The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
Softball preview: vs. Iowa State [April 17-19, 2015]
04.16.2015 | Softball
Texas heads back into Big 12 Conference play by hosting the Cyclones in a three-game series
Texas Game Notes - vs. Iowa State
No. RV Texas (28-12, 3-3 Big 12) vs. Iowa State (21-17, 1-5 Big 12) | April 17-19 | Red & Charline McCombs Field | Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Fri., April 17 – Iowa State at #RV Texas – 6:30 p.m. CT – Austin, Texas
Sat., April 18 – Iowa State at #RV Texas – 4 p.m. CT – Austin, Texas
Sun., April 19 – Iowa State at #RV Texas – 1 p.m. CT – Austin, Texas
Ticket Information: LINK – **PLEASE NOTE: A special ticket bundle will be available for this weekend's series versus Iowa State (see below for more information):
Texas Softball Bundle Pack:
For any single game this weekend, you can purchase the Texas Softball Bundle Pack for $10, which includes a reserved grandstand seat, hot dog and 24 oz. drink. Order online with promo code: WEEKENDBUNDLE.
Live Stats: LINK
Television: All three contests are slated for live broadcast on Longhorn Network with Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (analyst) on the call. WATCH ESPN (ONLINE): FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY
Radio: All three games are scheduled for broadcast with Terry Lewis on the call via the following link (also accessible on smartphones/you can listen in stadium on 90.3 FM): LINK
Base Knocks:
- Texas has remained nearly perfect over the years in its long series against this weekend's opponent Iowa State. In 43 all-time meetings, the Longhorns are a remarkable 42-1 against the Cyclones with the lone defeat coming back on April 24, 2005, by a score of 1-0. UT is 18-1 against ISU in Austin and has won the last 22 overall meetings in the series. Most recently, Texas swept Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, over April 11-12, 2014, by scores of 19-6 (5), 2-0 and 17-1 (5).
- With yet another home walk-off win on April 15 over UT Arlington, Texas now owns five walk-offs at McCombs Field in 2015. That ties the 2009 Longhorns' squad for the second-most home walk-offs in a single campaign in program history, trailing only the six recorded by the 2003 team. With six overall walk-off wins this season, Texas is also close to equaling the program record of eight walk-offs in a single year set back in 2003.
- Freshman third baseman Randel Leahy made some personal history in the 8-0 (5 inn.) mid-week win over UT-Arlington, blasting her first career grand slam, posting a career-best five RBIs and managing her first career walk-off hit on a solo HR to left in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two HR's in the game, she also joined Devon Tunning as the only Longhorns with a multi-HR performance in 2015. Leahy is currently the top hitter (by batting average) in the UT line-up with runners in scoring position, boasting a .429 mark on 12-for-28 at the plate.
- The Longhorns' offense has now hit five total grand slams this season (second most in a single season in Texas history), trailing only the eight hit by the 2013 team for the most in school history.
- If you look at this year's statistics, it's pretty obvious that Texas loves to jump on teams right from the start. UT enters its series against Iowa State having scored in the first inning in 10 of its last 12 contests. The Longhorns have scored 64 runs during the first inning (26 percent of its total runs), the most of any single frame, and 126 of its total tallies (52 percent) over the opening three innings. UT is 19-2 in games where it scores at least once in the first inning.
- It's proven to be a remarkable year for the Longhorns' offense with two outs in an inning as UT has registered 36 percent (86 of its 228 total RBIs) of its total RBI output with two retired in a frame. The trend continued in Texas' most recent match-up on April 15 against UT Arlington as the Horns scored all eight of their runs with two outs in an 8-0 (5 inn) rout of the Mavericks.
- Since managing the first of her program-record stretch of five straight games with a HR back on March 28 at No. 22 Kansas, junior center fielder Lindsey Stephens has taken en fuego to a different level at the plate. Over the last 10 games, Stephens is batting .457 (16-for-35) with nine runs scored, two triples, six HR's and 13 RBIs while slugging at a 1.086 clip. She has homered in six of her last 10 contests, most recently on a first-inning solo shot off No. 5 Oklahoma's Shelby Pendley on April 10. With 13 HR's in 2015, tied for the sixth-most in any season in Longhorns history, Stephens is now just five HR's from tying Taylor Hoagland's school mark of 18 set back during the 2012 campaign.
- Texas is playing a remarkable 30 regular season games on a television network in 2015 with contests over a combination of the Longhorn Network, SEC Network, SEC Network+, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3, FOX Sports Net and ESPN2. The Longhorns enter this weekend's series versus Iowa State on LHN with a 17-6 record thus far on the tube this season.
- UT hasn't shied away from playing some of the best teams in the nation in 2015 and has had solid success in those contests. Texas now owns a 6-6 mark against ranked squads this year with victories over No. 16 Arizona State, No. 8/7 Georgia, No. 12 UCLA and No. 22 Kansas (three wins). That tough schedule has helped lead to a No. 28 ranking in the most recent release of the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on April 13, a tool used to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament Field of 64. UT reached a season-high of No. 20 in the April 6 RPI release. Texas can boast of seven wins over top 31-rated RPI squads, UCLA (10), Arizona State (14), Georgia (19), Kansas (22-three wins) and Northwestern (31).
- Sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning has been prolific this year as Texas' lead-off hitter, reaching a remarkable 61.3 percent of the time when starting an inning (38-of-62 times). Recently, she's become a power threat at the dish as the Montgomery, Texas, native registered a pair of two-HR performances at Texas State and vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tunning is one of only two Longhorns players to have recorded a multi-HR effort this season and now owns a career-high five HR's in 2015.
