Texas Softball sweeps Iowa State
AMES, Iowa – On Sunday afternoon at the Cyclone Sports Complex, Texas softball (37-14, 10-7 Big 12 Conference) completed a dominant league sweep of Iowa State (20-32, 1-14 Big 12 Conference) by banging out 13 hits on the way to a 10-0 (6 inn.) victory.
During the three-game series, the Longhorns offense batted .476 (40-for-84) as a team, managed 18 extra-base hits, including 10 HR's, and slugged at a .929 clip while outscoring the Cyclones overall by a 39-5 count.
Senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens bashed her fourth HR of the weekend as part of a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with a double, three runs scored and two RBIs, while junior third baseman Celina Felix added a 3-for-4 performance with a two-bagger, a run scored and two RBIs. Senior right fielder Holly Kern, junior left fielder Stephanie Wong (1-for-2, run), senior second baseman Stephanie Ceo (1-for-1, run) and junior first baseman Kelli Hanzel (1-for-3, run) each knocked in single runs during the triumph.
In the circle for Texas, junior pitcher Tiarra Davis improved to 22-9 for the year by tossing a one-hit shutout with a walk and four strikeouts over 6.0 innings. The Henderson, Texas, native also helped her own cause at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI.
For the third straight game in the series, Texas jumped in front during its very first at-bat. Stephens got things started by driving Iowa State starter Emma Hylen's first pitch of the game off the wall in left for a double. Following a Felix infield single that set runners at the corners, Kern drove a sacrifice fly to the fence in right, plating Stephens easily from 60 feet away for a 1-0 lead.
A one-out throwing error on the Longhorns infield got ISU in business in the bottom of the first. With left fielder Cathlin Bingham at second following the miscue, Davis got designated player Aly Cappaert to bounce back to the circle before striking out center fielder Kelsey McFarland to leave the tying run stranded at third.
The Burnt Orange & White started blowing things open in the second as a Hanzel RBI single and a Stephens two-run HR down the right field line boosted the UT advantage to a commanding 4-0.
Iowa State tried to get a rally going in the bottom of the second as a lead-off Nychole Antillon walk and one-out Sally Woolpert single to right, ISU's only hit of the contest, put two aboard for the Cyclones. Davis refused to let them string anything together from there, getting a fly out and her third K of the contest to conclude any threat.
The lead continued to grow in the third as a Davis hit-by-pitch and consecutive singles from junior shortstop Devon Tunning and freshman left fielder Reagan Hathaway loaded the bases with one out. An illegal pitch by new ISU hurler Savannah Sanders and a Ceo sacrifice fly to right combined to plate a pair as the Longhorns advantage improved to 6-0.
With its hurler in firm control from the circle, Texas finalized the scoring in the top of the sixth. A two-run Felix single, a Wong RBI infield base knock and a Davis RBI double set the count at 10-0.
From there Davis retired the Cyclones in order in the bottom of the sixth on two groundouts and a pop-up to end the contest via run-rule.
