No. 11/14 Softball sweeps Baylor behind third straight shutout, 5-0

Sunday, May 9

Waco, Texas

1 p.m. CT

University of Texas

38-9, 12-6

Baylor

27-18, 8-9

Texas

Baylor

No. 11/14 Softball sweeps Baylor behind third straight shutout, 5-0

05.09.2021 | Softball

Box Score

Junior second baseman Janae Jefferson went 2-for-4 to break the Texas career hits record

WACO, Texas – On Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium, program history was achieved as junior second baseman Janae Jefferson picked up her 255th career hit to break the Texas career record while helping lead No. 11/14 Texas softball (38-9, 12-6 Big 12 Conference) to its third straight shutout over Baylor (27-18, 8-9 Big 12 Conference) and a series sweep, 5-0.

A nine-hit Longhorns offensive attack was also powered by a pair of long balls as junior catcher Mary Iakopo hit her 15th HR of the season, to tie Shannon Rhodes for the team lead, while redshirt junior right fielder Taylor Ellsworth hit her seventh HR of 2021.

Important Notes

Texas now moves on to the annual Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, Okla., where it will battle No. 2-seed Oklahoma State (11 a.m. CT) and No. 5-seed Iowa State (2 p.m. CT) in preliminary pool play on Friday.
Jefferson's 255th hit broke the career mark formerly held by Longhorns standout Brejae Washington (254 hits – 2011-14).
The 19 combined runs in the series are the most Texas has ever scored over any three-game stretch against the Lady Bears in program history.
Texas pitchers shutout the Lady Bears three times in a row for the first time in series history.
Texas is now riding a six-game winning streak over Baylor dating back to March 27, 2019, while registering five shutouts over that stretch.
Texas is now 20-1 this season when hitting at least two HR's in a game.
Texas improved to 33-1 this season when out-hitting its opponent.
The Longhorns are 35-2 when scoring at least three runs in a game this season.

Major Players

Junior catcher Mary Iakopo (1-for-2, run, HR, two RBIs); redshirt junior right fielder Taylor Ellsworth (1-for-3, run, HR, two RBIs); junior second baseman Janae Jefferson (2-for-4, run); senior center fielder Shannon Rhodes (1-for-3, run, RBI); junior left fielder Lauren Burke (2-for-4, run)

In the Circle

Sophomore Shea O'Leary scattered five hits and struck out two in tossing a complete-game shutout over Baylor.

The Details

After Texas left two stranded in the top of the first, Baylor strung together a scoring opportunity against O'Leary starting the bottom half as left fielder Lou Gilbert was hit by a pitch and second baseman Emily Hott followed with a single. Looking to move the runners into scoring position, first baseman Goose McGlaun popped up a bunt to the right of the plate for a huge first out. From there, UT's 6-2 right-hander struck out shortstop Aliyah Binford and got right fielder Josie Bower to pop-up to short in escaping an early jam.

The Lady Bears threatened again in the bottom of the second, putting two on with just one down. Attempting to advance the runners, center fielder Hannah Smith dropped a bunt towards third. Freshman Camille Corona raced in and picked the ball up before turning quickly and cutting down the lead runner. With two outs, O'Leary got Gilbert to fly out harmlessly to center to leave two more Lady Bears stranded.

Jefferson made history opening the top of the third as the Humble, Texas, native singled off the glove of leaping hurler Gia Rodoni and up the middle to break the program career hits record with her 255th base knock. That seemed to kick-start the Longhorns offense as Jefferson swiped second and Rhodes followed with a RBI single up the middle to grant Texas a 1-0 lead. Burke singled, Iakopo drove a sacrifice fly to right and Ellsworth blasted a two-run HR to left center to boost the Horns in front, 4-0.

Baylor got the leadoff on again starting the bottom of the fourth, but the Texas "D" soon turned a 6-4-3 double play to wipe the bases clean.

Iakopo stepped up in the top of the fifth and tied the race for the team-HR lead by blasting her 15th of the season out to right to make it 5-0.

O'Leary went on to allow a one-out single in the fifth, but nothing else, as she retired the last eight Lady Bears to end the contest.