The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
North Carolina
Softball preview: at the Carolina Classic [March 5-7, 2015]
03.04.2015 | Softball
Texas will face North Carolina, Ohio and Charlotte at Anderson Softball Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Complete Texas Game Notes | Carolina Classic Tournament Central Page
Texas at the Carolina Classic | March 5-7 | Chapel Hill, N.C.
Schedule:
Texas at North Carolina – CANCELLED - Thurs., March 5 – 3:30 p.m. CT (Anderson SB Stadium)
Texas vs. Ohio – Fri., March 6 – 11 a.m. CT (Anderson SB Stadium)
Texas at North Carolina – Fri., March 6 – 4 p.m. CT (Anderson SB Stadium)
Texas vs. Charlotte – Sat., March 7 – 10 a.m. CT (Anderson SB Stadium)
*With inclement weather in the Chapel Hill forecast for this weekend, please check TexasSports.com or the official Texas softball Twitter account (@TexasSoftball) for any updates on schedule changes or delays.
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C. (Anderson Softball Stadium)
Live Stats: LINK (Click on the link to access North Carolina's athletics website where each live stat link will be made available at game time)
Television: Texas' two games against North Carolina are scheduled to be live video streamed for a one-time monthly fee of $9.95. Visit the following link to access: LINK
Radio: None available
Base Knocks:
- The 2015 Longhorns are making a habit out of getting the leadoff batter on base to start an inning. Through the opening 20 games of the season, Texas lead-off hitters in any inning are reaching at a 41.6 success rate (52-for-125). Amazingly, UT has also scored 94 of its 118 total runs during innings where it has gotten the leadoff hitter on base. Devon Tunning (nine times), Marlee Gabaldon (six times) and Lindsey Stephens (six times) have been the most successful in starting run-scoring innings out of the 35 total times Texas has gotten the leadoff on and subsequently scored.
- Freshman pitcher Erica Wright truly has had "The Wright Stuff" for Texas so far in 2015. The Huntington, Texas, native leads the Longhorns pitching staff with a 5-3 record, a 1.54 ERA, six complete games, three solo shutouts and 43 strikeouts over 54.2 innings of work. She recently has a streak of 28 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, stretching from Feb. 14-March 1, and posted 12.2 consecutive shutout frames from Feb. 14-20. Also included among her impressive feats this season are a complete-game win at No. 16 Arizona State, a three-hit shutout in handing No. 8 Georgia its first loss of 2015 and a career-best 10-strikeout effort in the 7-1 victory over Dartmouth (March 1).
- Texas will face North Carolina, Ohio and Charlotte at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., over March 5-7. The Longhorns maintain a 4-1-1 series advantage against the Tarheels, having won the last two meetings. UT topped UNC in Lafayette, La., in the most recent match-up on Feb. 7, 2014, 7-3. UT has only faced Ohio once previously taking a 11-5 decision over the Bobcats in Knoxville, Tenn., back on March 6, 2010. Texas and Charlotte have never met on the diamond heading into Saturday's match-up.
- Texas has made the "Big Inning" a part of its repertoire right from the start of the 2015 campaign. So far in the first 20 games, the Longhorns have plated at least three runs in an inning 17 TIMES. In fact, UT has posted at least one three-run frame in 11 OF ITS 20 TOTAL GAMES. To this point, the largest single inning Texas has registered was a 13-run outburst in the fifth during the 15-0 (5 inn.) rout of UCSB (February 6). Overall, 10 of the 17 occurrences have come in the opening three innings proving that Texas wastes no time jumping on the opposition.
- The foundation of the Texas softball program is D.I.R.T. which stands for Discipline, Integrity, Respect and Teamwork. Those four tenets serve as guidelines for how every UT softball player should strive to live both on and off the diamond. Factors involved include having a championship mindset every day, making the right social decisions, holding yourself and your teammates accountable and doing the work in the classroom. Texas even has warm-up shirts with the D.I.R.T motto written on the back and big sign hanging up in their locker room.
