The Texas Longhorns were back for two more games in the Texas Invitational with another matchup with Lipscomb and the Duke Blue Devils. The Longhorns struggled right out of the gate as Shealyn O’Leary was in the circle and had trouble with command of her pitches. Lipscomb, who was run-ruled on Friday by Texas, jumped all over them early 3-0.
Texas would respond and rattle off eight runs in a row over the next several innings while O’Leary kept them at bay. Kaitlyn Slack got the Longhorns started when she hit a RBI fielder’s choice that drove home Lauren Burke for the first run of the game. Mary Iakopo brought in the tying run with a RBI single that brought Shannon Rhodes around to score.
With Texas up 5-3 in the fourth inning, the extra base hit parade got started. Iakopo RBI triple brought it to 6-3 and Reagan Hathaway’s double off the wall brought in another run. Texas led 8-3 after four innings. There would be more trouble on the way for the Longhorns pitching.
Over the next 1.1 innings freshman standout Courtney Day really struggled win the circle. She gave up her first run of the year, then a couple more over one inning plus. Ariana Davis replaced her without much success. They gave six earned runs and found themselves tied. O’Leary would come back into the game but wouldn’t record an out.
All-American senior pitcher Miranda Elish would come into the game with the bases loaded and one out. She would proceed to strike out both batters to end a six-run inning for Lipscomb. Elish returned for the seventh and after loaded the bases back up, struck out the next two to shut down any attempt to take the lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Iakopo was on third base and they refused to pitch to Elish. Walking her on four pitches brought a red hot Lauren Burke to the plate who hit into a RBI fielder’s choice that gave Texas the walk off. Elish picked up her seventh win on the year. Texas would then face a red hot Duke team in the night cap.
After pitching the final 1.2 innings of the first game, Miranda Elish took the ball in the second game. After a 12-11 scoring fest in the first game the Longhorns and Duke broke out into a pitchers duel. Elish went the distance with five strikeouts and giving up just one run. The first earned run allowed by Elish in 35 innings.
On the other side of the circle, it was Duke’s Peyton St. George who stole the show. The junior pitcher also went the distance, getting the best of her matchup with Elish. The Longhorns would leave nine on base throughout the game and just couldn’t get a timely hit off of St. George. For the first time this season Texas failed to score a run resulting in a 1-0 shutout. Elish took her first loss on the year (7-1) and St. George improved to 4-1.
The Longhorns wrap up the tournament with a matchup against Weber State on Sunday.