The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
31-20, 10-5
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Kansas
30-20, 4-10
Softball falls to Kansas, 5-2, in second game of weekend set
05.03.2014 | Softball
Smith goes 2-for-3 and tosses five innings of effective relief work.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Softball (31-20, 10-5) fell to the Kansas Jayhawks, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at Red & Charline McCombs Field. The Jayhawks (30-20, 4-10) tied the weekend series at one apiece after the Longhorns won the series opener, 2-0, Friday night.
Texas used three pitchers during the contest, beginning with freshman Tiarra Davis' 19th start in the last 20 games. Davis lasted one inning as the Jayhawks pounded out three runs off of four hits.
Davis picked up the loss, dropping her record to 16-11 on the season. Junior Gabby Smith relieved Davis in the second inning and limited Kansas to two runs (one unearned) on five hits, while freshman Lauren Slatten threw a scoreless seventh to end the game.
Smith paced the offense, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. The Texas junior is 8-for-11 at the plate in Big 12 play, good for a .727 batting average and has three hits in the series. Sophomore Stephanie Ceo added two hits on the afternoon and scored a run and freshman Devon Tunning slapped her second double off Kelsey Kessler in the series.
The Jayhawks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after posting two runs in each of the first two innings. In the opening frame, Kansas had runners on second and third with two outs when junior Chanin Naudin punched a single into left field to plate the first run. Freshman Harli Ridling followed with a base hit of her own to up the lead to 2-0.
Kansas picked up where they left off in the second. Taylor Dodson led off the inning with her first home run of the year over the left field fence. The Jayhawks added another run on Charley Brickey's single to score Taylor McElhaney, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Texas answered with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Texas loaded the bases on Ceo's leadoff single, sophomore Lindsey Stephens' walk, and senior Taylor Thom's single. Tunning drove in Ceo on a fielder's choice to the second baseman. Tunning has five RBIs in the last six ballgames.
Smith followed with an RBI-single to center, scoring Stephens and closing the margin to 4-2 after three innings.
Kansas pitcher Kelsey Kessler took over from the fourth inning on, scattering three hits and one walk to stymie the Longhorn hitters.
The Jayhawks added an insurance run in the sixth inning to push the advantage to 5-2. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ridling reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Brickey.
Down to their final at-bats in the seventh inning, Ceo and senior Brejae Washington led off with singles to put the first two batters aboard. Kessler retired the next three Longhorns to pick up the 5-2 victory.
The Longhorns and Jayhawks will square off in the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at McCombs Field in the annual Texas Traditions Day.
Sunday is Texas Traditions Day at the ballpark. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for a photo opportunity with Bevo XIV, Smokey the Cannon, and Texas Cheer. The final set of Texas Softball trading cards will be distributed to the first 300 fans in attendance. The game will be televised nationally on Longhorn Network.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
- Texas falls to 26-13 all-time against Kansas.
- The Longhorns own the all-time against Kansas in Austin, going 12-3.
- Texas is hitting .345 on the season, which is its highest mark in program history, leads the Big 12.
- The loss snaps Texas' 14-game win streak over the Jayhawks, dating back to April 13, 2008.
- UT suffered its first home loss against Kansas since April 8, 2007, snapping a six-game winning streak.
- Went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
- Notched a hit in every Big 12 game in which she recorded an official at-bat.
- Hitting .727 (8-11) in conference play.
- Took over the ballgame trailing 3-0 and limited the Jayhawks to just one earned over the final 5 innings.
- Tallied her 11th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 with a run and stolen base.
- Went 1-for-3 with a single to left field.
- Three hits away from fourth all-time on the Texas hits list (Currently has 236)
- Drove in the first run of the game for Texas in back-to-back contests.
- Legged out her fifth double of the season and second in the series (both vs. Kelsey Kessler)
- Recorded an RBI in five of the last six games.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kessler (18-13)
L: Davis, Tiarra (16-11)
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Batting:
HR: Dodson 1
RBI: Brickey 1 ; Naudin 1 ; Ridling 2 ; Dodson 1
SH: Newman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Behrmann 1 ; Brickey 2 ; Dodson 1 ; McElhaney 1
HBP: McElhaney 2
Batting:
2B: Tunning, Devon 1
RBI: Tunning, Devon 1 ; Smith, Gabby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stephens, Lindsey 1 ; Ceo, Stephanie 1
SB: Ceo, Stephanie 1
