The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Colorado State
Luna, No. 13 Softball shut down Colorado State, 8-0
02.19.2011 | Softball
Feb. 19, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas - The 15th-ranked Texas Softball team used a complete-game shutout performance by sophomore pitcher Blaire Luna to ease past Colorado State, 8-0, Saturday night in the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational semifinals. The victory advanced Texas (9-0) to the tourney championship where they will meet Missouri State on Sunday at Noon Central.
Luna (5-0) notched the victory and her fourth complete game of the season, allowing just one hit, walking two and equaling a season-high with 13 strikeouts. Rams starter Desiree Laswell (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs on six hits and walking one.
Sophomore rightfielder Taylor Hoagland anchored the Texas offense with her two-hit effort that extended her hitting streak to 20 games. Her streak is the second-longest in UT history, only trailing her own 21-game streak from 2010.
Texas got on the board quickly in the first, loading the bases with three straight walks. Junior third baseman Nadia Taylor reached on a fielder's choice to keep the bases loaded before senior first baseman Shelby Savony drew a bases loaded walk to plate the Horns' first run. A two-run single down the leftfield line by sophomore leftfielder Torie Schmidt pushed the margin to three before freshman designated player Mandy Ogle widened the lead to 5-0 with a two-run double.
In the fourth, UT tacked on two more tallies as freshman centerfielder Brejae Washington drove in Ogle with a sacrifice fly and junior second baseman Lexy Bennett singled home Hoagland.
Texas capped its scoring in the fifth when Savony reached on a walk and eventually scored the game-ending run on a CSU wild pitch.
POST-GAME NOTES
- The win improved Texas' all-time record against Colorado State to 2-0.
- Taylor Hoagland extended her hitting streak to 20 games. The mark ranks second-best in UT annals and only trails her 21-game mark from 2010. Hoagland entered the 2011 season carrying an 11-game hitting streak from last season.
- Mandy Ogle's double in the first was her first collegiate hit.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head coach Connie Clark
On the depth of the team: We've been forced into the opportunity [to move players around]. Nonetheless, we do feel good about that. We've worked on it in practice on the primary and secondary positions just to be ready for when you have people go down. They've stepped up and I don't think we've missed a beat and they're playing solid together.
On Blaire Luna's 13-strikeout performance tonight: She had much better rhythm getting the timing back and was very crisp. She had great stuff tonight
On aggressive base running: Your opportunities to score [are better] when you have runners on second and third. You take yourself out of the double-play scenario and hopefully you're putting up two runs instead of one. So we try to do that whenever we possibly can.
On the confidence of the team: They certainly turned it around [from game one to game two]. Earlier was kind of a long game and kind of drawn out. It was good to see them get a little bit of down time, but then come out and be very focused tonight. We're working on some things. The nice thing was that when it comes down to the fifth inning like it did tonight, ultimately it is a 0-0 ball game. We talked about how we have to be able to go to the short game when we need it. We haven't had to do that much over the past two weeks, but usually when you face a higher level of pitching you need to figure out how to manufacture runs and play station to station.
Junior second baseman Lexy Bennett
On her ability to play several different positions comfortably: Coming into my freshman year I was stuck playing shortstop. It was kind of something we've tried to get away from and tried to find more positions. Obviously last year I moved to first after coming back from my surgery. I moved around just a little bit to get some strength back in my arm, so playing second has definitely been an option for me. Leaving these options open is great for versatility of the team.
On the biggest challenge in making the transition from position to position: Growing up I hadn't really played a lot of second, so this past year has been my only time doing it. I have really been getting used to that and having it be a whole different side of the field coming from shortstop.
Senior first baseman Shelby Savony
On versatility: I'm just happy to be out on the field wherever they put me, whatever role I'm in. I'm pretty comfortable at first. It's definitely been different because I never thought I'd play first when I got here, but it's fun.
On mentally transitioning when playing different positions: I think the biggest part is not thinking because when I start thinking through things, that's when I mess myself up. It's really just working hard with Lexy [Bennett] because at practice we are both together so we talk through a lot of things.
On the depth of the team: I think it shows how competitive we are and how much we work at practice at different positions. If something was to happen, there's always someone to jump in anywhere and a lot of people can play a lot of positions. It's really helpful.
