by-pitch and Thrasher once again cleared the bases, hammering one of the longest home runs in McCombs Field history. Her third homer of the game cleared the centerfield scoreboard and landed on 21st Street.
Texas pushed its final run across when pinch hitter Torie Schmidt singled, moved to second on senior centerfielder Brittany Chalk's walk, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on a throwing error by Missouri catcher Catherine Lee.
Thrasher headlined the Texas offense on the day with three hits, three runs and six RBI, while Hooks and Chalk recorded two hits each. Hooks added two runs scored and one RBI to her stat line.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, April 14 when it plays host to No. 23 Baylor. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.
POST-GAME NOTES
- Texas' sweep of Missouri improved the Horns all-time record against the Tigers to 14-15 and 9-6 in Austin.
- The Horns are now 10-5 against ranked opponents in 2010, while owning a 4-1 mark against teams ranked in the Top 10.
- Tallie Thrasher's three home runs against the Tigers broke the Texas single-game home run record of two that was previously accomplished 15 times.
- Thrasher now has 10 home runs in 2010 and has moved into second-place all-time at Texas with 30 career home runs. She passed teammate Loryn Johnson's 29-homer total and is chasing the UT-record mark of 33 set by Desiree Williams (2005-09).
- The game's official attendance of 1,203 was Texas' largest home crowd this season.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head coach Connie Clark
On the game: I said, "Wow," at least five times today. Everybody contributed well today against a very good ball club.
On Tallie Thrasher's performance: She was unbelievable. She has been hitting the ball hard right at people for the last week. She was awfully frustrated the other day, but we talked and we told her that the game is a game. You just have to keep hitting it hard and good things will come. And today, she took that fate into her own hands, and the results were exactly what she wanted.
On Thrasher's patience: All the coaches have been telling her that patience was going to be key in her success. And based off of her performance today, I think she got the message.
On the confidence of the team: They did a great job coming back after the loss at A&M. I think at most you could say they were a little grumpy, but their confidence was never down. They felt like they played well, but the game is the game, and sometimes doesn't work out in your favor. We tell the players it is about the process. There are a lot of things we can't control in the game, but the confidence is the piece that we can maintain. And this team does that, that's why things have worked out so well for us so far.
On the team's at-bats: The coaching staff has played a part in the success, but I think our girls just go up trying to get a hit. We aren't necessarily swinging for the fences, we are swinging for the ball and when we make contact the right way, home runs are the result.
Freshman pitcher Blaire Luna
On today overall: It was a tough game mentally. Missouri is a very good hitting team. Keeping them off balance at the plate was our main goal today, and by no means was it easy, but I think we did a good job doing it. Otherwise, my offense was on fire today. And Tallie Thrasher's three home runs were awesome.
On the team's overall confidence: We have a really strong resolve, which I think is rooted in how much support we give to one another. We don't give up when we are down. We keep pushing till we get the results we want.
Senior designated player Tallie Thrasher
On her three home runs: I just feel great. I was frustrated lately. I had a few times at bat recently where I had not been getting the outcome that I wanted.
On the team's confidence: We've been talking a lot about swagger. This team has a lot of swagger. And right now, our confidence is just really high. This week's loss against A&M really hit home with us, and we knew that we really had to make it up for ourselves out here. So we went out, played our game and got the results we wanted.
Junior catcher Amy Hooks
On the game overall: The offense across the board was awesome today. We had a lights out game on offense and it is a lot of fun to see different people producing every game.
On the team's success at the plate: We are just seeing the ball well and hitting it hard. I think it is becoming tough for other teams to pitch to a lineup with this much power.
On the team's confidence: On and off the field we have great team chemistry. And I think everybody contributed today for the win. Our confidence was boosted and we are on a high right now.
On the team's swagger: We talked about it all summer and all fall. We wanted that Texas Swagger. It's not cockiness it is swagger, and we really have it right now.
