Softball opens NCAA regionals with an 8-3 win over San Diego St.

Friday, May 15

Los Angeles, Calif,

5 p.m.

University of Texas

38-15

San Diego State

36-19

San Diego State

Texas

Softball opens NCAA regionals with an 8-3 win over San Diego St.

05.15.2015 | Softball

Box Score

Texas advances to play the winner of UCLA-Cal State Northridge on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – For the sixth time in its last seven regional appearances, Texas (38-15) christened NCAA play with a victory as the Longhorns overturned an early three-run, first-inning deficit and banged out nine hits on Friday at Easton Stadium on the way to a commanding 8-3 victory over San Diego State (36-19).

With the triumph, UT moves into the winner's bracket and will now face the victor of tonight's contest between No. 7-national seed UCLA and Cal State Northridge on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

Junior catcher Erin Shireman tied a career-high for the Horns with three hits as part of a 3-for-4 effort with two runs scored, her ninth HR of the season and three RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of tallies and added two walks to successfully reach in all four of her plate appearances. Sophomore first baseman Kelli Hanzel was 1-for-4 with a RBI, junior center fielder Lindsey Stephens knocked in a tally and senior pitcher Gabby Smith helped her own cause in the circle with a key first-inning, three-run double off the center field wall.

"I thought we were a little nervous in inning one," Texas head coach Connie Clark said. "You know this (NCAA Tournament) is important to our team. That's what that nervousness means. I took a little timeout, went out, tried to get them to smile, take a deep breath and get back to work. I think they did that well. The other thing that I liked was when we transitioned to the bottom of the first, we didn't try to put up three runs with one swing. We talked about how important that would be. It's not going to come on one at-bat. Keep up the good at-bats and stay with the game plan, and they were exceptional at that.

"Staying in the winner's bracket is important. The big game is tomorrow. We've been through this a lot of times. It's good to get the first win out of the way, get the jitters out of the way and get some time on the field. We didn't get to get on the surface yesterday at practice because of rain. Just to get on the dirt and get comfortable with the facility is significant. We're looking forward to coming back out for game two tomorrow."

"It was rough for them to put up a three-spot in the first inning," Shireman said. "We took it with a grain of salt. It's going to happen sometimes in the postseason. Teams are going to score. We reacted really well, and everyone is seeing the ball really well. Gabby is on fire right now at the plate and has been for the last couple of weeks. I felt like I was seeing the ball pretty well. I didn't have the best hits in the world, but whatever works, we'll take the RBIs. I was really proud of everyone for bouncing back like they did after getting behind early. It was wonderful to see."

San Diego State's offense got off to a quick start against Smith in the first as right fielder Kayla Jordan walked and second baseman Leia Ruiz ripped a single to left field. Following a strikeout of dangerous left fielder Lorena Bauer, catcher Jenavee Peres ripped a single to left that was misplayed allowing Jordan to cross and make it 1-0. The advantage soon doubled as designated player Taylor Stewart laced a RBI base knock the other way down the left field line. After another looking K, Smith and first baseman Sydnee Cable battled over a 14-pitch at-bat before a sharp grounder was misplayed for an error as Peres scored from second to make it 3-0.

Texas wasted no time answering right back in the bottom of the first as a lead-off Tunning single and a Randel Leahy hit-by-pitch got the five-run assault started by stationing a pair of Longhorns aboard with two outs. That set the stage for Shireman as the Pearland, Texas, native stepped to the dish and blooped a RBI single to shallow left, plating Tunning to cut the SDSU advantage to two runs. Hanzel kept the hit parade going with her own RBI base knock to center field as Leahy raced around from second to cut the Aztecs lead to 3-2. With the bags packed on a Marlee Gabaldon single through the left side, Smith dug into the box with a chance to help her own cause. The Houston, Texas, product did just that by driving a bases-clearing double to the wall in center as the Longhorns nabbed a 5-3 lead.

Smith importantly settled the contest down from the circle in the top of the second, retiring San Diego State in order on her third strikeout, a fly ball to right and a grounder to short.

The Texas lead improved to 6-3 during the bottom of the second as Shireman followed walks to Tunning and Stephens with a two-out RBI bloop single to right center.

The two-out scoring trend continued for the Horns into the bottom of the third as a Stephanie Ceo bunt single, a Tunning base knock and consecutive Stephanie Wong and Stephens walks forced in Texas' seventh tally of the match-up.

Shireman continued her amazing day at the plate opening the bottom of the fourth, improving her day's output to 3-for-3 as her solo HR off the Easton Stadium scoreboard in left expanded the UT advantage to 8-3.

A one-out single from SDSU's Ruiz in the fifth broke up a string of seven straight Aztecs retired by Smith. That was all the hurler would allow in the frame, however, as Shireman caught a foul pop-up to the right of the plate and Tunning handled a fielder's choice bouncer to end the frame.

Both offenses remained in check until SDSU's final chance to extend the contest in the top of the seventh. The Aztecs got a pair on with two down in the frame on a Ruiz single through the right side and a hit batter. With runners at first and second and UT still leading comfortably by five tallies, Smith struck out Peres for her eighth strikeout of the contest to complete Texas' victory.

Texas Postgame Notes

Streaks – The Longhorns improved to 48-31 overall in NCAA Tournament play and 34-19 in NCAA Regional play. Texas now leads the series against SDSU all time, 3-1.

Getting out of the gate – With a five-spot in the opening frame, the Longhorns now have scored 75 runs this season in the first inning. This accounts for 24% of the 310 runs that Texas has scored this season.

Two-out knocks – Texas came up clutch again with two outs in the contest. The Longhorns went 7-for-13 with seven RBIs when there were two down. This has been a trend all season as the Longhorns now have registered 118 two-out RBIs and 41% of its total RBI output with two retired in a frame.

Devon Tunning – The Longhorns' shortstop continued to be prolific as the Texas' lead-off hitter. With a lead-off single in the first inning, the sophomore has reached successfully in the very first Texas at-bat of a game on 33 occasions in 2015. The single to right center also extended her career-high hitting streak to nine games, the same duration as her current streak of reaching base safely. Tunning reached in all four at bats, going 2-for-2 with two walks.

Erin Shireman – The Texas backstop broke out in a big way in the contest going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. The junior recorded her third three-hit game of the season and first since March 6th vs. Ohio. It was also the first multi-RBI game by Shireman since the first game of the doubleheader against Iowa State on April 18.

Gabby Smith – The Texas senior got it done both on offense and defense. In the circle, Smith hurled her sixth complete game of the season behind eight strikeouts and only one walk. She helped her own cause with a double that cleared the bases for three RBIs in the first inning. The hit proved to be the game-winner in the contest.