The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Illinois
Washington drives in three as No. 6/6 Softball earns 3-0 victory over Illinois
02.15.2013 | Softball
Feb. 15, 2013
Box Score 
HOUSTON - A bases-loaded walk and a two-run double from junior Brejae Washington provided the scoring as No. 6/6 Texas topped Illinois 3-0 Friday afternoon. Senior Kim Bruins recorded the victory and earned her second shutout of the season.
With the win, Texas moves to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the Hilton Houston Plaza Invitational while Illinois falls to 3-3 on the season.
The contest was a classic pitchers' duel, as the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Texas senior Torie Schmidt led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Stephanie Ceo. After a walk and a stolen base by junior Mandy Ogle, sophomore Gabby Smith popped out to shortstop. With two outs, the Illini decided to intentionally walk Taylor Hoagland to fill the bases. Washington followed by earning a walk, forcing in Schmidt and giving Texas a 1-0 lead.
The Longhorns added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ceo led off with a single to right field that extended her hitting streak to seven games, the longest to begin a career in program history. Ceo moved to second on an Ogle sacrifice bunt and advanced to third after a bloop single by Smith. Hoagland drew her second walk of the game to load the bases for Washington, who lined a double off of the right-field wall. Ceo and Smith scored on the play, giving the Longhorns a three-run cushion.
The three runs were more than enough for Bruins in the circle. After sparking the Texas win over DePaul with her bat in the morning, Bruins (2-0) pitched her second straight complete game shutout. She allowed two hits, walked two and struck out five in the performance.
The Illini threatened to close the gap in the top of the seventh as Jess Perkins was hit by a pitch to open the inning. After a line out to left, Jami Schkade walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Bruins struck out pinch hitter Nicole Tobon and induced a Stephanie Cuevas groundout to Hoagland at third to end the threat and seal the victory.
Texas continues play in the Hilton Houston Plaza Invitational with two games on Saturday. The Longhorns face Illinois at 12:30 p.m. CT and then tournament host Houston at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Connie Clark
On today's two wins: I felt like we were going to come out and see a good level of competition from DePaul and Illinois. Those are two good ball clubs.
It was a little bit of a tale of two games. We opened it up a little bit in game one. We were able to get after it on the bases there and put people in motion. In game two, it was tight the whole way. Illinois competed very well. We had to continue to make adjustments at the plate and good things happened.
Both pitchers threw well today. We went with the two seniors to give us a good start to this tournament.
On Kim Bruins' performance: It's tremendous. I love how she competes. I've said that all along. She's a tremendous competitor regardless of whether she's in the circle, at the plate or at first base.
If she gives up anything in terms of a big hit, it usually doesn't snowball. She's so good mentally and competes so well. She always gives us the opportunity to stay in every ballgame.
On Brejae Washington and Torie Schmidt's timely hits: Brejae and Torie both stood in and hit. They've both been working on that during the offseason. Both of them, being upperclassmen now, it's great to see them apply things each year and get better and better.
We had the opportunity today because of the game plan Illinois went to and how they were pitching. To have Brejae and Torie step in and deliver provided a big spark when the game was tight was huge for us today.
On the DePaul game: It was nice to get everybody in the game. We got some looks with our newcomers. We're getting them in the game when we have a chance to get them some experience.
Senior P/1B Kim Bruins
On the mentality of playing two games back-to-back: Our main thing is we just try to keep our focus and energy up. We try to keep our energy up, because if our energy gets down, then we won't do as well. For the most part, we did pretty well today.
On her grand slam against DePaul: I just try to slow it down a little bit because sometimes I get too hyped up and I want to swing at everything. I told myself to take wait and swing at your pitch. And thankfully it went out.
On how she stays composed in the circle: The defense. Having trust in my defense and knowing they will make plays behind me. I don't strike out a lot of people, so having trust in them and having them trust me helps me focus. That helps me relax and get out of those jams.
On what she credits for her good start to the season: Taking my time. Sometimes I get too rushed or too amped up. So I have to remember to slow it down a little bit.
Junior CF Brejae Washington
On her three-RBI performance against Illinois: It felt good. I was comfortable going up to bat. I knew once they walked [Taylor] Hoagland, I had to wait for my pitch and be able to drive something through.
On her offseason work paying off: I felt like, last year when I was coming up in certain situations, I needed to be able to stand in and hit. To be able to do that now after practicing and have it paying off, it felt good.
On starting the weekend 2-0: It means a lot because it sets the tone and table for us the rest of the weekend. We know what we're capable of. We have seen two pitchers now and need to see what Houston has to offer. We'll go from there.
Post-Game Notes
- This was the first ever matchup between Texas and Illinois on the softball field.
- UT is 8-0 and has begun the last three seasons with 10 or more consecutive victories.
- Texas has outscored its opponents 54-5 this season. UT's pitching staff has posted a 0.55 earned-run average through eight contests.
- Freshman Stephanie Ceo has scored or driven in a run in her last seven contests. She is hitting a team-best .625 (10-for-16) this season.
- With her one hit against Illinois, Ceo extended her hitting streak to seven games. That is the longest run to open a career in program history, surpassing Lexy Bennett's six-game run in 2009.
- Senior Kim Bruins has thrown back-to-back shutouts for the first time in her career.
- Senior Taylor Hoagland drew three walks against Illinois, giving her 115 in her career. She is now tied with Samantha Ricketts (Oklahoma/2006-09), Jen Bruck (Oklahoma/2005-08) and Kim Ogee (Nebraska/2000-03) for eighth in Big 12 Conference history.
- Hoagland has drawn a walk in seven of eight games this season.
