The Texas Longhorns softball team kept their perfect record intact with a 3-0 weekend. The softball team was led by Miranda Elish.
After the Texas Longhorns softball team started 3-0 following their 12-0 victory in five innings, they kept it rolling through the weekend. The Longhorns played two games on Saturday. First up was their game against the Colorado State Rams.
The Longhorns started off the game with a scoreless first inning but the offense started rolling in the second inning where they brought four runs across the plate. The Longhorns went into the fourth inning with a 5-0 lead before Miranda Elish busted the game wide open with a three-run shot to get the scoring started. Kaitlyn Washington cleared the bases with a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded. MK Tedder brought Washington home on a RBI single to make it 12-0 Texas.
As good as Elish is with a bat in her hand, she was deadly on the mound. Elish pitched four scoreless innings where she struck out eight batters. Grace Green came on in the fifth but gave up three runs without recording an out. Courtney Day relieved Green, retiring all three batters to secure the 12-3 win in five innings.
In their second game of the day on Saturday, the Longhorns got off to a fast start. Texas would plate five runs in the first inning after retiring three of the first four batters faced before heading into the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Reagan Hathaway would walk and advance to third on a single then score on a throwing error by Wichita State.
After an Elish walk, Courtney Day would drive in a run on an RBI single. Mary Iakopo would bring everyone home on a home run to left. The Longhorns were up 5-0. After three scoreless innings, Wichita State would plate a run in the top of the fifth. Iakopo would drive in the ninth run of the day with an RBI double to give Texas the 9-1 victory.
On Sunday it was more of the same for the Longhorns softball team as they took on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team. After AMCC took the early 1-0 on a fielders choice in the top of the first, Texas would answer immediately and frequently. Hathaway would score on a Janae Jefferson RBI triple to tie the game up. Jefferson and Shannon Rhodes would score on a Miranda Elish single to make it 3-1. Elish wasn’t done there.
In the second inning Tedder scored on a Rhodes single and then Sullivan walked in a run with the bases loaded to make the score 5-1 Texas. With the bases loaded, Elish stepped to the plate to break the game wide open.
Heading into the bottom of the third inning, the Longhorns led 9-2 after giving up a run in the top of the inning. Alyssa Popelka would take Elish’s place in the lineup. She immediately hit an RBI single to bring it to 10-2, the Longhorns rattled off eight more runs over the next two innings. Day took over on the mound in the top of the third inning. She struck out five batters and retired all nine she faced to secure the win.
The Longhorns softball team has yet to play beyond the sixth inning. Every game this season has been called due to the run rule for the Longhorns. They will head to Mexico next for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge on Thursday.