BATTER UP! – SOFTBALL 2013

THE YEAR’S SOFTBALL TEAM SPEAKS SOFTLY AND CARRIES A BIG BAT.

WHEN LEXY BENNETT,  Nadia Taylor and Courtney Craig departed at the end of the 2012 season, fans feared that the Longhorns’ massive offensive production would leave with them. The three former players combined to score 126 of the team’s 372 runs last season — a large contribution, indeed. Heading into the 2013 season, head coach Connie Clark wondered how the Texas softball team would fill the void.

“There are big shoes to fill this season,” Clark mused back in January. “You’re hard-pressed to find as good a class as Lexy, Nadia and Courtney.”

But at the same time, senior Taylor Hoagland warned the world…[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] to expect the unexpected from the Longhorns this season.

And the team has fulfilled her prophecy.

Rather than turning back into a scoring vacuum, Texas is slugging out huge hits and putting everyone on notice.

This is a new team and a new era.

The players put a premium on their team unity and identity this season. The entire lineup is sharing the responsibility of taking the big swings to amass the team’s winning record, with Texas’ top three hitters for the season — Taylor Hoagland, Taylor Thom and Brejae Washington — combining for a total of 141 runs as of May 1.

While these three players continue to have a prolific season at the plate, the Longhorns understand that getting key hits are the entire team’s responsibility.

“Everyone chips in at clutch moments,” freshman Stephanie Ceo said, who already has 27 runs of her own. “Everyone wants that pressure situation.”

Looking at the stats she’s accrued already, some may disbelieve that Ceo almost didn’t make the starting lineup.

“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t a top-nine hitter,” she recalled.

Ceo built up her momentum to crack the starting lineup and spent most of the season on the Big 12’s top-10 hitting list. She has 12 multiple-hit games this season and rallied the team to wins in the first two conference games.

“We’ve had different people hot at different times,” Clark added. “Taylor Thom, Taylor Hoagland, Torie Schmidt and Mandy Ogle have been very consistent.”

Schmidt has six three-hit games under her belt this season and Ogle’s 37 RBIs resulted in several game winners for the Longhorns.

Hoagland — who already owns the Texas career record for home runs — hasn’t let up in her final year. Her 55 runs so far this season earned her the top three single-season run records (she had 59 and 54 the last two seasons, respectively). While her .433 batting average speaks volumes, her .639 on-base percentage has her on track to lock up the team and conference records.

The senior was one a top 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, while teammate Blaire Luna, who fights for the Longhorns from inside the circle rather than from the box, was named one of the 10 finalists.

Heading into the season, Luna’s goal was to get her ERA under 2.00 — a goal she’s already accomplished. Luna continues to silence the opposition so that the big offensive numbers put out by her teammates lead to wins.

Luna joined Cat Osterman as the only Texas pitcher to strike out 300 or more batters in three seasons. She also led the Big 12 in strikeouts this season.

With Luna on the mound and with each at-bat, the team authoritatively shows that the departure of last year’s seniors did not and will not affect its offensive production.

Junior Karina Scott best exemplifies how crucial it is for each team member to make the key hits in a game. Hitting a game-winning grand slam earlier in the season, Scott flourished with a .500 batting average. Fans know that every time she approaches the plate, they’ll likely see something big. With two runs and nine RBIs racked up so far this season, Scott will continue to move the team forward.

“A lot of us had to step up,” Thom said.

And Thom took that responsibility onto herself. After a phenomenal freshman season, a slump overshadowed her game during her sophomore campaign. Luckily, those clouds broke for her and she fought her way back to the top.

“I’m getting back to the way I used to play,” Thom said.

She’s playing the best ball of her life and moving past the rookie stats that eluded her in 2012. Thom has 11 home runs this year — compared to the two she recorded last season — and  is batting over .400. She became the fourth player in NCAA history to hit two grand slams in a single game, while also setting a Texas single-game record with eight runs. Thom also tied the NCAA single game record with three doubles in one game.

Records like those have made Thom a formidable opponent for pitchers, forcing most of them to change their tactics against her.

“I have weaknesses and pitchers try to hit them,” Thom explained. “They know I’m a great hitter so they attack my weaknesses.”

In the win against No. 1 Oklahoma, Thom knocked in two runs to lift the Longhorns over the Sooners, 4-2.

“I’m not trying to beat any records,” she said. “If I’m scoring a lot of runs then we’ll win games.”

In their losses to Oklahoma during the three-game series, Thom continued to make big hits against the Sooners’ ace pitchers. But she wasn’t the only one. Even with Texas down, the team fought against every pitch.

“We never give up,” Thom stated. “We’re mentally tough this year. That’s our new identity. We always attack.”

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