The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
No. 6/5 Softball scores four in the first as part of 7-3 win at Iowa State
03.24.2012 | Softball
March 24, 2012
AMES, Iowa - Senior third baseman Nadia Taylor (Humble/Atascocita) homered for the second time in as many games Saturday as the No. 6/5 Texas Longhorns beat the Iowa State Cyclones, 7-3, in Big 12 Conference action. Kim Bruins and Taylor Hoagland also homered as Texas (25-2, 4-0) tied a season-high with three homers as a team as the Longhorns will look for the series sweep tomorrow.
Taylor Thom went 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI as Hoagland, Brejae Washington and Courtney Craig added two hits apiece. Right-hander Rachel Fox went the distance to improve to 8-0 in the circle this season, allowing three runs on seven hits.
Hoagland moved into a tie for third place on the Texas all-time list for career homers (31).
Texas used a four-run first inning to take control early. Washington singled up the middle with one out and later stole second. After Craig hit an infield single, Thom singled home Washington for the first run. Taylor then hit a 2-1 pitch over the fence in left for her third homer on the season as the three-run shot gave the Longhorns the 4-0 lead.
Iowa State (9-17, 0-2) would answer quickly after Tori Torrescano hit a two-run double off Taylor's glove at third in the first. She later scored on Sara Rice's RBI single as the Cyclones cut the Texas lead to a run. Fox walked Evan Folks to load the bases, but induced a ground out from Sara Davison to maintain the lead. Craig's RBI double in the second put Texas ahead, 5-3, but the Cyclones again loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning before Fox got a comebacker from Rice again work out of the jam.
The Longhorns got back-to-back homers from Bruins (her first of the season) and Hoagland (sixth in 2012) to complete the scoring. Fox retired 13 of the final 14 batters she faced in order as the Longhorns earned the series win.
The series finale takes place tomorrow at noon (Central time). Gametracker live stats, along with a live Twitter feed (@TexasSoftball), will be available on TexasSports.com.
Notes: Texas has out-scored their opponents by a 36-6 margin in the first inning this season...the Longhorns have won 15 of their last 16 games...Nadia Taylor has seven RBI this weekend against Iowa State and 12 RBI in her last six games...with two stolen bases today, Brejae Washington now has 19 stolen bases this season...with 57 career stolen bases, Washington needs only five more to tie the career record as a sophomore, held by Desiree Williams (62 from 2005-09).
TEXAS 412-000-0---7-14-1 ISU 300-000-0---3-7-0WP - Fox (8-0) LP - Smith (1-1) Records: Texas (25-2, 4-0), Iowa State (9-17, 0-2)
Fox and Ogle. Smith, Kemp (1), Jones (3) and Folks.
Post-Game Quotes
Head coach Connie Clark
On scoring four runs in the first inning: The bats were good again right out of the gate. Great focus from pitch-to-pitch and great at-bats.
On Rachel Fox's performance late in the game: I thought Rachel settled in nicely late in the game for us. Iowa State competes well and we talked about that during the game. I thought there was a lull for us in the fifth inning, so I told them that (Iowa State) would finish strong like they did yesterday. We have to keep doing what we do. Rachel and Mandy (Ogle) did a great job of adjusting their game plan, attacking spots better to give us a chance of success.
Senior right fielder Taylor Hoagland
On mood of the team at the moment: We have been working on some individual things, offensively and defensively. Our focus is to just keep moving forward.
On tying for third on Texas career home run list: I try not to look at the stats. I know I have been up and down this season. I don't think it's been anything fundamentally-wise, it's just confidence with me and helping my team anyway I can.
