No. 9 Softball beats Houston twice to win NCAA Austin Regional

Sunday, May 19

Austin, Texas

3:30 p.m. CT

University of Texas

44-15

Houston

39-18

Houston

Texas

No. 9 Softball beats Houston twice to win NCAA Austin Regional

05.20.2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Longhorns advance on to face No. 8 national seed Alabama next weekend in NCAA Super Regionals

AUSTIN, Texas – Facing two more NCAA Austin Regional elimination games on Sunday in front of 1,405 fans at Red & Charline McCombs Field, No. 9 Texas softball (45-15) pulled off a stirring sweep of Houston (39-19), 5-2 & 7-0, to advance on to next weekend's NCAA Super Regionals at No. 8 national seed Alabama.

Times, dates and TV broadcast networks for those NCAA Super Regional contests are expected to be released following the eventual completion of all delayed NCAA Regional action on Monday.

Important Notes

Junior pitcher Miranda Elish threw a remarkable 440 total pitches and won all four elimination games for Texas during the NCAA Austin Regional. She went 4-0 with a 0.47 ERA over five appearances with four complete games, two solo shutouts and 33 strikeouts over 30 innings of work.
This is only the second time Texas has ever lost its regional opener and rallied back to win four straight games to advance. UT previously completed the feat back in 2012 after the Longhorns lost to Northwestern before rallying with four consecutive wins over Auburn, Houston and Northwestern (twice).
Junior third baseman Shannon Rhodes led the Longhorns by batting .467 (7-for-15) during the NCAA Austin Regional with two HR's and six RBIs.
Texas has now advanced out of NCAA Regional play seven times in program history.
The Longhorns have hosted eight all-time NCAA Regionals in program history, advancing six times.
With Sunday's wins, Texas advances on to the fifth NCAA Super Regional in program history and the first since 2013. UT owns a 7-2 all-time record in Supers while advancing three-of-four times (2005, 2006, 2013). The only time the Horns didn't make it out of NCAA Super Regionals was in 2012 against head coach Mike White's Oregon Ducks in Austin.
Mike White has now reached NCAA Super Regionals in all 10 seasons he has been a head coach.

Major Players
Against Houston (Game One): Rhodes led the way by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while sophomore first baseman Lauren Burke was 1-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI. Redshirt junior center fielder Reagan Hathaway doubled as part of a 1-for-2, run scored effort, while junior left fielder Kaitlyn Washington was credited with a RBI on a sacrifice fly.

Against Houston (Game Two): Washington (2-for-3, two runs scored, two RBIs) blasted a key solo HR, sophomore catcher Mary Iakopo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Elish helped her own cause by going 1-for-1 with a two-run double. Sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson also earned a RBI on a sacrifice fly.

In the Circle
Elish (18-9) was the workhorse, picking up both wins against the Cougars on Sunday. In the opener, the Crown Point, Ind., native allowed two earned runs on nine hits with no walks and five strikeouts in a complete game. Back in the circle in the nightcap, she permitted just four hits, walked one and struck out six over seven shutout innings of work.

The Details

vs. Houston (Game One)
The Cougars jumped to an early lead in the top of the second against Elish. Right fielder Maya Thomas kicked off the outburst by blooping a ball to left that hit off the glove of a diving Washington in left for a leadoff double. A wild pitch moved the runner to third, and a RBI single just over first from UH pitcher Savannah Heebner boosted Houston to a 1-0 advantage.

After the Cougars missed a huge scoring opportunity by leaving runners at the corners in the top of the third, the Longhorns quickly took control of the proceedings in the bottom half. Hayter dropped a perfect bunt single back to the circle to begin the frame and moved into scoring position on a MK Tedder sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Burke as the Eugene, Ore., native laced a RBI single to left to tie the score at 1-1. From there, a Jefferson infield single, a Hathaway walk and a Houston passed ball combined to give Texas a 2-1 advantage. Iakopo earned a free pass, and Rhodes followed with a two-run single up the middle to boost the gap to 4-1. Washington soon lifted a deep fly ball to left to plate Iakopo with UT's fifth run of the frame.

The Cougars cut into Texas' lead in the top of the fifth as consecutive singles from center fielder Lindsey Stewart and second baseman Arielle James got UH's offense going. Clean-up hitting first baseman Kelli Montgomery stepped into the box with still no outs and singled up the middle to make it 5-2. Elish limited the damage from there by retiring the next three batters she faced as Houston left runners at the corners.

From there, the Cougars managed to get two aboard in the top of the seventh on a hit batter and a two-out Maya Thomas single, but that was it as Elish induced a bouncer to second to end the UT win.

vs. Houston (Game Two)
In the nightcap, both Elish and Houston starter Presley Bell permitted a couple of base runners but settled in from the circle over the first four innings.

Things finally began to heat up in the top of the fifth as Washington launched a towering solo HR to center with one out to hand Texas a 1-0 lead.

Houston came within a foot of tying things up with two outs in the bottom of the fifth as catcher Brooke Vannoy drove a shot down the left field line. The ball hit near the top of the wall and ricocheted back in toward the infield for a double. Elish refused to allow anything else, however, as the right hander struck out left fielder Sarah Barker to end the threat.

The Longhorns blew the contest wide open in the top of the seventh, sending 11 batters to the plate while scoring six times. Iakopo got the assault underway by hustling to beat out an infield single to second. Rhodes and Washington followed with singles to make it 2-0. A base knock from freshman shortstop McKenzie Parker, a two-run double to left center by senior designated player Ki'Audra Hayter, a Tedder walk, a Burke hit-by-pitch and a Jefferson sac fly improved the UT lead to 5-0. Elish finalized the offensive output with two down by launching a two-run double to left center to make it 7-0.

Despite allowing a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, Elish managed to strikeout three of the final four batters she faced to set off Burnt Orange & White jubilation.