The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Houston Baptist
No. 9 Softball preview: Houston Baptist [Feb. 27, 2019]
02.26.2019 | Softball
The Longhorns host the Huskies while looking for their seventh straight win.
Texas Game Notes vs. Houston Baptist
No. 9 Texas (12-1) hosts Houston Baptist (5-5) | Feb. 27 | Red & Charline McCombs Field, Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Wednesday, February 27
4:30 p.m. CT Houston Baptist at #9 TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
TEXAS CLEAR BAG POLICY: Please note that there is a Clear Bag Policy in effect for fans when attending Texas Athletic events. For more details, please visit this LINK
PARKING: Fans can purchase parking in the East Campus Garage for $5 here: LINK
Location: Austin, Texas (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: LINK
Television: Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network.
Radio: All Texas games home & road are slated for radio broadcast via web stream with Andrew Haynes on the call via 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:
- Texas is off to a strong start both at the plate and in the circle this season. UT is currently second in the Big 12 and 18th in the NCAA in batting average (.339), while leading the league and rating fourth in the country in ERA (0.97). Sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson rates second in the league in average (.463), while junior Miranda Elish (0.23) and freshman Shealyn O'Leary (0.29) are the top two in Big 12 ERA.
- Texas' team ERA of 0.97 after 13 games is the fifth-best at this point in a season in program history. Only the Cat Osterman-led 2005 (0.31), 2003 (0.32) and 2006 (0.33) teams and the Blaire Luna-led 2013 (0.51) squad were better at this point of a campaign.
- Texas sophomore catcher Mary Iakopo is off to a tremendous start for the Longhorns. She has now reached base safely in all 12 played games of her UT career.
- Freshman pitcher Shealyn O'Leary is off to a perfect 5-0 opening to her collegiate career. With that effort, she has joined former Longhorns pitchers Blaire Luna (2010) and Meagan Denny (2005) as the only Texas pitchers ever to start their UT careers at 5-0.
- Texas' four transfers from Oregon have wasted no time making an immediate impact as Miranda Elish, Shannon Rhodes, Mary Iakopo and Lauren Burke have combined for a .368 average (42-of-114) with 24 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples, ALL FIVE TEXAS HR'S and 32 RBIs over 13 games.
- Junior pitcher Miranda Elish has proven to be quite the "dual threat" so far in 2019 as she currently ranks first in the Big 12 in ERA (0.23) and 10th in batting average (.379). At the plate, she's reached base safely in 10-of-12 games played.
- 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.
- Some trends are already beginning to develop for the Longhorns in 2019. UT is 8-0 in games when scoring first, 6-0 when scoring in the first inning and 11-0 when out-hitting opponents. During Texas' only loss so far to No. 8/7 LSU, the Tigers both scored first and out-hit the Longhorns.
- The Longhorns have been strong so far this season with runners in scoring position, hitting .375 (48-of-128) in such instances. Janae Jefferson leads the squad with seven hits in those situations.
- As of Feb. 26, the Longhorns have now reached the top 10 in all major softball polls for the first time since starting the 2014 campaign at No. 10. UT is No. 8 in the latest Softball America, No. 9 in the USA Today/NFCA and No. 10 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls.
- Watch out for Texas with two outs in an inning. So far through 13 games, the Burnt Orange & White are batting .346 (36-of-104) with 35 two-out RBIs (47% of the team's total RBIs have come with two outs this season). Redshirt junior center fielder Reagan Hathaway and junior first baseman Kaitlyn Washington lead the team with seven two-out RBIs each.
- Texas needs to find a way to win more of the close games to have success in 2019. Over the past two seasons (2017-18), UT went 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. UT is already 2-0 in such games this year after posting comeback wins over No. 18/21 Kentucky (4-3) and Ole Miss (3-2).
