The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
New Mexico
Kim Bruins lifts No. 6 Softball to 7-3 win against No. 25 New Mexico
03.31.2012 | Softball
March 31, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas - Junior pitcher/first base Kim Bruins knocked in the go-ahead run as part of a five-run sixth inning Saturday as the No. 6 Texas Longhorns defeated the No. 25 New Mexico Lobos, 7-3, in a non-conference game at Red & Charline McCombs Field. The Longhorns completed the doubleheader sweep after an earlier 9-1 win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
The Longhorns (30-2) have now won eight straight as Bruins also did it in the circle with the complete game effort, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts to improve to 6-1 as a pitcher this season.
Bruins was 2-for-2 at the plate with one RBI while Brejae Washington went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
New Mexico (22-8) got on the board quickly. With two outs, Chelsea Anaya and Jessica Garcia hit back-to-back homeruns to left field to put the Lobos up 2-0. Texas responded by scoring two runs of its own in the bottom of the first to tie the game. The leadoff batter, Taylor Hoagland, hit a long homerun to left center to open the Longhorns' half of the inning. Washington followed with a double to left field and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Lexy Bennett hit a sacrifice fly, which plated Washington, tying the game, 2-2.
The Lobos took the lead in the sixth after Danielle Castro hit an RBI groundout with the bases loaded to score Sharise Cox.
Texas had their second wild sixth inning of the day to increase their lead to 7-3. Thom singled to center field with one out. Nadia Taylor singled to left field and moved to second on the throw while Thom moved to third base. Kari Gutierrez entered the game to relieve starting pitcher Kaela DeBroeck. Gutierrez threw a wild pitch that scored Thom and moved Torie Schmidt, the pinch runner for Taylor, to third. Bruins then hit the RBI single to right center as Texas took the lead. Washington added two more runs on a two-run single as Hoagland would later score the final run.
After a leadoff double in the seventh, Bruins hit two Lobo batters to load the bases, but then bared down by striking out Anaya and getting Garcia to pop up to Bennett to finish off the win.
Texas concludes its three-game series with New Mexico tomorrow with an 11 a.m. game that will broadcast live on Longhorn Network. Gametracker live stats, along with a live Twitter feed (@TexasSoftball), will be available on TexasSports.com.
Notes: Texas is now 7-2 against Top 25 ranked opponents this season...the Longhorns' 28-2 record prior to today's doubleheader matched the similar 28-2 start by the 2006 squad that advanced to the Women's College World Series...Taylor Hoagland, who has six home runs in her last eight games, is one home run away from tying the Texas career record of 36, held by Amy Hooks (2008-11)...Lexy Bennett is one RBI away from tying the Texas career record of 139, held by Loryn Johnson (2007-10)...Kim Bruins has won her last four decisions...Brejae Washington leads the team with 13 multi-hit games this season...Hoagland has reached base safely in a season-high 10 straight games.
UNM 200-001-0---3-6-1 TEXAS 200-005-x---7-8-0WP - Bruins (6-1) LP - DeBroeck (11-4) Records: Texas (30-2), New Mexico (22-8)
DeBroeck, Gutierrez 6) and Garcia. Bruins and Ogle.
Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Connie Clark
On the team's approach when the game was tied: It is a matter of continuing to make adjustments. Talk about a tale of two games, but we still had a lot of line drives right at people. We were hitting the ball hard again, and there is not a whole lot we can do about that, except for keep chipping away. I thought we did a really nice job of that.
On the two big sixth innings today: I think it was about us just staying and playing the game, taking what it is giving us, and staying patient as well. What I really liked is how we competed, even when we were down. That is the key. You do not want to see a team panic, you do not want to see them start to swing at stuff out of the zone, and I think that we held our composure really well, and just kept playing the game well. More often than not when you do that, good things are going to happen. I thought we were exceptional at that today.
On Kim Bruins' performance: Kim Bruins competed exceptionally well today. It was fun to see her step up and get the hit as well. She is competing extremely for us, and it is fun to see her smile and compete hard.
She was elevating her pitches early in the first couple innings. We were talking about shoring up something mechanically, rather than just trying to bring the ball down in the zone. When she got into the third inning she did a good job, ball was down in the zone, she was mixing speeds, had better command, and did a really nice job of that. The main thing is that she has an amazing compete factor right now and competitive spirit. She is the one who you want to see at the plate or in the circle when the game is on the line. She is doing some great things for us right now.
On the non-conference series in the middle of Big 12 play: It is nice to have some non-conference pieces in the mix, including our game at Houston the other night. Going into this entire week of five games, we know we are getting different looks. Karina (Scott) twisted her ankle the yesterday and things are going to happen down the line, so we were able to go to Gabby [Smith], who is on the depth chart at first base and got her some looks. She did a nice job at first base. It gives us those opportunities to keep looking at different things and get everyone involved. That keeps everybody competing for spots and also feeling good about being prepared when they are called upon.
Junior pitcher Kim Bruins
On what was working out today: Mixing things up. I mean they are great players so if you throw the same pitch over and over they are going to figure it out so really mixing up my spots was the key.
On relying on different pitches besides the fast ball: It wasn't a strikeout pitch like Rachel Fox's, but it made them get off-balance and I was getting foul balls with it. I just use it basically for strike pitch.
On sixth inning and feelings at bat: I was thinking fly ball to the outfield or ground ball to the right side of the field. I was just thinking about scoring. Home runs are going to come but I was just aiming for us to get a base hit and get runners up.
On seventh-inning action with bases loaded and one out: In my mind I was freaking out a little bit. They were great hitters, but I just had to hit my spots. I was just keeping myself relaxed and it was all just a blur the rest of the inning.
