It is surprising that last year she was only a freshman, filling in for junior Blaire Luna when asked by the coaches. However, sophomore Rachel Fox has stepped up in the circle and shown the maturity of an upperclassman en route to producing a 12-0 season record.
This past weekend, Fox racked up two wins against Texas A&M — one as a starter and one in relief. She is the only pitcher still undefeated on the season. Fox has seven fewer decisions this season than Luna, who is 16-3 on the year.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for Fox against the Aggies. She got into several jams, but she was able to work her way through it. On Sunday, during the top of the second inning, Fox gave up a home run to right field that allowed the Aggies to take an early lead for the third time in as many games. A little rattled, Fox gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases. A few choice pitches by Fox, and the inning was over after retiring three due to designed groundouts.
“Fox gave us some great locations all day long, and both of those locations could not be better to get the groundout,” said Texas head coach Connie Clark. “That is what we are looking for in that scenario.”
Fox leads the team in ERA with 1.91 on the season and a 3.07 ERA in conference play. She has 79 strikeouts on the season while only giving up 32 walks.
The No 4. Longhorns, along with Fox, will get another shot to defeat the Baylor Bears in Waco tonight. The last time they met on the field, the Longhorns dropped a three-run lead in the final two innings to lose 5-4 in a surprising heartbreaker.
Texas is now 39-8 on the season and 13-6 in Big 12 Conference play after a wild series win over rival Texas A&M in the last State Farm Lone Star Showdown between the two schools.
Tonight, the Longhorns will play the second game in a three-game series against the Bears that is spread throughout the season. Despite losing the first contest, the Longhorns hope to even the series tonight before facing Baylor again in two weeks at home in Austin.
“We are facing good competition in Baylor … it is a great conference, and it is very competitive,” said Clark about preparing for Baylor, as well as other conference competition down the road.
Printed on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 as: Fox improves to 12-0 over the weekend
