The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
San Diego State
Karina Scott provides heroics for No. 8/8 Texas Softball
02.24.2012 | Softball
Feb. 24, 2012
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Karina Scott's two-run double with one out in the bottom of the seventh Thursday gave the No. 8/8 Texas Longhorns the 2-1 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs. Coupled with an earlier 4-0 shutout against Cal State Northridge, the Longhorns improved to 10-0 on the season. It¡¦s the third straight year that Texas has started the season with a 10-0 record.
San Diego State scored an unearned run with two outs in the sixth with hopes of pulling off the upset when Justeen Maeva singled home Hayley Miles. SDSU starter Rebecca Arbino, a transfer from Texas A&M kept the Longhorns off the scoreboard until the seventh. Taylor Thom doubled to right to lead off the Texas seventh. Pinch-hitter Gabby Smith popped up for the first out. Mandy Ogle came back with two strikes against her to draw a key walk. Scott then hammered a fly ball to the gap as Ogle would slide just under the tag at home on the cutoff throw to give the Longhorns the win.
Rachel Fox (2-0) allowed only two hits while striking out five batters.
Texas faces No. 1 Florida to continue play at the Cathedral City Classic in a 2:30 p.m. Central start.
Post-Game Notes
- Texas is batting .399 as a team with a 0.68 staff ERA through 10 games.
- Six hitters in the Texas lineup tonight are batting over .438 on the season (Lexy Bennett - .607, Mandy Ogle - .500, Taylor Thom - .480, Karina Scott - .467, Torie Schmidt - .444 and Brejae Washington - .438).
- The Longhorns are 25-of-26 for stolen bases and have allowed only two stolen bases this season.
Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Connie Clark
On the seventh inning against San Diego State: "When Taylor (Thom) was leading off, you could just tell by her body language and eyes that she was going to do something. It was a tremendous at-bat to set the table. I thought Mandy (Ogle) had great at-bats all night. Karina (Scott) had some good swings especially to win that game for us."
On Rachel Fox: "I loved how she competed. She never wavered in her performance tonight. She reset herself well after we had some miscues in the field, but I loved the way she was able to turn around and respond."
On the Cal State Northridge win earlier tonight: "I thought Gabby (Smith) is at that point where she is learning that once the season starts, you don¡¦t have as many practice days to go over things. I wanted her to do well tonight, but I told her that she needed to have a great practice to feel good about herself coming out of practice. She did that and we were able to tweak some things which allowed her to feel good. This is a performance that she can build on for the rest of the season. I thought Kim (Bruins) came in and really let it go for us."
On facing No. 1 Florida tomorrow: "I think we have done a good job this season of just focusing on ourselves and not worrying about who we are playing. That is what we will do tomorrow."
Sophomore infielder Karina Scott
On her game-winning hit against San Diego State: "I just wanted to get something on the right side. We are not quitters. We are never going to stop until the game is officially over."
