No. 24/23 Softball uses late Parker blast to battle past Texas State, 4-2

Wednesday, March 23

San Marcos, Texas

6 p.m. CT

University of Texas

23-9-1

Texas State

14-13

Texas

Texas State

No. 24/23 Softball uses late Parker blast to battle past Texas State, 4-2

03.23.2022 | Softball

Box Score

The reigning Co-Big 12 Conference Player of the Week went deep with two outs in the top of the seventh

SAN MARCOS, Texas – On Wednesday night in front of the largest crowd of the season (988) at Bobcat Softball Stadium, junior designated player McKenzie Parker played heroine again by blasting a two-out, two-run HR to center in the top of the seventh to power No. 24/23 Texas softball (23-9-1) past Texas State (14-13), 4-2.

Notes

Texas improved its season-long unbeaten streak to 13 games (12-0-1) dating back to March 6.
With tonight's rally from an early 2-0 deficit, the Longhorns have now battled back to win or tie after trailing at any point on eight occasions this season.
Texas improved to 44-14 all-time in its series against Texas State and 2-0 against the Bobcats this season.
Junior designated player McKenzie Parker managed two key two-out RBIs on her HR to give the Longhorns 76 of the year. In all, 42% of UT's total RBIs have come with two outs this season.
With her HR, Parker extended her consecutive reached base streak to 16 games.
Senior pitcher Hailey Dolcini has allowed just one hit and no runs over her last 14 innings of work.

Major Players

Parker (1-for-4, run, HR, two RBIs); senior second baseman Janae Jefferson (2-for-4, run, double); freshman third baseman Mia Scott (1-for-3, two runs, walk, double, RBI); senior catcher Mary Iakopo (2-for-3); sophomore center fielder Bella Dayton (1-for-3, double)

In the Circle

Senior pitcher Hailey Dolcini improved to 9-3 overall after allowing just one hit, walking two and striking out nine over 5.0 innings of one-hit relief.

The Details

After Texas left one stranded in the top of the first, Texas State struck early pay dirt in the bottom half. Following a Hannah Earls leadoff single, third baseman Sara Vanderford hit a one-out, two-run HR to left for a 2-0 Bobcat lead.

It looked like the Longhorns had a leadoff base runner in the third as Dayton dropped a perfect bunt single to the left of the dish. The home plate umpire ruled it a foul ball, however, so she returned to the box and flew out to left. That proved to be a big call as Jefferson followed immediately with what would have been a run-scoring double. Texas still continued its outburst as Scott got the Burnt Orange & White on the board by launching a RBI double off the center field wall. With the freshman speedster in scoring position, Parker chopped a bouncer to second. The play was made to first and TXST's Samara Lagway tried to catch Scott turning too far around third only to have her race home to tie the game at 2-2.

Meanwhile, Dolcini entered the circle for the Horns starting the third and promptly worked around a one-out walk to strikeout the Texas State side.

Texas nearly broke the tie in the top of the fourth. With sophomore shortstop Alyssa Washington on via single, Dayton stepped up and blasted a two-out double off the wall in right. Washington raced around third in an attempt to score, but was thrown out at the plate on a solid 9-6-2 relay.

Texas got the first two on to begin a promising sixth as Iakopo singled through the left side and freshman first baseman Katie Cimusz was hit by a pitch. Sophomore center fielder Alyssa Popelka ripped a promising shot that threatened to get by short, but Texas State's Hannah Earls made a great diving stop and retired the lead runner. The next two Longhorns went down in order as the game remained deadlocked.

With Dolcini still cruising from the circle, UT put together the game-winning rally with two outs in the top of the seventh. After Scott walked to extend the frame, the reigning Co-Big 12 Conference Player of the Week Parker launched a two-run HR to center to make it 4-2.

With one final chance in regulation, Texas State went down in order against Dolcini with two K's to complete Texas' comeback win.