The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Prairie View A&M
No. 11 Softball preview: Prairie View A&M
04.23.2019 | Softball
The Longhorns take a break from league play to host the Lady Panthers in a mid-week match-up
Texas Game Notes vs. Prairie View A&M
No. 11 Texas (36-12) hosts Prairie View A&M (24-12) | April 24 | Red & Charline McCombs Field, Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Wednesday, April 24
6 p.m. CT Prairie View A&M at #11 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 with Alex Loeb (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (color) on the call.
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 will be facing off against Prairie View A&M for the first time in program history on Wednesday.
- Texas was listed at No. 5 in the latest release of the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on Monday. UT has played the SECOND-TOUGHEST schedule in the nation and owns 27 victories over current RPI Top 100 opponents (10 over RPI Top 25).
- The Longhorns pitching staff currently ranks THIRD IN THE NATION in shutouts with 18. Virginia Tech leads NCAA Division I with 21, Oklahoma is second with 19, while Texas is third, followed by Washington, Florida and USC Upstate in a tie for fourth with 17 blankings each.
- Since March 31 at No. 21/16 Oklahoma State, sophomore catcher Mary Iakopo has been on fire at the plate, leading the Longhorns with a .552 average (16-for-29), 10 runs scored, four HR's and 10 RBIs while slugging 1.034. She's also reached base safely in nine-of-10 games over that stretch. Iakopo batted a ridiculous .800 (8-for-10) overall during the three-game series against No. 1 Oklahoma.
- The Longhorns haven't lost a mid-week non-conference contest since April 1, 2018, against Texas State. Since that game, UT has won 11 straight (the total includes the March 18 match-up at Lipscomb that was played on a Monday). UT is 8-0 in non-conference mid-week contests this season.
- Texas freshman pitcher Shealyn O'Leary currently LEADS ALL OF NCAA DIVISION I IN ERA AT 0.51, 0.17 ahead of UCLA standout Rachel Garcia. The rookie starter has allowed just six earned runs in her first 83.0 innings of collegiate work.
- Texas owns 12 wins over teams that were either ranked or receiving votes in one/both the NFCA or USA Softball polls at time of playing. Included on the resume are victories over No. 6/5 Tennessee, No. 18/21 Kentucky, No. 15/17 Arizona State, No. 22/RV Minnesota, No. 21/16 Oklahoma State and No. 15 Texas Tech (two wins).
- Freshman pitcher Shealyn O'Leary rarely walks anyone, rating first in the Big 12 and fourth in NCAA Division in walks-per-seven innings at 0.84. She's walked only 10 in 83 innings.
- Sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson is truly remarkable during Big 12 play, owning 47 career hits over her first 31 league contests (she led the Big 12 in 2018 with 32 hits). That's an average of 1.5 hits-per-Big 12-game. She's also reached base safely in 25-of-31 career Big 12 contests!
- Look out for Texas during the fourth inning as the Longhorns have now outscored opponents in the frame, 78-12. Overall, UT has scored 30% of its total runs in the fourth inning this season.
- With 50 stolen bases so far, this marks the most swipes for a Texas team over its first 48 games of a season since stealing 75 over that stretch back in 2014 (went 82-of-99 that year).
- Watch out for Texas with two outs in an inning. So far through 48 games, the Burnt Orange & White are batting .311 (129-of-416) with 101 two-out RBIs (43% of the team's total RBIs have come with two outs this season). Kaitlyn Washington leads the team with 16 two-out RBIs.
- With 80 doubles through 48 games (1.67 doubles-per-game), the Longhorns are ahead of the pace needed to break the school single-season mark of 86 doubles set by the 2012 team. Maintaining its current pace over the next eight games, Texas would finish a 56-game regular-season schedule with approximately 93 doubles. UT IS TIED FOR SEVENTH IN NCAA DIVISION I IN TOTAL DOUBLES.
- Texas' offense has out-hit opponents in 37-of-48 games this year while averaging 8.0 hits-per-game. The Longhorns have lost six of the 10 games in which they've been out-hit - No. 8/7 LSU, No. 22/RV Minnesota, No. 21/16 Oklahoma State, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 1 Oklahoma (twice).
- The Longhorns have been strong this season with runners in scoring position, hitting .304 (130-of-427) in such instances. Lauren Burke leads the team with 18 hits while Janae Jefferson leads in average (.425) in such situations.
- Texas sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson now has enough at-bats to qualify for the Longhorns career record book. With a .407 career batting average, she currently sits FIRST all-time in UT history ahead of second-place Lexy Bennett's (2009-12) career mark of .385.
- Some trends have developed for the Longhorns in 2019. UT is 28-1 in games when scoring first (only loss to No. 1 Oklahoma), 13-2 when scoring in the first inning and 31-6 when out-hitting opponents.
