No. 11 Softball wins sixth straight with 7-0 blanking of Ole Miss

Sunday, February 24

Austin, Texas

10 a.m. CT

University of Texas

12-1

#RV Ole Miss

8-6

Ole Miss

Texas

No. 11 Softball wins sixth straight with 7-0 blanking of Ole Miss

02.24.2019 | Softball

Box Score

Hathaway, Washington and Burke all managed two RBIs to back Elish’s two-hit shutout and 11 K’s

AUSTIN, Texas – On Sunday morning in Texas Invitational action at Red & Charline McCombs Field, No. 11/10 Texas softball (12-1) banged out nine hits while getting a two-hit shutout from junior right hander Miranda Elish to roll past Ole Miss and win its sixth straight game overall, 7-0.

Weekend Team Highlights

The Longhorns were a perfect 5-0 on the weekend while hitting .328 as a team and out-scoring the opposition by a total of 30-4. Texas' pitching staff also combined for a 0.44 ERA, tossed a pair of complete-game shutouts and managed 38 strikeouts over 32.0 innings of work while limiting teams to a .136 batting average.

Major Players

On Sunday against the Rebels, redshirt junior center fielder Reagan Hathaway (1-for-3), sophomore first baseman Lauren Burke (2-for-3, run) and junior left fielder Kaitlyn Washington (2-for-3, run) each knocked in two runs as part of Texas' nine-hit attack. Sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, and in the process, completed the Texas Invitational leading the squad with a .467 (7-for-15) batting average and six runs scored. Sophomore catcher Mary Iakopo went 2-for-3 with a run, while senior right fielder Bekah Alcozer was credited with a RBI on a sacrifice fly.

In the Circle

Elish dominated the Rebels on Sunday, firing a complete-game, two-hit shutout while striking out a Texas career-high-tying 11 batters to improve to 4-0 on the season.

The Details

Ole Miss threatened from the start in the top of the first as center fielder Kylan Becker led off the game with a bunt. She managed to beat out the play for a single, while the throw to first got away allowing the UM speedster to move all the way to third with no outs. Elish responded to the threat, however, by striking out the next three Rebels she faced to leave the runner stranded 60 feet from pay dirt.

It was Texas that eventually jumped in front on the scoreboard during the bottom of the second. An Iakopo leadoff single up the middle, a wild pitch and a Burke infield base knock put Longhorns at the corners with no outs. That set the stage for Alcozer, as the senior stepped into the box and launched a sacrifice fly to center to make it 1-0.

With Elish keeping Ole Miss bats in check, the Burnt Orange & White offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jefferson kicked things off with a base hit up the middle and quickly moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Burke followed Iakopo's second hit of the contest with a RBI groundout, plating Jefferson for a 2-0 lead. Elish helped her own cause at the plate by drawing a two-out walk to pack the bags full. Washington and Hathaway soon blew things wide open with a pair of two-RBI singles as the advantage expanded to 6-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, a Jefferson leadoff double to left was cashed in via a two-out Burke single to make it 7-0.

From there, Elish retired six of the last seven Rebels she faced over the last two innings, with the lone runner reaching on an error, to complete the two-hit blanking.