The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#17/13 Baylor
Softball preview: vs. #17/13 Baylor [May 5-7, 2017]
05.04.2017 | Softball
The Longhorns wrap up the 2017 Big 12 campaign with a home/away split series against the Lady Bears
Texas Game Notes vs. #17/13 Baylor
Baylor (39-10, 11-4 Big 12) vs. Texas (29-20, 6-8 Big 12) | May 5-7 | Getterman Stadium and McCombs Field, Waco & Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Friday, May 5
6 p.m. CT TEXAS at No. 17/13 Baylor – FOX Sports Southwest – 105.3 FM "The Bat"
TV Talent: John Morris (play-by-play) and Jordan Strickland (color)
Saturday, May 6
1 p.m. CT No. 17/13 Baylor at TEXAS – FOX Sports Southwest – 105.3 FM "The Bat"
TV Talent: Dave Barnett (play-by-play) and Tracy Warren (color)
Sunday, May 7
1 p.m. CT No. 17/13 Baylor at TEXAS – Longhorn Network – 105.3 FM "The Bat"
TV Talent: Alex Loeb (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (color)
**TEXAS SENIOR DAY festivities will be held prior to Sunday's contest beginning at approximately 12:45 p.m. CT
Location: Waco & Austin, Texas (Getterman Stadium; Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Ticket Information: in Waco: LINK ---- in Austin: LINK
Live Stats: in Waco: LINK ---- in Austin: LINK
Television: All three games are slated for broadcast on either FOX Sports Southwest (first two games of the series) or Longhorn Network. See the above schedule for the network and TV talent for each contest.
Radio: Texas' games are scheduled for radio broadcast via web stream with Andrew Haynes on the call via this LINK. The Texas broadcast can also be heard locally in Austin on "The Bat" 105.3 FM in the local and surrounding areas, part of the Austin Radio Network supported by the flagship radio station of the Longhorns, 104.9 FM "The Horn."
Base Knocks:
- Texas leads its all-time series against Baylor by a total of 28-16, and is 15-5 at Red & Charline McCombs Field & 12-10 in Waco. The Lady Bears have won four of the last seven meetings, and the last two games, between the two programs with the last UT victory coming in Austin back on May 10, 2015, by a score of 5-0.
- The Longhorns enter this weekend's series against the Lady Bears having registered a season-best four straight shutouts while not allowing a run over the last 28.1 innings of work dating back to the fifth inning of a 4-2 loss to Iowa State (April 23). Over that stretch, senior Tiarra Davis owns 7.0 shutout innings, redshirt sophomore Erica Wright possesses 13 shutout frames, sophomore Brooke Bolinger has tossed 6.0 shutout innings (junior Paige von Sprecken owns 1.1 scoreless frame, while junior Kristen Clark has 1.0). The last time Texas pitchers tossed four straight shutouts was from Feb. 16-22, 2013, while the last time UT hurlers twirled five consecutive shutouts was from Feb. 9-12, 2012.
- Junior catcher Randel Leahy has been one of Texas' hottest hitters lately, leading the Longhorns over the last 10 games, dating back to April 14 at Texas Tech, with a .478 average (11-for-23) with five runs scored, five extra-base hits and nine RBIs with a 1.382 OPS.
- Over the last 12 games, senior third baseman Celina Felix has been doing some solid work with the bat while reaching base safely in 11 of those 12 match-ups. The Montclair, Calif., native is hitting .326 (14-for-43) with two doubles, a triple, a HR, her first four-multi-hit games of the season and a team-leading 10 RBIs during that stretch while posting a season-long seven-game hitting streak. Felix's bat is a MAJOR need for the Longhorns the rest of the way, so her recent production is a very positive sign for the offense.
- Senior pitcher Tiarra Davis is closing in on another pitching milestone, needing just 12 more strikeouts to become the fifth pitcher in Texas program history to reach the 500-strikeout mark. She currently (488 K's) trails only former Longhorns pitchers Cat Osterman (2,265), Blaire Luna (1,428), Meagan Denny (988) and Christa Williams (678) in career strikeouts.
- The Texas bullpen has been nearly untouchable over the last 10 games with four pitchers (all except Wright) combining to hold the opposition scoreless over the last 22.0 innings of relief dating back to the sixth inning of the win at Texas Tech on April 14. Sophomore Brooke Bolinger has tossed 10 of those scoreless frames, while junior Kristen Clark has contributed 6.2 shutout innings. In fact, the last time the Texas bullpen allowed more than one run in a game was in the 2-1 (9) loss to Texas State back on April 5, 15 games ago.
- Texas' schedule has been incredibly difficult to this point in 2017 as 18 of UT's 29 opponents played currently possess winning records, seven are currently ranked in the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll and 11 of them own at least 30 wins. Included are four teams with 40 or more victories, Arizona (47-5), Minnesota (48-3), Oklahoma (44-8) and Tennessee (42-8). Overall, the Longhorns' opponents (as of May 2) were 804-556-2 (.591) as UT has played the 21st-toughest overall and third-toughest non-conference schedule in NCAA Division I.
- By virtue of her three at-bats during the win over North Texas on April 26, freshman catcher Taylor Ellsworth finally reached the minimum number of at-bats per Big 12 Conference regulations (2.0 AB per team game played) to enter the overall league statistics. Ellsworth currently ranks third in conference in batting average (.416) and 10th in slugging percentage (.571).
- One thing Texas' coaching staff certainly did this season was put together a challenging schedule as the program's NON-CONFERENCE ONLY slate was listed as the THIRD-TOUGHEST in all of NCAA Division I according to the most recent release of the RPI on May 1st. Included among that schedule were 10 games against nationally-ranked teams including such powerhouse programs as UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Tennessee.
- Texas has had a load of success with two outs in 2017, hitting .301 (142-for-471) while registering 101 of its 215 total RBIs (47%) with two outs in a inning. In all, 16 different Longhorns batters own two-out RBIs, led by 12 from senior first baseman Kelli Hanzel, 11 from senior third baseman Celina Felix and 10 each from junior catcher Randel Leahy and freshman infielder Jade Gortarez. Amazingly, 12 of Hanzel's 17 RBIs and 11 of Felix's 17 RBIs this season have come with two outs in a frame.
- One-run games haven't been kind to the Longhorns thus far in 2017 as Texas owns just a 4-10 record in such contests. In fact, the Burnt Orange & White have lost 10 of their last 11 one-run games (beat Houston 2-1 in 8 inn. on April 2) while 10 of UT's last 15 overall defeats have all come by just a single tally.
- Texas freshman outfielder Kaitlyn Washington was named the Big 12 Conference's Player of the Week on April 18 following her impressive weekend at Texas Tech (April 13-15). The Humble, Texas, product led the way for the Burnt Orange & White against the Red Raiders by hitting at a .467 clip (7-for-15) with two runs scored, three doubles and four RBIs. Since the start of the Texas Tech series 11 games ago, Washington has hit safely in eight of those contests with five multi-hit efforts, a .368 batting average, six doubles and six RBIs.
- Putting three or more runs on the scoreboard seems to be the magic number for Longhorns success in 2017 as Texas boasts a solid 26-4 mark when its offense totals three runs or more but is just 3-16 when crossing the plate less than three times.
- Since the beginning of the 2015 season, the nucleus of this year's Longhorns squad has demonstrated a resilience and "never quit" attitude in fighting back from deficits. Texas owns 31 come-from-behind victories (those where UT trailed at ANY point in a game) and 13 total "true" walk-off wins combined, including three walk-offs this year to beat Louisiana Tech during the Texas Invitational on Feb. 17, 6-5, to down Notre Dame at the Mary Nutter Classic on Feb. 23, 4-3, and to beat Houston on April 2, 2-1 (8 inn.).
