Softball gets back in win column by downing Colorado State, 4-1

Saturday, February 14

Austin, Texas

1 p.m.

University of Texas

5-3

Colorado State

4-5

Colorado State

Texas

Softball gets back in win column by downing Colorado State, 4-1

02.14.2015 | Softball

Box Score

Late defensive gems from Holly Kern and Devon Tunning help preserve the victory

AUSTIN, Texas – On Saturday afternoon in Texas Classic action at Red & Charline McCombs Field, Texas softball (5-3) climbed back into the win column with a 4-1 victory over Colorado State (4-5).

Junior catcher Erin Shireman (1-for-2), senior third baseman Stephanie Ceo (1-for-2, triple), sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning (1-for-3, double) and senior right fielder Marlee Gabaldon each knocked in a single run to provide UT's offensive spark.

In the circle, sophomore pitcher Lauren Slatten (1-0) earned her first victory of the season after allowing one unearned run on two hits with four walks and four strikeouts over 4.0 innings. Freshman hurler Erica Wright picked up her initial career save by tossing three innings of one-hit relief with a pair of walks and three K's.

A pair of defensive gems played a major role in preserving the lead for the Horns as junior first baseman Holly Kern's diving stop with the bases loaded in the fifth and sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning's diving catch with two on in the sixth kept the CSU scoring damage to a minimum.

Colorado State registered the game's first scoring threat during the top of the second. With first baseman Danielle Wikre stationed at first after a one-out walk, center fielder Shae Rodriguez popped up just to the left of the plate. With the ball just feet off the ground, Ceo charged in from third and almost made a terrific diving play on what eventually went into the scorebook as a single. Facing a jam with runners at the corners, Slatten proved up to the challenge. She struck out pitcher Holly Reinke before getting some defensive help on a sharp bouncer at first by Kern to end the frame.

Sophomore second baseman Kelli Hanzel took the hard route during the top of the third in becoming Texas' initial base occupant of the game by getting struck by a pitch. After the Houston, Texas, native reached scoring position on her first career stolen base, Ceo stepped into the batter's box and drove a triple into the right center field gap. Hanzel scored easily from second, staking the Horns to a 1-0 lead. Tunning immediately made it a full-on scoring outburst with a run-scoring two-bagger down into the left field corner as UT's lead expanded to a pair.

A two-out single by Rodriguez and a walk christened another scoring opportunity for the Rams in the top of the fourth. Slatten would again make the pitch she needed to get out of the situation, however, as third baseman Savannah Clark popped up routinely to Kern at first to end the frame.

A lead-off Kern walk came back to hurt Colorado State in the bottom of the fourth. A perfect Shireman sacrifice bunt, a Tiarra Davis single to left and a RBI groundout off senior right fielder Marlee Gabaldon's bat staked Texas to a 3-0 advantage.

After threatening earlier in the contest, the Rams finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth with the benefit of some Texas defensive assistance. A walk and two UT errors resulted in a CSU run, while a hit batter then loaded the bases with no outs in the frame. Relief pitcher Wright responded to the impending threat by posting consecutive strikeouts. That set the stage for the defensive heroics from Kern as the first baseman dove fully extended to her left to snare a sharp Rodriguez grounder, jumped quickly to her feet and raced over to touch the bag for the force as the Rams left three stranded.

Another incredible defensive play preserved Texas' lead in the top of the sixth. With two runners in scoring position, left fielder Haley David hit a dangerous pop-up towards the grass in left center. Playing in on the batter, Tunning raced back, avoided the CSU base runner between second and third and dove fully extended to make a run-saving grab.

Texas added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-1 as a Stephens lead-off single and stolen base were cashed in by Shireman via a RBI single to center.

Needing a big rally, Colorado State got off to the right start in the seventh as a leadoff walk and two-out hit batter brought the tying run to the dish. Wright put an end to any thoughts the Rams had about getting back in the contest by coercing a pop-up to short to end the game.

Texas Team Notes

Series – Longhorns continue to be perfect, 5-0, against Colorado State in the series. The teams play again Sunday morning at 10 a.m.

Third inning extras – Texas took the lead with two runs in the third inning behind back-to-back RBI extra base hits by Stephanie Ceo and Devon Tunning.

Flashing the leather – In consecutive innings, the Longhorns had spectacular diving plays to stifle threats. Holly Kern made a diving stop with two outs and the bases loaded to keep the Rams to one run in the fifth. In the sixth and with the tying runs on second and third, Devon Tunning made a spectacular grab on a blooper to keep the score 3-1 Texas.

Player Notes

Lauren Slatten – The sophomore hurled 4 innings of one run ball in the winning effort, while tying her career high for strikeouts at four. Her career-long scoreless inning streak ended at 9.1 innings after giving up a run in the fifth inning.

Stephanie Ceo – The junior connected on her first extra-base hit of the year in the third to drive in the game's first run with a triple up the right-center gap. Kelli Hanzel's run on Ceo's triple counted as the game's winning run. The junior now has five career triples and is two hits away from 100 hits in her career.

Kelli Hanzel – The second baseman had her first career stolen base in the third inning, which set up her run on Ceo's hit. The sophomore now has three runs scored in 2015.

Devon Tunning – The sophomore extended her streak of reaching base safely on an RBI double in the third inning to eight games. The shortstop has reached on 11 walks and four hits this season. Tunning also had a diving grab in the sixth with the tying runs on base to keep the lead at 3-1 at the time.

Holly Kern – The junior first baseman has reached base safely in six straight games after a free pass in the fourth inning. She also scored an insurance run in the fourth inning. The Plano native has scored at least one run in six of eight games this campaign.

Lindsey Stephens – The All-American junior hit a single up the middle to extend her streak of reaching safely to 14 games dating back to last season. Stephens also swiped a bag after her single to keep her career stolen base percentage perfect (11-for-11).