No. 15/16 Softball opens Texas Classic with losses to No. 7/9 Kentucky and IPFW

Friday, February 14

Austin, Texas

4:00 PM

University of Texas

4-4

Kentucky

7-0

Kentucky

TEXAS

No. 15/16 Softball opens Texas Classic with losses to No. 7/9 Kentucky and IPFW

02.14.2014 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Longhorns put together a late rally that runs short against Kentucky; Davis tosses season-high 10 strikeouts in complete game effort.

Box Scores: Kentucky Game | IPFW Game | Photo Gallery | Twitter

AUSTIN, Texas – On the opening day of the 2014 Texas Classic, the No. 15/16 Texas Longhorns dropped contests to No. 7/9 Kentucky and IPFW by finals of 6-4 and 3-2, respectively at Red & Charline McCombs Field. With the losses, Texas drops to 4-5 overall on the season.

Trailing by six runs in their final at-bat against Kentucky, the Horns went to the plate and put together a four-run rally. With the bases loaded, junior Marlee Gabaldon walked, allowing freshman Devon Tunning to score for Texas' first run. UT rattled off three more runs off a ground out by senior Taylor Thom and a single by Lindsey Stephens to trim the deficit to 6-4. The Wildcats prevailed to win their second game of the Texas Classic, pushing their undefeated start to 7-0.

Sophomore Holly Kern and junior Gabby Smith both pitched for the Longhorns. Kern, who made her second start of the season, gave up three runs in the fifth inning. She was tabbed with her first loss of the season, dropping her record to 0-1.

Kern tallied two strikeouts and allowed five runs off nine hits in four-and-one-third innings pitched. The sixth and final Kentucky run came off Smith, who allowed one hit and one run in two-and-two-thirds innings pitched.

Kentucky sophomore pitcher Kelsey Nunley pitched all seven innings for the Wildcats to improve to 3-0. She gave up four runs off eight hits. Junior Griffin Joiner highlighted UK's offensive output when she delivered a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

In Texas' second game of the Texas Classic, the Longhorns excelled early defensively against the IPFW Mastadons as freshman pitcher Tiarra Davis struck out the side in each of the first two innings. She went on to post a season-high 10 strikeouts, which is the most by a UT pitcher this season.

Davis got support from her defense when she went out there for her third inning of work, as it worked to set the Mastodons down in order for a third straight frame.

The rookie southpaw made her second start of the season and pitched all eight innings for the Longhorns. Davis allowed three hits and three runs to go along with her 10 strikeouts, but suffered the complete game loss, dropping her to 1-2 on the year.

Texas and IPFW fought battled through a scoreless tie through the first five innings.

IPFW got on the board in the sixth inning when it took advantage of a pair of UT fielding mishaps. Junior Larissa Franklin advanced to third after shortstop Taylor Thom fielded a ball and overthrew it to first base. Franklin would go on to score the Mastodons first run of the game off a second Texas error by right fielder Lindsey Stephens.

In the bottom of the sixth, Texas responded by capitalizing on two IPFW errors and scored its first run, as Stephens advanced to third base off a single by Davis and subsequently scored following an error by IPFW.

After neither team failed to score in the seventh inning, international tiebreaker rules were put into effect once the eighth inning began, which allows for the teams to start with a runner on second base. IPFW scored two runs in the extra inning to lead Texas 3-1 heading into the home half of the eighth.

The Longhorns placed senior Brejae Washington on second to start the bottom of the eighth. Kern stepped up the plate and smashed a triple to right field, forcing Washington in for Texas' second run to bring the deficit to a run. Texas' Sophomore Erin Shireman was up to bat next for the Horns and walked, giving Texas even more hope, as it setup runners on the corners. Both Davis and Gabaldon struck out to finish the game.

For IPFW, junior Miranda Kramer pitched all eight innings and improved to 4-0. Kramer gave up seven hits and two runs with 12 strikeouts.

Texas is back in action Saturday, Feb. 15 at 1:00 p.m. Central against Louisiana Tech in Day 2 of the Texas Classic. Immediately following that contest, the Longhorns will then host their first semifinal game of the weekend tournament against an opponent to be determined.

POSTGAME NOTES

Texas drops to 4-5 on the season and is on its first five-game losing streak since the 2007 season.
The Horns are now 0-2 against Kentucky in the all-time head-to-head series and are 0-1 against IPFW.
Senior Taylor Thom went 0-for-4 against Kentucky, ending her seven-game hitting streak, which dated back to the final game of the 2013 season.
Freshman Tiarra Davis recorded her first complete game and struck out a season-high 10 batters against IPFW. She struck out the side in each of the first two innings.
Sophomore Lindsey Stephens had two hits against Kentucky, marking her second multi-hit game of the season. She knocked in two RBIs, giving her three multi-RBI games this season.