In its second run-rule victory of the season, the No. 7 Texas softball team beat the University of Houston 9-0 on Wednesday in a dominant five-inning game.
With the Texas offense lighting up the Cougars’ pitching rotation for five home runs, the Longhorns’ true-freshman pitcher Ryleigh White controlled the game from the mound and pitched a total of seven strikeouts.
While Ryleigh had a solid performance, it was the Texas bats that exploded in the first inning, head coach Mike White said.
“The offense — they set the tone,” Mike said. “(Junior infielder) Janae Jefferson, doing what she does, and then (senior outfielder) Shannon (Rhodes) coming up and blasting a home run. It was fun.”
Rhodes recorded the first two-run shot of the game and her first home run of the season, giving the Longhorns the early 3-0 lead. Shortly after, junior utility player Mary Iakopo stepped up to the plate and launched Texas’ second home run. Iakopo’s sixth home run of the season gave the Longhorns a 4-0 lead by the end of the first inning.
Building off the offensive momentum, Ryleigh commanded the circle in her fourth start of the season by striking out the first three batters she faced.
Iakopo continued her hot start to the season in the second inning when she blasted a three-run bomb to left center, growing the lead to 7-0. Through two innings of action, Iakopo had already recorded five RBIs.
Throughout the rest of the game, Ryleigh maintained a zealous pitching style that allowed her to strike out a hitter within each of the final three innings. Keeping her cool façade as she pitched all five innings, the freshman whittled down the opposing team and managed a two-hit shut-out with seven strikeouts.
“I think the most important thing there was the two-hit shut-out,” Mike said. “For Ryleigh to bounce back from a struggle last weekend … she was very, very impressive.”
In her previous game against the University of Connecticut last Sunday, Ryleigh only pitched four innings and gave up a whopping seven walks, making Wednesday’s comeback performance even more impressive.
With the Longhorns looking for a replacement for Miranda Elish, their former pitcher and 2020 Softball America National Player of the Year, Mike said Ryleigh proved she has the capacity to lead from the circle and carry the team even as an underclassman.
“We came out, and we dominated the game from the start to finish,” Mike said.
The victory brought Texas’ overall record to 9-0 and allowed them to replace every starter on the field by the fourth inning, besides Ryleigh. Making quick work of Houston, the Longhorns will now look to maintain its undefeated record with similar performances going forward.
