The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
32-20, 11-5
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Kansas
30-21, 4-11
Wong’s triple leads Softball to 8-0 run-rule win over Kansas
05.04.2014 | Softball
Tiarra Davis records fifth complete game shutout; Offense explodes for seven runs in fifth inning.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Softball (32-20, 11-5) scored seven runs in the fifth inning to run-rule the Kansas Jayhawks, 8-0, in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Red & Charline McCombs Field. Freshman Stephanie Wong delivered a pair of hits in the frame, including the game-winning three-run triple that ended the ballgame early and led the Longhorns to the weekend series win. The run-ruled win is the 13th of the season for the Longhorns, which ties the 2013 season for second most run-ruled victories in program history.
Freshman Tiarra Davis threw her 20th complete game of the season en route to her 17th win. The Texas rookie only allowed two hits in the contest. The southpaw now has recorded five complete-game shutouts and seven complete games in which she has allowed three hits or less. At the plate, Davis helped her own cause by going 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Seven Longhorns recorded hits on the afternoon but were paced by the 3-through-5 hitters. Senior Taylor Thom, sophomore Devon Tunning and junior Gabby Smith combined to go 6-for-8 against Kansas pitcher Kelsey Kessler (18-14) with three RBIs and three runs scored. Tunning has now recorded seven RBIs in the past seven games while Smith is hitting .714 (10-for-14) in Big 12 play.
Texas got on the board in the first inning with two outs. Thom slapped an infield single to the third baseman and proceeded to steal second. Tunning knocked in her first RBI of the day with a base hit to left field to put the Longhorns on top, 1-0.
Kansas only had one real threat in the game when they loaded the bases in the fourth inning behind a single, hit by pitch, and walk. Davis was able to get Kansas catcher Harli Ridling to pop up to the catcher and Taylor Hatfield to fly out to shortstop to preserve the 1-0 lead and end the potential rally.
Texas sent 10 batters to the plate and knocked seven hits to score seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Wong, sophomore Stephanie Ceo and senior Brejae Washington loaded the bases with singles on the first three pitches of the inning. Pinch hitter Marlee Gabaldon and Thom followed with sacrifice hits to plate Wong and Ceo, respectively, to push the advantage to 3-0. Tunning added her second RBI of the game and fourth of the series with a solid single to center field to score Washington. After Smith extended the inning with a single to put runners at first and second with two outs, Davis shot a single up the middle to plate Tunning and put the lead at 5-0. The Longhorns loaded the bases once again when senior Mandy Ogle worked a walk to load bases. The game ended on a three-run walk-off triple by Wong over the left fielder's head to make the final score 8-0.
Texas finishes Big 12 play this coming week with two games against the Baylor Bears. The Longhorns play in Waco Tuesday, May 6th at 6 p.m. CT in a make-up game originally scheduled for March 23rd. The game will be televised on FOX Sports Southwest Plus.
The final game of the season will be next Sunday, May 11th at 1 p.m. CT at Red & Charline McCombs Field. The game will be senior night as the Longhorns recognize seniors Taylor Thom, Brejae Washington, Mandy Ogle and Karina Scott. Longhorn Network will be televise the game nationally
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
- Texas improves to 27-13 all-time against Kansas.
- The Longhorns own the all-time series against Kansas in Austin, going 13-3.
- Texas is hitting .348 on the season, which is its highest mark in program history and leads the Big 12.
- UT has not suffered a series loss to Kansas since 2004.
- This was the 13th run-rule win of the year, matching 2013's mark and one shy of the school record 14 set in 2011.
- Seven different Longhorns recorded hits, including Wong, Tunning, Thom and Smith collecting two apiece.
- Texas scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, marking the seventh frame of the year Texas has scored 7+ runs, including a season-high 11 against Texas State on April 23.
- Recorded her first career walk-off hit with a 3-RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to clear the bases and give Texas the 8-0, run-rule win.
- Matched a season-high with three RBIs for the third time this year.
- Led off the 7-run fifth inning with a single and batted around, end the game with 3-RBI triple.
- Went 2-for-3, including her second double of the season.
- Notched a hit in every Big 12 game in which she recorded an official at-bat.
- Hitting .714 (10-14) in conference play.
- Racked up a .667 (8-12) hitting clip over last five games with two RBIs.
- Went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs, good for her third multi-hit game over the past six games.
- Hitting .474 (9-for-19) over last seven games with seven RBIs.
- Drove in the first run of the game for Texas in all three games of the Kansas series.
- Recorded third multi-RBI game of the year.
- In the Kansas series, Tunning hit .500 (5-10) with four RBIs.
- 5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 SO, 2 BB
- Fifth complete-game shutout performance of the season.
- Davis leads the club with 20 complete games in 2014.
- Has allowed 3 hits or less in seven of the 20 complete game performances.
- Helped her own cause, hitting an RBI-single to center to score Tunning.
- Went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
- Leads the team with 53 runs on the year.
- Went 4-for-8 in the series with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
- Pinch-hit for Lindsey Stephens in the bottom of the fifth inning and hit a bases-loaded groundout to score Wong and put Texas up 2-0.
POSTGAME QUOTES
On her game-winning triple: It felt amazing. It just felt great to finally drive the ball because I've been working through some things and it all came together that pitch.
On getting out of the slump: I've been working with Chill [assistant coach Corrie Hill] some and my teammates have been doing their part and keeping me up and so I'm glad it finally came out today.
On what changed in the fifth inning: We made some adjustments in the box. We all told each other what we saw in previous games and we were looking for one pitch, then when we saw it we all swung.
Coach Connie Clark:
On the fifth inning: It was really nice. I thought Stephanie Wong got to first base after the first hit to start it and I thought she took a sigh that she has been holding in for about a month. So it was really good to see us work all the way around, but for her to get it started and finish it—she's really been working through some stuff so it was nice. I thought Marlee Gabaldon had a quality at-bat during that inning. The bunt opened things up and then the squeeze. It was just good all the way around.
On being patient with Kansas' pitching: We were just trying to be more patient in general and get pitches we could handle better and I thought we did a great job with that.
On Tiarra Davis: I'm really pleased with her. I think she, but she competes so well. She does have a short memory and she wants the ball back and was really disappointed she had to come out yesterday. And really yesterday was about momentum. It wasn't like they lit her up completely, but it was just a game of momentum yesterday to make the change. Obviously you might have seen her late in the game had we scored too, but coming back today I thought she did a really good job. They were trying to make some adjustments and really crowding the plate. She was able to have some counter moves with that and pitch like a veteran today. I thought that was the difference in the ballgame.
On the fifth inning momentum carrying over in the next two games: For some reason, we always play really well over in Waco and we feel really confident facing their pitchers. But Kansas gave us some fits in regards to what they were throwing at us and they did a nice job—you've got to tip your cap. I think we feel good, it's about finishing out strong and we have two more opportunities to do that.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Davis, Tiarra (17-11)
L: Kessler, Kelsey (18-14)
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Base Running:
HBP: Naudin, Chanin 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Gabby 1
3B: Wong, Stephanie 1
RBI: Gabaldon, Marlee 1 ; Thom, Taylor 1 ; Tunning, Devon 2 ; Davis, Tiarra 1 ; Wong, Stephanie 3
SH: Thom, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Washington, Brejae 1 ; Thom, Taylor 1 ; Tunning, Devon 1 ; Smith, Gabby 1 ; Krpec, Mickenzi 1 ; Ogle, Mandy 1 ; Wong, Stephanie 1 ; Ceo, Stephanie 1
SB: Thom, Taylor 1
CS: Thom, Taylor 1
