The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Thursday, March 19
Austin, Texas
6 p.m.
University of Texas
vs
Georgia Southern
Softball preview: vs. Georgia Southern [March 19, 2015]
03.18.2015 | Softball
Texas looks to push its winning streak to five games by hosting the Eagles at McCombs Field
Complete Texas Game Notes - vs. Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern (6-19) at No. RV/RV Texas (18-8) | March 19 | McCombs Field, Austin, Texas – 6 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas (McCombs Field)
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: LINK
Television: Will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network with Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (analyst) on the call. To watch online via Watch ESPN: LINK
Radio: Scheduled for broadcast with Terry Lewis on the call via the following link (also accessible on smartphones): LINK
Base Knocks:
- Both Texas softball and Connie Clark, the only head coach in program history, are closing in on another impressive number as far as program victories go. Entering Thursday's match-up against Georgia Southern, UT boasts 749 all-time varsity wins, needing just one more to reach the 750-win milestone. As of March 18, the Longhorns' all-time record is 749-324-3 for a .697 winning percentage.
- With its series sweep of Arkansas (March 14-16), Texas finds itself on a bit of a winning streak having won four consecutive games dating back to March 7 against Charlotte. With a victory over Georgia Southern on Thursday, the Longhorns would equal their longest winning skein of the 2015 season of five games that stretched from Feb. 14 through Feb. 19 and included triumphs over Colorado State (two), Wichita State, No. 8/7 Georgia and No. 12 UCLA.
- Texas is a perfect 2-0 all-time against Georgia Southern, having swept a home doubleheader from the Eagles way back on April 11, 1999, by scores of 4-2 and 4-0.
- Senior pitcher Gabby Smith continues her impressive 2015 campaign as the Houston native owns a perfect 5-0 record with a team-best 1.21 ERA and 37 strikeouts over 34.2 innings of work, while also hitting .320 with seven RBIs. She recently registered a career-long scoreless-inning streak of 21.1 frames (February 27-March 15) and has now won a career-best nine straight decisions in the circle dating back to her last loss on April 5, 2014, against Texas Tech. She was 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and 13 K's over 12.0 innings during the series sweep of Arkansas (March 14-16).
- Junior Holly Kern etched her name in the UT record book during Texas' 11-2 rout of Arkansas on March 15, scoring a program single-game-tying four runs as part of a 3-for-5 effort with a HR and two RBIs. The Plano, Texas, native proved to be a thorn in the Razorbacks' side all series long as Kern delivered a clutch RBI single with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the series opener (Texas won 8-7, 9 inn.), and dropped a surprise sacrifice bunt that brought home the go-ahead run in the eighth frame of the series finale (Texas won 8-6, 8 inn.).
- If there are two outs and runners in scoring position, Texas really enjoys seeing Holly Kern and Erin Shireman step to the plate. Kern leads the way for the Longhorns in such instances in 2015 with 13 two-outs RBIs and an overall two-out batting average of .394 (13-for-33), while Shireman has 11 two-out RBIs and a .391 mark (9-for-23). Freshman third baseman Randel Leahy is also proving to be rather adept with two retired, batting .500 (8-for-16) with five two-out RBIs. This season, 55 of Texas' 152 total RBIs (36.1 percent) have been registered with two outs.
- Entering the match-up versus Georgia Southern, several Longhorns have some solid streaks going. Sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning has reached base in a career-best 11 straight contests, sophomore left fielder Stephanie Wong has reached successfully in a career-high nine straight match-ups, junior second baseman Stephanie Ceo has reached in her last six games and freshman third baseman Randel Leahy has reached successfully in a career-best five straight contests. Wong and Ceo boast the longest current Texas hitting streaks at five games apiece.
- The 2015 Longhorns are making a habit out of getting the leadoff batter on base to start an inning. Through the opening 26 games of the season, Texas lead-off hitters in any inning are reaching at a 44.3 success rate (74-for-167). The most successful practitioners thus far (counting total number of times having reached) include true lead-off batter and sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning (20-for-37, .541 as a leadoff), senior right fielder Marlee Gabaldon (8-for-18, .444), junior center fielder Lindsey Stephens (9-for-13, .692) and junior catcher Erin Shireman (7-for-18, .389). **Amazingly, Texas has scored 134 of its 164 total runs (81.7%) during innings where it has gotten the leadoff hitter on via hit, walk, error or hit-by-pitch. Devon Tunning (12 times), Lindsey Stephens (nine times), Marlee Gabaldon (eight times) and Kelli Hanzel (five times) have been the most successful in starting run-scoring innings out of the 51 total times Texas has gotten the leadoff on and subsequently scored.
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
1B/OF
/ Softball
C/UTIL
/ Softball
C/3B
/ Softball
P/UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball