The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#22/RV Minnesota
No. 9 Softball drops nightcap to No. 22/RV Minnesota, 4-1
03.08.2019 | Softball
Texas returns to Longhorn Invitational action on Sat., March 9, at 12 & 2:30 p.m. CT
AUSTIN, Texas – On a blustery Friday night in Longhorn Invitational action at Red & Charline McCombs Field, No. 9/10 Texas softball (19-4) dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 22/RV Minnesota (13-6).
Important Notes
- With the loss, Texas' home winning streak to begin the season ended at 13 games, tied with the 1998 Longhorns for the fourth-best home start in program history.
- Junior utility player Shannon Rhodes reached base on a fourth-inning double to stretch her consecutive games reaching base streak to a team-high 15 games. During her skein, the Fort Worth, Texas, native has hit .389 with 10 RBIs and a 1.021 OPS.
- UT has out-hit 20-of-23 opponents this season. Texas has lost the only two games in which it was out-hit in 2019 to No. 8/7 LSU (8-7 in hits) and No. 22/RV Minnesota (7-3 in hits). UT tied Tulsa in hits during a 2-0 Horns victory back on Feb. 23.
- Texas now has 46 doubles this season through 23 games, good for a 2.0 doubles-per-game pace. The school record is 86 set by the 2012 Longhorns.
Major Players
Redshirt junior left fielder Reagan Hathaway was 1-for-3 while blasting her Big 12-leading 11th double of the season. Rhodes was 1-for-3 with her fifth double, and junior pitcher Miranda Elish was 1-for-3 with her sixth double of the year and a run scored.
In the Circle
Elish (5-2) took the loss, allowing just one earned run on seven hits with five walks and 12 strikeouts over 7.0 innings of work.
The Details
A leadoff infield single and a walk got Minnesota's offense in immediate business starting the top of the first. UM first baseman Hope Brandner followed by driving a RBI single up the middle for a quick 1-0 lead. With a pair in scoring position and still no one retired, Elish responded to the threat in style with three consecutive strikeouts to strand two Gophers.
Hathaway christened UT's first at-bat by launching her Big 12 Conference-leading 11th double off the wall in left. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, three consecutive groundouts left the Texas speedster at third.
With Elish battling hard from the circle, Texas put two more on with one out in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore catcher Mary Iakopo walked and Rhodes launched a double to left. Once again, Minnesota starter Sydney Smith worked her way out of trouble, inducing consecutive groundouts as the Longhorns missed another prime scoring opportunity.
Texas got a defensive web gem from Hathaway to end a one-two-three fifth. Minnesota right fielder Maddie Houlihan lifted a liner out to left that was somehow tracked down on a fully-extended diving catch to her left by the Lenexa, Kan., native.
The Gophers took advantage of a couple of big miscues from the Longhorns defense to add three insurance runs on the board in the top of the seventh. A one-out UT throwing error on a ground ball got things started as Minnesota eventually loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of singles. Designated player Natalie DenHartog stepped into the box and hit a towering pop-up to shallow left that somehow dropped in for a two-run double to make it 3-0. An infield single to first soon plated another as the Longhorns gave up a trio of unearned tallies in the frame.
Down to three final outs to try to get back in the contest, Elish attempted to help her own cause by hammering a one-out double off the left field wall. A pair of wild pitches from Minnesota reliever Amber Fiser eventually allowed Elish to race across and cut the UT deficit to 4-1. That was all the Horns would get, however, as a strikeout ended the contest.
