The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#RV California
No. 11 Softball preview: St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational [Feb. 14-16, 2019]
02.13.2019 | Softball
The Longhorns head out on the road for the first time in 2019 to battle four difficult opponents
Texas Game Notes - St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational
No. 11/12 Texas at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational | Feb. 14-16 | Eddie C. Moore Complex, Clearwater, Fla.
Schedule:
Thursday, February 14
12 p.m. #11/12 TEXAS vs. #RV/RV California - ESPNU
Friday, February 15
11:30 a.m. Florida Atlantic vs. #11/12 TEXAS
3 p.m. #11/12 TEXAS vs. #8/7 LSU - ESPNU
Saturday, February 16
9 a.m. #18/21 Kentucky vs. #11/12 TEXAS – SEC Network
Location: Clearwater, Fla. (Eddie C. Moore Complex)
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: Available for every Texas game of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational here: LINK
Television: Texas' games against both California and LSU are slated for live broadcast on ESPNU, while the match-up against Kentucky will be shown on the SEC Network.
Radio: Texas' games are slated for radio broadcast via web stream with Andrew Haynes on the call through this LINK. The Texas broadcasts can also be heard locally in Austin on 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:
- Last Saturday, the Longhorns accomplished something never before done in program history by winning three games in a single day. Three times before (back in 1998 & 1999), Texas had played three games in one day, but had never posted better than a 2-1 mark in such instances.
- Texas' four transfers from Oregon wasted no time making an immediate impact as Miranda Elish, Shannon Rhodes, Mary Iakopo and Lauren Burke combined last weekend during the Texas Classic to bat .462 (12-for-26) overall with seven runs scored, two doubles, the team's only HR and nine RBIs.
- Texas and LSU won't be strangers when they meet up this weekend at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. The two teams played back during the fall (Oct. 20, 2018) at the Scrap Yard Sports Park in Houston with the Longhorns rallying for an 8-6 victory over a pre-determined nine innings. The Tigers actually led 6-0 before UT rallied for six runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to prevail. Brooke Bolinger earned the win for Texas in relief, striking out four over two innings of work, while Janae Jefferson led the offense by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.
- Texas has already run-ruled three of its first four opponents this season. Why do I mention that? Because the Longhorns managed to win just five games by run-rule during all of the 2018 season.
- After missing the last month-plus of 2017 (tore her right ACL against Oklahoma on April 7) and virtually all of 2018 (had just one at-bat) because of injury, Texas redshirt junior center fielder Reagan Hathaway showed she was fully recovered last weekend during the Texas Classic. The Lenexa, Kan., native batted .333 (3-for-9) with four runs scored, a team-leading three doubles and five RBIs (tied for the team lead).
- By hitting safely during the first four games of 2019, sophomore All-American second baseman Janae Jefferson has now reached base safely in 54-of-63 games and hit safely in 49-of-63 games during her brief standout career. She is also incredibly difficult to strikeout, having only gone down by K seven times over 232 career plate appearances.
- New publication Softball America had three Longhorns listed in their inaugural Top 100 National Player Rankings: No. 13 Miranda Elish, No. 17 Janae Jefferson and No. 57 Shannon Rhodes.
- Texas continues to climb the polls after a 4-0 start as the Longhorns came in at No. 7 in the latest Softball America rankings, No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball listing. The No. 7 ranking is the highest for Texas in ANY POLL since finishing the 2013 campaign ranked No. 3 in the nation.
- The Longhorns have been strong so far this season with runners in scoring position, hitting .462 (18-for-39) in such instances. Reagan Hathaway, Janae Jefferson and Mary Iakopo lead the squad with three hits each.
- Watch out for Texas with two outs in an inning. So far through four games, the Burnt Orange & White are batting .375 (12-for-32) with 10 two-out RBIs. Redshirt junior center fielder Reagan Hathaway leads the team with four two-out RBIs through four games.
- Texas needs to find a way to win more of the close games to have success in 2019. Over the past two seasons, UT has gone a combined 19-28 in one- or two-run decisions (10-18 in one-run games). Last year, the Longhorns lost a total of 12 games by two-runs-or-less during a 33-26 season, nine of those coming against nationally-ranked teams.
