No. 9 Softball gets O’Leary perfect game in blanking Baylor, 2-0

Wednesday, March 27

Waco, Texas

6:30 p.m. CT

University of Texas

30-6, 0

Baylor

14-15, 0

Texas

Baylor

No. 9 Softball gets O’Leary perfect game in blanking Baylor, 2-0

03.27.2019 | Softball

Box Score

The freshman hurler retired all 21 Lady Bears she faced in the contest on just 63 total pitches

WACO, Texas – Perfection was achieved on Wednesday night at Getterman Stadium, as freshman pitcher Shealyn O'Leary needed just 63 pitches to fire the 10th perfect game in UT history while leading No. 9/10 Texas softball (30-6, 4-0 Big 12 Conference) to a 2-0 shutout of Baylor (14-15, 1-3 Big 12).

Important Notes

O'Leary's perfect game was the 10th all-time in Texas program history and the first individual one for a Longhorns pitcher since Blaire Luna beat Washington back on March 17, 2011.
O'Leary joined former Longhorns legend Cat Osterman as the only Texas freshman pitchers ever to throw an individual perfect game.
O'Leary became the first Texas pitcher to start a season at least 11-0 overall since Blaire Luna opened with 11 consecutive wins to begin the 2013 campaign.
O'Leary is now one of just eight Texas pitchers in program history to have tossed at least two no-hitters during her collegiate career.
This marked the third no-hitter for the Texas pitching staff this season (O'Leary – 2, Elish – 1). The last time the Longhorns managed at least three no-hitters in a single season was 2013 when UT registered five on the way to a third-place finish at the Women's College World Series.
Junior designated player Miranda Elish extended her streak of reaching base safely to 10 straight games. Over that stretch, she's hitting a team-best .440 to go with two HR's and six RBIs.

Major Players

Junior left fielder Kaitlyn Washington managed the game's lone RBI on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, while Elish was 2-for-3, sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson was 1-for-3 and sophomore first baseman Lauren Burke was 1-for-2. Junior third baseman Shannon Rhodes and redshirt junior Reagan Hathaway each scored single runs during the triumph.

In the Circle

O'Leary (11-0) needed just 63 pitches to face the minimum of 21 batters in the victory, while striking out three.

The Details

Early on, the game proved a pitcher's duel between Texas' O'Leary and Baylor's Sidney Holman. UT managed three hits over the opening three frames, but left four stranded over that stretch. Meanwhile, Texas' freshman hurler needed just 22 pitches to retire the first nine Lady Bears she faced in the contest.

Texas finally broke through in the top of the fourth as Rhodes reached on a Baylor throwing error to open the frame. With UT's third baseman in scoring position and no outs, Burke moved Rhodes up 60 feet on a sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Washington to drive in the run via sacrifice fly to left to make it 1-0.

The Burnt Orange & White doubled its advantage during the top of the fifth with some more BU defensive assistance. After a one-out Hathaway walk, Jefferson ripped a base hit to left center. Baylor left fielder Hannah Smith raced over quickly to cut the ball off before it could reach the wall and fired a strike to second. The toss was dropped by BU second baseman Lou Gilbert at the bag, allowing Hathaway the opportunity to race home from third for a 2-0 lead.

That was all Texas would need as O'Leary continued her dominance throughout the late innings. The Castaic, Calif., even finished off the perfect game in style by striking out third baseman Kassidy Krupit to end the contest.