The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas State
Softball wraps fall slate with a 1-0 win over Texas State
11.08.2019 | Softball
Senior pitcher Miranda Elish struck out 11 while tossing a complete-game, one-hit shutout
AUSTIN, Texas – On a blustery, 48-degree Friday night at Red & Charline McCombs Field, Texas softball rode a complete-game, 11-strikeout performance from senior pitcher Miranda Elish to a 1-0 victory over Texas State.
With the win, the Longhorns completed their 2019 fall campaign with a 7-1 overall record.
In the Circle
Elish was spectacular, allowing just a second-inning single while walking none and striking out 11 Bobcats over a complete-game effort.
Major Players
Redshirt junior catcher Taylor Ellsworth went 2-for-3 at the plate and managed the key sixth-inning RBI on a bunt single. Senior center fielder Shannon Rhodes was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, while redshirt senior left fielder Reagan Hathaway was 1-for-3 with a triple.
Details
Neither team's offense seriously threatened until the bottom of the third as Texas' Hathaway drilled a liner to left that bounced past TXST's Marisa Cruz and rolled to the wall for a one-out triple. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, a chopper to first and a high pop-up near second-base left the runner stranded.
With Elish rolling along to the tune of seven strikeouts over four, one-hit innings of work, the Longhorns got another scoring opportunity going in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore first baseman Colleen Sullivan and Ellsworth opened the frame with back-to-back singles, putting two runners in scoring position with no one retired. Once again, Bobcat hurler Meagan King fought her way out of a jam, retiring the next three batters she faced to leave two more UT runners on.
Rhodes granted the Longhorns more life starting off the sixth as her liner down the left field line landed just inside the chalk for a leadoff double. From there, Texas utilized the small ball game as Sullivan advanced the runner up 60 feet on a sac bunt. Ellsworth stepped into the box and dropped a bunt of her own allowing Rhodes the chance to slide in safely around the backside of the plate to make it 1-0.
TXST managed its first base runner since the second inning with one out in the top of the seventh as catcher Sara Vanderford reached on a UT fielding miscue. That was all Elish would allow, however, as the Crown Point, Ind., native finished off the victory with her 11th and final strikeout of the night.
