The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wichita State
No. 6 Softball preview: the Texas Classic
02.05.2020 | Softball
The Longhorns kick-off the 2020 campaign by hosting five teams at Red & Charline McCombs Field
No. 6 Texas hosts the Texas Classic | Feb. 6-9 | Red & Charline McCombs Field, Austin, Texas
Schedule:
Thursday, February 6
1:00pm Wichita State vs. Maryland – LONGHORN NETWORK
3:30pm Wichita State vs. TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
6:00pm Maryland vs. TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
Friday, February 7
9:00am Texas A&M-CC vs. Colorado State – LONGHORN NETWORK
11:30am Wichita State vs. Lamar – LONGHORN NETWORK
2:00pm Texas A&M-CC vs. Wichita State – LONGHORN NETWORK
4:30pm Maryland vs. Colorado State – LONGHORN NETWORK
7:00pm Lamar vs. TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
Saturday, February 8
9:00am Colorado State vs. Lamar – LONGHORN NETWORK
11:30am Maryland vs. Lamar – LONGHORN NETWORK
2:00pm Colorado State vs. TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
4:30pm Wichita State vs. TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
7:00pm Maryland vs. Texas A&M-CC – LONGHORN NETWORK
Sunday, February 9
10:00am Wichita State vs. Colorado State – LONGHORN NETWORK
12:30pm Texas A&M-CC vs. TEXAS – LONGHORN NETWORK
*home team is listed second for all games
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
Location: Austin, Texas (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Ticket Information: LINK
Live Stats: Available for every game of the Texas Classic here: LINK
Television: Every game at the Texas Classic is slated for live broadcast on Longhorn Network with two separate crews – TEXAS GAMES: Alex Loeb (play-by-play) and Megan Willis (color)/NEUTRAL GAMES: Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Erin Miller (color).
Radio: Texas' games 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 this weekend 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 owns an INCREDIBLE season-opening winning streak dating back to the initial varsity season for the program in 1997. The Longhorns have won ALL 23 of their season openers, including high-profile wins over No. 3 UCLA (2007), Florida State (2009), No. 20 DePaul (2010), Louisville (2011) & No. 17 LSU (2014). During that stretch, Texas has registered 15 shutouts & outscored opponents by a combined 151-11. The streak grew during the 2019 season as UT knocked off Boston College in the Texas Classic, 8-0 (5 inn.).
- Texas enters 2020 riding a four-game winning streak in its home-hosted Texas Classic. UT went 4-0 in last year's event with wins over Boston College (two wins), Northwestern State and Boise State.
- Texas is returning 14 letter winners from 2019 that combined to total 82% of the runs, 90% of the hits, 93% of the doubles, 88% of the HR's, 89% of the RBIs, 86% of the walks and 74% of the stolen bases. From a pitching standpoint, Texas returns 80% of the pitching wins, 75% of the starts, 91% of the complete games, 89% of the solo shutouts, 78% of the innings pitched and 74% of the strikeouts.
- Softball America listed four Longhorns in their 2020 Top 100 National Player Rankings: No. 30 Janae Jefferson, No. 32 Miranda Elish, No. 36 Shea O'Leary and No. 47 Mary Iakopo.
- Texas is playing a daunting schedule in 2020 as the Longhorns are currently slated to play every team in the current top four of the NFCA rankings and 10 of the preseason Top 25 (Washington, Alabama, Oklahoma, UCLA, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Michigan, Texas Tech, Ole Miss).
- Texas opens 2020 ranked No. 6 in the USA Today/NFCA, ESPN.com/USA Softball and D1Softball.com polls. That's UT's highest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 4 back in the 2006 preseason Top 25. The Longhorns also sit at No. 7 in the FloSoftball rankings and No. 10 in the Softball America poll.
- Junior second baseman Janae Jefferson and junior catcher/third baseman Mary Iakopo were both selected as Softball America Preseason Second Team All-Americans prior to the 2020 campaign. Jefferson was also named a preseason All-American by the ESPN staff (Beth Mowins, Holly Rowe, Michele Smith, Amanda Scarborough, etc.) in charge of producing the 7InningsPodcast.
- Entering his 11th season as a head coach, Mike White is quickly closing in on another career milestone. He begins the 2020 campaign with 481 career wins, needing just 19 more to reach the 500-win plateau. With a .789 career winning percentage, White currently rates as the fourth-winningest active coach in NCAA Division I softball.
- Junior second baseman and two-time All-American Janae Jefferson enters the 2020 campaign as the school's career leader in batting average at .400, while rating third all-time in on-base percentage (.450). The Humble, Texas, native is also closing in on the 200-hit mark with 154 total hits through her first two seasons in the Burnt Orange & White.
- Texas was one of just six schools in NCAA Division I (UCLA, Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma, Washington) to have at least three players on the USA Softball National Player of the Year Watch List: senior pitcher Miranda Elish (her third time on the watch list), junior catcher/third baseman Mary Iakopo and sophomore pitcher Shea O'Leary. As a sophomore at Oregon in 2018, Elish finished as a top 25 finalist for the honor after going 25-2 overall from the circle.
- A year after adding four impact transfers, Texas has added another for 2020 in sophomore catcher Colleen Sullivan. A member of UCLA's 2019 national title team and a Pac-12 Conference All-Freshman Team selection, she played in 49 games with 32 starts at either catcher or first base for the Bruins. She batted .239 overall with 22 hits, 15 runs scored, nine extra-base hits, including five HR's, and 12 RBIs while walking 28 times (tied for second on the squad) and posting a .421 on-base percentage.
