The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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BYU outlasts No. 12 Softball, 9-8 in the winner's bracket of the NCAA Austin Regional
05.21.2010 | Softball
May 21, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- Despite rallying for six runs in the sixth inning the No. 12 Texas Softball team fell to BYU, 9-8 in a winner's bracket game of the NCAA Austin Regional on Friday afternoon at Red and Charline McCombs Field. BYU, which plated three runs in the seventh to rally from an 8-6 deficit, improved to 45-11 on the season. Texas, the No. 7 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, fell to 43-14 overall.
With Friday's win, BYU advances to Saturday's regional championship game at 1 p.m. Central. Texas will play in an elimination game later tonight at 7:30 p.m. Central against the winner of this afternoon's East Carolina-Iona contest. BYU will have two opportunities on Saturday to secure the NCAA Austin Regional title.
Trailing 8-6 entering the bottom of the seventh, BYU began its rally when Delaney Willard reached on an error by UT second baseman Raygan Feight. Tiffany Messerschmidt and Jessica Dugas followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs. Kristin Delahoussaye laced a two-run double to centerfield to score Willard and Messerschmidt and tie the game at 8-8. Freshman shortstop J.C. Clayton then ended the game with her sacrifice fly to leftfield, scoring Dugas with the winning run.
Freshman Hannah Howell (3-1), who entered the game with two outs in the top of the sixth, earned the win for the Cougars by working the final 1.1 innings and allowing just one hit while walking two and striking out one. BYU ace Paige Affleck pitched a total of 5.0 innings in two different stints for the Cougars, surrendering six runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out four and walking three. Christie Zinati, who entered the game with one out in the top of the fifth, allowed two runs on three hits in just 0.2 innings of work.
Blaire Luna (30-9), the Big 12 Conference Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, took the loss for the Longhorns. Luna pitched a total of 5.2 innings in two different stints for Texas, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits while striking out seven and walking six. After working the first 4.1 innings, she re-entered the contest in the bottom of the sixth with no outs and runners on second and third and the Longhorns holding an 8-5 lead. Erin Tresselt, who entered the game in the bottom of the fifth, threw 0.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits.
BYU got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, when Jessica Purcell-Fitu led off the frame by sending a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left center to give the Cougars a 1-0 advantage.
Texas grabbed the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Loryn Johnson singled to centerfield. Kori Cook entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Johnson and advanced to second when Brittany Chalk was hit-by-pitch. Zinanti then relieved Afflect in the circle for the Cougars and promptly tossed an illegal pitch, moving Cook to third and Chalk to second. After a Feight ground out, Courtney Craig used a single to third base to score Cook. During the play, BYU third baseman Angeline Quiocho committed a throwing error on her toss across the diamond, allowing Chalk to come around from second to score and give the Longhorns a 2-1 lead.
The Cougars answered in the bottom of the frame. BYU led off the inning with a single from Dugas. Delahoussaye followed with a bunt and reached on a fielder's choice that also advanced Dugas to second. Clayton walked to load the bases for Quiocho, who deposited a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left center to clear the bases and give the Cougars a 5-2 advantage. It marked her school-record 28th home run of the season.
Texas appeared to take control of the contest with six runs in the top of the sixth inning. Lexy Bennett led off the frame with a single to rightfield and Amy Hooks followed with a two-run shot down the leftfield line to close the deficit to 5-4. After Affleck re-entered the game for Zinanti in the circle for BYU, Nadia Taylor continued the rally by reaching safely and advancing to second on another throwing error by Quiocho. With one out, Johnson singled to leftfield and advanced Taylor to third. Chalk then followed with an RBI single to leftfield, scoring Taylor and tying the score at 5-5.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Taylor Hoagland singled up the middle to score both Chalk and Johnson and give the Horns a 7-5 lead. Bennett followed with another single up the middle to score pinch-hitter Shelby Savony and extend UT's cushion to 8-5.
BYU narrowed the margin with a single run in the bottom of the sixth. Dugas led off the frame with an infield single, and Delahoussaye doubled to left center to advance Dugas to third. After Luna relieved Tresselt in the circle for Texas, Clayton reached on a single to first base to load the bases. Quiocho drew a walk to score Dugas and trim the lead to 8-6. With the bases still loaded and no outs, Luna escaped the jam without further damage with a pop up and back-to-back strikeouts.
Johnson led the Longhorns by going 3-for-4 with a run scored on the afternoon. Bennett went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while Hoagland and Hooks each added two RBI for Texas. Dugas went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, while Quiocho went 1-for-2 with five RBI to pace the BYU offense.
POST-GAME NOTES
- BYU advances to Saturday's regional championship game at 1 p.m. Central.
- Texas will play in an elimination game later today (Friday) at 7:30 p.m. Central against the winner of the upcoming Iona-East Carolina contest.
- BYU improves to 9-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament play (seven appearances).
- Texas drops to 32-21 all-time in NCAA Tournament play (11 appearances).
- Jessica Purcell-Fitu's solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second inning was her ninth home run of the season.
- Angeline Quiocho's grand slam in the bottom of the fifth was her 28th home run of the season and 66th of her career. It also marked her third grand slam this year.
- Amy Hooks' two-run home run in the top of the sixth was her 11th home run of the year and 23rd of her career (fourth on the UT career chart).
