The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
Luna throws second straight no-hitter to blank Iowa State 8-0
04.12.2013 | Softball
April 12, 2013
Box Score 
AUSTIN, Texas - Senior Blaire Luna threw her second consecutive no-hitter, striking out 11, as Texas rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Iowa State Cyclones in game one of the weekend series at Red & Charline McCombs Field. Freshman Erin Shireman drove in three runs and junior Taylor Thom and senior Torie Schmidt each collected three hits to pace the offense.
Luna no-hit Western Kentucky in her last start, on Saturday, striking out 16 in a 4-0 victory. She also threw the final frame on April 4 as four Texas pitchers combined for a perfect game in an 8-0 win over Texas Southern, meaning Luna has been involved in three no-hitters in the last nine days and three of the last four games. Friday's win gave the three-time All-American her 100th career victory as a Longhorn, improving to 20-1 on the season.
Texas (36-4, 6-0 Big 12) threatened in the bottom of the first, but Iowa State was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam. Brejae Washington hit a one-out single to left and stole her team-leading 23rd base of the season to advance to second. Thom followed suit with an infield single and stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. Mandy Ogle walked to load the bases, but Kim Bruins lined into a double play to end the inning.
The Longhorns got on the board in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. Schmidt led off with a single to left field and stole second. After Karina Scott was hit by a pitch, Schmidt and Scott stole second and third. Following a Shireman groundout, Stephanie Ceo loaded the bases with an infield single. Taylor Hoagland doubled to right-center field, scoring Schmidt and Scott to give Texas the 2-0 edge. Washington then drove in Ceo on a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 3-0. Thom kept the inning alive with an infield single to the shortstop and stole second, giving Texas the sixth of its seven stolen bases for the game. The total is good for second in school history in a conference matchup and tied for second in any UT contest. Ogle drew her second walk of the game to load the bases, but Bruins flied out to the left fielder to end the inning.
Iowa State (18-20, 3-4 Big 12) put its first runners aboard in the top of the third. After Aly Cappaert led off the frame with a walk, Brittany Gomez bunted toward Hoagland, but Ceo, covering first, mishandled the throw, putting runners at first and second with two outs. Sarah Hawryluk struck out as her bunt attempt went foul to end the threat.
The offense was clicking again for Texas in the third, as it added four more runs to go ahead 7-0. Schmidt recorded her second hit of the night with a single up the middle and was pushed over to third when Scott reached second base on a fielding error. Shireman doubled to right-center field to score Schmidt and Scott to extend the lead to 5-0. Ceo then doubled to the left-center gap to score Shireman and was brought home on a two-out Thom single to stretch the lead to 7-0. Ogle grounded out for the final out of the third.
After three up, three down for the Cyclones in the top of the fourth, the Texas offense provided the eighth run in the home half of the fourth. Schmidt slapped her third hit of the night down the left-field line and stole her third base to reach second. Two batters later, Shireman singled to right field to score Schmidt, for Shireman's third RBI of the night.
Iowa State's Jorden Spendlove walked with one out in the fifth, but Luna fanned the final two batters to seal the victory and end the game due to the eight-run rule.
The Cyclones' Torie Torrescano (9-9) was saddled with the loss, throwing three innings and allowing 11 hits and two walks. Madison Jones completed the pitching effort, throwing the final frame and surrendering one run on two hits.
Texas returns to the diamond Saturday at 5 p.m. for game two of the three-game series.
Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Connie Clark
On Blaire Luna's performance in the circle: She had great command. She was well rested and had a couple of good workouts during the week that kept her sharp and ready to go. It was a nice night to get her 100th career win and throw a no-hitter on top of that. It was a great outing.
On how scoring early can help a pitcher: I thought our at-bats were outstanding tonight. We had watched some film of those pitchers and we looked very patient. We knew exactly what we were looking for. And I think we had great at-bats across the board tonight.
On being aggressive on the bases: We love to be able to get in motion when we have chances. We feel like we have a lot of speed throughout the lineup and we can run a lot of different people. We were able to have a great package of power and speed tonight.
On the development of freshman Erin Shireman: Her main focus during practice and in the cages has been pitch selection. She has become more selective at the plate and is getting a better understanding of hitting with certain counts. That has helped her.
She is hitting the ball very well and doing a great job of advancing runners. She is doing the little things that we know she can do, but it just took some time to get her going. I am really happy for her. She had some good at-bats tonight and the three RBI were big.
Senior P Blaire Luna
On helping the team start Big 12 play 6-0: It is really exciting. We have come out really strong in conference and that is something that we have wanted to do. Right now, we are really focusing on winning the Big 12, so I think we are off to a really great start.
On pitching a no-hitter: My confidence is really high right now. I have been doing a lot of conditioning on my own to make sure my legs stay strong. I have been working really well with [junior catcher] Mandy [Ogle] and making sure we are on the same page.
On what Luna and Ogle have been focusing on: We talk about mixing it up and making sure the hitters stay off balance. We are just staying pitch-to-pitch.
On her 100th career win: I wasn't aware that it was my 100th career win, but it is a really cool honor.
Freshman OF/3B Erin Shireman
On her performance tonight: I was really happy I was seeing the ball really well. In my second at-bat, I was just looking to hit behind the runners and move them around and get some runs for our team. It was just an all-around great game, including stolen bases and fielding.
On recent adjustments: I was looking for the outside pitch and trying to hit behind the runners. I've been working really hard on that and keeping my front elbow in.
On the offense: It's vital for us right now. Everyone's seeing the ball really well, making good contact and getting a lot of solid hits. It's coming together and everyone's clicking right now.
On hitting behind pitcher Blaire Luna: It makes it easier. She takes stress off of the offense and keeps the defense pretty strong.
Post-Game Notes
- Senior Blaire Luna recorded the 100th victory of her career. She is the sixth Big 12 Conference pitcher to reach the century mark. Former Longhorn Cat Osterman (2002-06) owns the program and league marks with 136 victories.
- Luna's no-hitter extended her streak to 10-straight starts surrendering three or fewer hits. The string is the fifth longest in program history.
- Luna has faced 73-straight batters without allowing a hit.
- Senior Taylor Hoagland holds a .642 on-base percentage this season. The UT single-season record is .510, by Lexy Bennett in 2011. The Big 12 mark is .594 by Amber Flores (Oklahoma/2009).
- Hoagland's double in the second inning was her 10th of the campaign, tying her single-season career high, set as a freshman in 2010. The double also tied Hoagland with Nadia Taylor (2009-12) for fourth on UT the all-time hits list with 219.
- Hoagland's two runs batted in gave her 138 in her career, one behind Loryn Johnson (2007-10) for second place on the UT all-time list.
- Junior Brejae Washington stole her 23rd base in the bottom of the first inning. The total is the eighth most in a year in program history and 15 shy of her own single-season record of 38, set in 2011.
- Junior Taylor Thom's three-for-three performance lifted her batting average during league games to .409. She has driven in five runs and owns a .545 slugging percentage in Big 12 contests.
- Freshman Stephanie Ceo went two-for-two with two runs scored. During Big 12 Conference games this season, Ceo is hitting a team-best .571 (eight-for-14) with seven runs.
- Senior Torie Schmidt scored three runs in the contest and paces the squad with 10 during conference contests. She entered the game tied for the Big 12 Conference lead with seven runs scored during league matchups.
- Schmidt also finished with three hits for her seventh multiple-hit game of the campaign.
- Texas improves to 37-1 in the all-time series against Iowa State.
- UT is 6-0 in Big 12 Conference games for just the fourth time in program history, joining the 2012, 2011 and 2002 squads.
- The victory extends Texas' winning streak to 13, tied for the longest of the season. The Longhorns opened the year winning 13 consecutive contests.
- Texas' overall record of 36-4 is tied with the 2011 team for the second best through 40 contests in program history. The 2006 club began the year 37-3 to establish the mark.
- UT finished the contest with seven stolen bases. The mark is the second most in a Big 12 game in Texas history. The Longhorns set the program record last month with nine steals at Kansas on March 28.
- The swipes pushed the Longhorns' season total to 93, the fourth most in a year in program history.
- The Longhorns recorded their 13th consecutive victory and 12th-straight home win. UT is 20-1 at Red & Charline McCombs Field this season.
- UT's 154 walks this season are good for the fifth most in a year in program history.
