No. 24 Softball blasts its way past Ball State, 13-2 (5 inn.)

Friday, February 19

Houston, Texas

11:30 a.m.

University of Texas

7-0

Ball State

2-4

Ball State

Texas

No. 24 Softball blasts its way past Ball State, 13-2 (5 inn.)

02.19.2016 | Softball

Box Score

Longhorns offense bangs out 13 hits with five extra-base hits during commanding victory

HOUSTON, Texas – The bats remained hot for No. 24 Texas softball (7-0) into Friday afternoon's match-up against Ball State (2-4) as the Longhorns offense banged out 13 hits, including five of the extra-base variety, to roll past the Cardinals at the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational, 13-2 (5 inn.).

During the opening day of the event, UT out-scored its two opponents by a combined total of 30-4, batted a staggering .500 overall as a team, managed 10 extra-base hits, including six HR's, posted 19 walks and managed a team OPS of 1.602. Individually for the day, freshman right fielder Reagan Hathaway led the way by batting at an .857 (6-for-7) clip with two HR's and eight RBIs.

Junior left fielder Stephanie Wong was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, a walk and a three-run HR, senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs, junior designated player Celina Felix blasted her second HR of the day on a three-run third-inning shot as part of her 2-for-3, run, three-RBI effort and junior pinch hitter Taylor McAllister was 1-for-1 with a three-RBI double. Junior shortstop Devon Tunning was 3-for-3 with a walk, four runs scored, a double and a RBI, while Hathaway was 2-for-3 with a RBI.

For the Longhorns in the circle, sophomore Paige von Sprecken improved to 2-0 on the season, allowing one earned run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 5.0 innings of work.

"(These big wins) allowed Paige and Tiarra (Davis) to go out and work on some things and be able to utilize all pieces of the zone," Texas head coach Connie Clark said. "We were able to use a lot of different looks with a lot of different athletes. We were able to use the entire roster, that we had available today, again for the second game in a row against Ball State. I love that. Something we want to keep building on, especially in these tournaments where you play so many games, is to be able to give different athletes as many looks as we can.

"Reagan Hathaway was amazing today. Her quality at-bats were just tremendous, not chasing stuff. She's really playing pitch-to-pitch, making the pitchers really work and setting herself up for counts and success. The numbers she put up today were impressive."

Texas jumped out to an early lead right from the start against Ball State as Tunning got things going in the bottom of the first with a lead-off single up the middle. With the bases loaded following a sac bunt, a Stephens double to left and a Felix base knock to short, Hathaway lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Tunning for a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals tied things up almost immediately in the bottom of the first as designated player Madison Lee hit a one-out solo HR to center.

A Stephanie Ceo (1-for-2, run) bunt single and a Kelli Hanzel (three runs scored, two walks) walk set the stage for more Longhorns scoring in the bottom of the second. Tunning ripped a RBI double to left to plate Ceo and extend the advantage to 2-1. The big play of what turned into a four-run outburst, however, was a three-run HR by Wong that rattled off the Cougar Softball Stadium scoreboard to make it 5-1.

Ball State got back in business with two down in the top of the third as a UT fielding error opened the door for the Cardinals to cut into their deficit. With a runner at first following the miscue, shortstop Emily Dabkowski blooped a double just inside the right field line. Center fielder India Steward delivered a shot up the middle that went down as a RBI infield single, plating a run to cut Texas lead to 5-2. BSU missed out on a chance to reduce its deficit further, however, as perfectly executed double-steal defense by the Horns ended with a runner being nailed at the plate to end the threat.

Looking for more on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, consecutive walks to Hanzel, Tunning and Wong loaded the bases full of Longhorns with one retired. Stephens stepped to the plate and ripped a bouncer to second for a RBI as Hanzel scored from 60 feet away. The contest soon got completely away from Ball State as Felix crushed a three-run shot to center to expand the advantage to 9-2.

Trying desperately to cut into its deficit, Toledo loaded the bases against von Sprecken with two outs in the top of the fourth via two walks and an infield single. The Yorba Linda, Calif., native refused to yield from the circle, however, inducing a ground ball fielder's choice to second to conclude the frame with no damage.

Texas loaded the bases with one retired in the bottom of the fourth on a Leahy hit-by-pitch and singles from freshman pinch hitter Bekah Alcozer (her first collegiate hit) and Tunning. With two retired following a strikeout, Stephens hit a ball to deep short for a single that plated a run. Pinch hitter McAllister followed immediately with a three-RBI double off the wall in right center as Texas' lead exploded to 13-2.

With the Burnt Orange & White needing just three outs to finish off a second-consecutive run-rule victory on Friday, von Sprecken set Ball State down in order in the top of the fifth, wrapping the game up in style with her fifth K.