No. 6/9 Softball concludes action in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic

Sunday, February 12

Clearwater, Fla.

8:30 a.m.

University of Texas

2-1

Illinois

2-2

Texas

Illinois

No. 6/9 Softball concludes action in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic

02.12.2023 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

Texas knocks off Illinois, ties with Kentucky to bring end to weekend’s action in the Sunshine State

By: Chris Allen Brown

CLEARWATER, FL – A day after weather conditions washed away its Saturday slate, The University of Texas' softball program returned to the field Sunday and picked up where it left off with a 7-0 win over Illinois, before tying, 4-4, with No. 17 Kentucky.

Texas (2-1-1) and Kentucky (2-0-1) had a previously agreed upon "drop" time of 3:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM CT to accommodate the Wildcats' travel plans. The two teams were tied 4-4 after seven full innings and, because the Longhorns were unable to conclude its offensive opportunities during the bottom of the eighth inning, by NCAA rules, the score reverts back to the last full inning – the seventh – thus ending in a 4-4 tie.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"I thought the pitchers came out a lot better today. I thought Estelle Czech, during that first game, came out and threw the ball really well and was able to hit her spots and locations. And we were able to come through with some good at bats to score some runs for her. Leighann Goode had another nice game and Reese Atwood had the big blow (against) Illinois and it was great to see that. In the second game, we got up on Kentucky during the first half and then we just started to fall apart a little bit on the defensive side, which allowed them to get back into the game. I thought it was a tale of two games during that last game: the first half was great, the second half was not so great."

GAME NOTES

Mia Scott was Texas' representative on the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team. Each of the 16 participates in the three-day event had one student-athlete selected to the all-tournament team.
- For the weekend, Scott finished with a .467 batting average with a team-leading seven hits and eight runs batted in. She was also credited with five stolen bases in four games and capped the Longhorns' four games with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
In Texas' 7-0 win over Illinois, freshman second baseman Viviana Martinez was credited with a single to shortstop in her first plate appearance on the morning. The hit was Martinez' sixth career hit in six career official plate appearances.
- Unfortunately, the streak ended for Martinez during her next plate appearance when she popped out to first base during the top of the fourth inning.
With Saturday afternoon's tie with Kentucky, it marks the first time in program history that Texas has had at least one tie in back-to-back seasons after the Longhorns had a six-inning tie with Minnesota during the 2022 season.
- Saturday's result is only just the fifth tie in Texas' softball history: 2000 (1), 2008 (2), 2022 (1), 2023 (1).
With her seven-inning complete game shutout against Illinois, Estelle Czech now has four career seven-inning complete game shutouts as a member of the Texas softball program.
- Czech's last seven-inning complete game shutout occurred on June 6, 2022, when she held Oklahoma State out of the run column during a Women's College World Series contest.
By appearing in Saturday's game against Kentucky, Alyssa Washington has now appeared in 100 career collegiate softball games as a member of the Texas softball program.
- Washington joins Courtney Day (118) and Alyssa Popelka (115) as the only active Longhorn softball student-athletes to reach the career milestone.
Reese Atwood became the second Longhorn softball student-athlete to hit a home run during the 2023 season when the freshman sent the first pitch over the left field fence during a fourth inning plate appearance against Illinois.

UP NEXT

Having played five games in the state of Florida over the weekend, Texas will now open its home slate of regular season softball games by hosting Lamar at 6 PM CT on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
- Lamar travels to Austin following a five-game slate in a round-robin tournament hosted by the University of Houston. Over the weekend, Lamar dropped two games to Virginia (5-0,4-1), two games to Nebraska (8-0, 7-0) and one to Houston (9-1).

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