The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 12 Softball downs Baylor, 3-2 to advance to the Big 12 Championship semifinals
05.15.2010 | Softball
May 15, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Freshman righthander Blaire Luna was stellar as she fired a complete game and fanned 12 to lead the 12th-ranked and top-seeded Texas Softball team past Baylor, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at the Big 12 Championship. The win advanced the Longhorns to the championship semifinals against the winner of No. 4 seed Oklahoma State/No. 5 seed Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Central.
Luna (29-6) earned the win after firing 7.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking one and fanning 12. Baylor starter Courtney Repka (20-19) suffered the loss for the Bears, surrendering three runs on five hits, walking three and striking out four in 6.0 innings of work.
Texas got on the board in the second, using a single to rightfield by junior catcher Amy Hooks and a bunt single by sophomore third baseman Nadia Taylor to start the Texas rally. Senior designated player Tallie Thrasher emptied the bases when she drilled her 12th home run of the season -a three-run shot- to deep left centerfield to give the Horns a 3-0 edge.
Baylor rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of a leadoff single by designated player Jordan Vannatta to start the frame and a two-run home run by catcher Courtney Nieten that closed the margin to one.
POST-GAME NOTES
- The Longhorns' victory improved their all-time record at the Big 12 Championship to 24-15.
- Texas' win over Baylor improved its record to 18-10 all-time against the Bears, including a 3-0 mark in 2010.
- Tallie Thrasher's home run in the second was her 12th of the season, a mark that ties the UT single-season record. Thrasher's homer marked the sixth time in UT history that a player has hit 12 home runs, including her 12 homer tally in 2007. Thrasher is the second player in 2010 to hit 12 longballs, tying Courtney Craig for the team lead.
- Thrasher's homer was Texas' 82nd roundtripper of the season, moving it within three of tying the all-time Big 12 record of 85 that Oklahoma hit in 2000.
- Blaire Luna's 12-strikeout effort included seven strikeouts against the first seven batters she faced.
