Softball rallies past Miami (Ohio), 7-6

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On Sunday morning in its finale of the T-Mobile Crimson Classic, Texas softball (12-9) got a career-high six RBIs from sophomore shortstop Alyssa Washington to battle back from an early deficit and fight its way past Miami (Ohio), 7-6.

Notes

• Texas sophomore shortstop Alyssa Washington’s six RBIs are a personal career-high and mark the most in a single game for any current player on the Longhorns roster.
• In seven total games over the past week, freshman catcher Katie Cimusz hit .429 (9-for-21) with eight runs scored, four HR’s and seven RBIs.
• On Sunday versus Miami (Ohio), Texas freshman third baseman Mia Scott and Cimusz extended their season-long reached base streaks to 13 and 12 straight games, respectively.
• Senior second baseman Janae Jefferson is now just nine hits from becoming the first Texas player to reach the 300-career-hit plateau.

Major Players

Sophomore shortstop Alyssa Washington (2-for-2, double, HR, six RBIs); senior second baseman Janae Jefferson (2-for-4, run, triple); senior left fielder Lauren Burke (1-for-3, walk, double)

In the Circle

Junior Shea O’Leary (1-3) picked up her first win of the season after allowing one earned run on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 2.2 frames of relief.

The Details

Texas freshman starter Sophia Simpson rolled through the Miami line-up in order in the first, but ran into some trouble following a lengthy delay in the second. After being forced to wait in the circle through a 20-minute, pre-inning stoppage because of a discussion between the umpires and the Miami head coach, Simpson immediately allowed a walk and two singles to load the bases with no outs. The Redhawks eventually got on the board via sacrifice fly to grab a 1-0 lead, but Simpson limited the damage with two key strikeouts.

Texas put together a threat of its own in the bottom of the second on walks by Scott and Washington. Unfortunately, a strikeout raised the Longhorns left stranded count to three over the opening two innings.

Miami got solo HR’s to left from second baseman Karli Spaid and third baseman Maggie Murphy in the third and fourth innings, respectively, to boost the Redhawk advantage to 3-0.

Cimusz and Scott granted the Longhorns some much needed life in the bottom of the fourth by christening the frame with consecutive singles. With the duo in scoring position after a double steal, Washington stepped into the box with two outs and hammered a three-run HR to left to tie the contest at 3-3.

The Redhawks immediately re-took the lead in the top of the fifth as catcher Allie Cummins hit the second pitch of the inning off reliever Logan Hulon out to center. Two batters later, Kate Kobayashi blasted a drive to deep left center that rattled off the wall and rolled away from two Texas outfielders. The Miami center fielder raced around the bases for an inside-the-park HR to make it 5-3 as obstruction was called on a play at the plate.

Texas quickly managed two more base runners in the bottom of the fifth as Jefferson led off the frame with a single and Cimusz was hit by a pitch. With two down, sophomore Courtney Day was summoned off the bench to pinch hit and popped up to third. Miami’s Maggie Murphy couldn’t make what would have been the inning-ending play as Jefferson scampered home to cut UT’s deficit to 5-4. With the bags packed on a Bree Cantu walk, Washington cleared the bases with a three-run double to left to hand Texas its first lead of the game at 7-5.

Miami got a Spaid solo HR to cut the gap to 7-6 starting the seventh, but that was as close as the Redhawks could get as O’Leary finished off the win by inducing a fly out and two groundouts.