The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 5 Softball drops season finale to No. 17 Baylor, 2-1
05.15.2011 | Softball
May 15, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas - The fifth-ranked Texas Softball concluded its 2011 regular-season, Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 17 Baylor, 2-1 at Red & Charline McCombs Field. The loss dropped the Longhorns to 45-8 on the season and 14-4, while Baylor improved to 40-12 overall and 11-7 in league action. Texas finished the season in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings.
Sophomore righthander Blaire Luna (27-6) suffered the loss after scattering six hits, allowing two unearned runs, walking four and striking out four in a complete-game effort. Baylor starter Whitney Canion (24-9) notched the complete-game victory for the Bears, surrendering one run on three hits, walking four and fanning 10.
Texas got on the board in the first, using a one-out walk by freshman centerfielder Brejae Washington to start the rally and an RBI double by freshman shortstop Taylor Thom to give the Horns a 1-0 edge.
The Bears bounced back in the fourth inning, taking advantage of two UT miscues and a single to push two runs across. After a Luna strikeout to start the frame, Baylor first baseman Holly Holl reached on an error by Taylor Hoagland. Leftfielder Shelbi Redfearn followed with an infield single and catcher Claire Hosack reached on a throwing error by Taylor Thom to push the first run across. Canion drew a walk to load the bases and the second run came home when Texas failed to retire the runner at the plate on KJ Freeland's RBI fielder's choice.
Junior third baseman Nadia Taylor and sophomore first baseman Kim Bruins notched Texas' only other hits of the game, while sophomore leftfielder Torie Schmidt aided the offense with a pair of walks.
Texas will now wait to hear its NCAA fate when the tournament field is announced on Sunday, May 15 at 9 p.m. Central on ESPNU.
POST-GAME NOTES
- Texas' loss dropped its all-time record against Baylor to 19-11 and 10-5 in Austin.
- Blaire Luna's complete-game outing was her 28th of 2011 and the 56th of her career.
- Taylor Thom concluded Big 12 play as the league's leading hitter, sporting a .444 average in league games.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head coach Connie Clark
On the message after the game: Well we have to learn from that. I think Baylor came into our house and dictated how we played. They made us play small and we weren't good mentally. That can't happen and we've got to learn from that. We have to take what we can from this and get geared up for NCAA's.
On the lack of hitting: I think it's the mentality of our team. That's what really jumped out at me today. We had numerous timeouts and huddles throughout the game where I had to tell them to believe. Our body language got terrible, so I think it was the mentality throughout the game. That made us start pressing instead of controlling the moment.
On keeping this loss from lingering: I told our players that regardless of the outcome it's still senior day. You have three seniors who have been absolutely outstanding in this program and that doesn't change our celebration today.
Junior third baseman Nadia Taylor
On the emotions in the locker room: It's tough. It's a stinger. It reminds us of regionals last year where we were supposed to win our regional and we didn't. I'm hoping we bounce back, have a great week of practice and hit the ground running.
On losing the Big 12 Championship: This hurts. I think we put in the effort and what hurt us were our mental mistakes. We have to take this and get better from it.
Senior catcher Amy Hooks
On the loss: I think we just got away from Texas Softball. Baylor is a great team. They capitalized on our mistakes today and we didn't bounce back. Throughout the season when other teams score we are usually able to come back, but we didn't do that today. We just have to play better Texas Softball than we did today.
On the emotions in the locker room: It was pretty silent. Everybody wanted to win the Big 12 Championship. We worked so hard for it, but the good thing is we still have another goal to check off and that's the World Series. We're going to put this behind us and get back to the basics and focus on winning a national championship.
