The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
24-16, 4-1
Iowa State
18-19, 1-6
Long ball propels Softball to doubleheader sweep of Iowa State
04.11.2014 | Softball
Longhorns win by counts of 19-6 and 2-0; Get homers from Thom, Ogle and two from Stephens
Box Scores: Game 1 | Game 2 | Twitter
AMES, Iowa – In Friday afternoon's doubleheader, sophomore Lindsey Stephens blasted two home runs and senior Taylor Thom smashed her second grand slam of the season to carry Texas Softball (25-16, 5-1) to a 19-6 win over Iowa State (18-20, 1-7) in game one before senior Mandy Ogle broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run over the center field wall in the top of the 7th inning of game two to lift the Longhorns to a 2-0 victory and a twin bill sweep of Iowa State at Cyclone Sports Complex.
In the opening contest, Texas reached 19 runs for the second time in a five-game span, matching its season high and tying the mark for second-most scores in a game in program history. The Longhorns were walked 11 times in the doubleheader opener, tying for the second-most bases on balls it has been awarded in a game in school history. Texas' eight runs in the top of the second inning was the most it has scored in an inning in nearly a year when it tallied nine in the first frame against Iowa State in Austin last season on April 13, 2013.
Freshman LHP Tiarra Davis started both games and came away with her second complete game shutout of the season in the second game to advance her record to 12-7 on the year. She departed game one after one inning of work and Texas leading 9-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning, so that she had the energy to start game two. Junior Gabby Smith threw two-and-a-third innings of work, earning her the victory in game one, which boosted her record to 11-4 in the circle this season.
The Longhorns scored in every inning of game one. Stephens crossed the dish first after four-straight free passes, culminating with sophomore Holly Kern being hit by a pitch to plate the go-ahead run.
Later in the contest, Stephens hammered a ball over the right field wall, across the street and onto a residential front lawn in the fourth inning for her first of two long balls on the day. In the fifth inning , she ripped a three-run bomb over the left field fence to run her season total to 13 home runs and her RBI total to 53, which are Big 12 bests.
Freshman Devon Tunning would continue the walk parade when the Horns went back to the plate in the second inning. Tunning, who went 3-for-4 with two walks on the day set the table for UT's eight-run second-inning rally. Sophomore Stephanie Ceo and senior Brejae Washington pushed out back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases for Stephens, who drove in a run on a bases loaded single to right field before Thom cleared the bases with her sixth career grand slam.
With no outs recorded in the inning and UT leading 6-0, freshman Stephanie Wong went up and continued the rally by reaching on an error committed by ISU second baseman Sara Davison. Davis swatted a base hit to move Wong to third and set up runners on the corners. After Kern was retired, Ogle knocked in Wong to increase the lead to a seven-run Longhorns advantage before Tunning walked for the second time in the frame to reload the bases. Ceo stepped up and delivered two more runs to the UT score frame and ran the count to a 9-0 lead for the Longhorns.
Iowa State would break the shutout in the bottom of the second inning when it scored on Brittany Gomez's RBI single. ISU continued the momentum and tacked on a run in the third inning and then put up a four-spot, highlighted by Rachel Hartman's two-run home run off of freshman pitcher Lauren Slatten in the fourth inning.
UT scored 10 more runs over the course of the final three innings, helping it match its season-high in runs scored.
Game two proved to be more of a pitching duel, as both teams were held scoreless through the first six innings of play.
With one away in the top of the seventh and Kern at first base, Ogle went to the plate. Fighting a full-count, a pitch from Paris Imholz appeared to have hit Ogle, but went off the bottom of her bat. Having to stay in the batter's box, Ogle faced another pitch from Imholz and crushed it over the left field wall to put up the game's first and only runs.
Davis struck out seven Cyclone hitters and gave up just three hits and two walks in her complete game shutout win. Imholz took both losses, dropping her to 0-4 on the season.
Texas will go after a three-game sweep of Iowa State on Saturday at Noon CT at Cyclone Sports Complex.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
-Texas is now 41-1 all-time against Iowa State and has won 21-straight games against the Cyclones.
-19 runs scored matches UT's season high and ties for second-most in program history. It also marks the second time in the last five games that the Horns have tallied at least 19 in a game.
-11 Longhorns walked in game one, tying for the second-most in a single game.
-Texas scored 8 runs in the second inning of game one, marking the most in nearly a year when it posted nine in the first inning against Iowa State on April 13, 2013.
-Entering the day with the third-highest batting average in the nation (.348), Texas is now hitting .350 on the season.
-Texas improved to 8-0 in true road games in 2014, which is the best mark in the nation.
-Reached base in both games, extending her reached base streak to 32-straight games.
-Had one hit between the two games, putting her just nine away from the program record for career hits (246).
-Hit two home runs in game one, giving her 13 on the season (Leads team and the Big 12).
-Drove in 5 RBIs to advance her total to 53 on the season, which is a Big 12-most. She needs four to tie for second-most in a single season at UT.
-Reached base in both games, extending her on base streak to 42-consecutive games.
-Hit second grand slam of the season and the sixth of her career, which is the most in program history by a Longhorn.
-Has four home runs (two grand slams) and 13 RBIs over the last five games.
-Walked four times in game one, which is the most free passes she has been awarded in her career.
-Went 3-for-4 on the day between the two games.
-Reached base four times in game one, having two hits and a pair of walks.
-Has reached base in five-straight games (9-for-16)
-She leads UT in hitting during Big 12 play, holding a .500 batting average through the first six league games.
-Started both games and for the 10th-straight time.
-Improved to 4-0 in Big 12 play
-Picked up her second career complete game shutout victory.
-Hurled her 14th complete game of the season.
-Has struck at at least five hitters in a game 12 times this season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Gabby (11-4)
L: Imholz, Paris (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Shireman, Erin 1 ; Ceo, Stephanie 1
HR: Stephens, Lindsey 2 ; Thom, Taylor 1
RBI: Stephens, Lindsey 5 ; Thom, Taylor 4 ; Shireman, Erin 3 ; Kern, Holly 2 ; Scott, Karina 1 ; Tunning, Devon 1 ; Ceo, Stephanie 2 ; Smith, Gabby 1
SH: Wong, Stephanie 1
SF: Shireman, Erin 1 ; Kern, Holly 1 ; Tunning, Devon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Washington, Brejae 1 ; Stephens, Lindsey 4 ; Thom, Taylor 4 ; Wong, Stephanie 1 ; Scott, Rachel 1 ; Davis, Tiarra 1 ; Shireman, Erin 1 ; Kern, Holly 1 ; Ogle, Mandy 2 ; Tunning, Devon 2 ; Ceo, Stephanie 1
HBP: Washington, Brejae 1 ; Kern, Holly 1 ; Ceo, Stephanie 1
Batting:
2B: Slater, Lexi 1 ; Henry, Liana 1
HR: Hartman, Rachel 1
RBI: Gomez, Brittany 1 ; Slater, Lexi 2 ; Hartman, Rachel 2 ; Spendlove, Jorden 1
SH: Slater, Lexi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawryluk, Sarah 1 ; Slater, Lexi 1 ; Cappaert, Aly 1 ; Hartman, Rachel 1 ; Davison, Sara 1 ; Henry, Liana 1
HBP: Hartman, Rachel 1 ; Henry, Liana 1
