In the first ever meeting with the Hilltoppers, No. 8 Texas flexed its muscles with a 4-0 win. Ace Blaire Luna (19-1) carried the Longhorns taking a perfect game into the seventh inning. But after a walk to begin the inning, Luna struck out the next three hitters to secure her second no-hitter of the season.
This was the third time in program history that no-hitters were recorded in back-to-back games as the Longhorns combined for a four-pitcher perfect game Thursday against Texas Southern.
Luna was also struck out 16, one short of her career high.
On offense, the Longhorns were able to get runners on all day, but couldn’t push any of them home until the sixth inning.
In the sixth, Kim Bruins and Mandy Ogle combined for consecutive hits to start the inning. After an error on Torie Schmidt’s ball, the bases were loaded for Karina Scott. On a 2-0 count, Scott broke the tie with a grand slam.
Sunday:
Freshman Holly Kern pitched a beauty Sunday against Western Kentucky as the Longhorns took the second game of the series 3-1. Kern allowed just three hits and not a single earned run.
Kern worked her magic by making the Hilltoppers put the ball in play and letting her defense work. Despite two errors, the Longhorns were able to make all 21 outs in the field as Kern didn’t strike out a single batter.
The Longhorns struggled to get hits, collecting just five on the day, but were able to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the third on two, two-out bases loaded walks and an error on Western Kentucky.
That was all Kern needed.
After getting out of a jam in the fifth caused by two Texas errors, Kern cruised the rest of the way to help Texas get to 31 games over .500 and a 35-4 record.
By the numbers:
1,242: Strikeouts by Blaire Luna giving her sole possession of third place on the all-time Big 12 list.
6: Career no-hitters for Blaire Luna, tied with Christa Williams for the second-most in school history.
4: straight wins for freshman Holly Kern after starting the season 3-3. Since her last loss to Fordham on March 3, Kern has lowered her ERA from 2.88 to 1.72.
.648: On-base percentage for Taylor Hoagland this season. The Texas single-season record is .510 and the Big 12 mark is .594.
