Missouri
#9 Texas
Tigers Sweep Texas For Third Time in 11 Years
4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 1, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Fighting wind gusts up to 37 miles per hour, the Missouri softball team (27-17, 3-0) swept ninth-ranked Texas after closing the series with a 1-0 shutout on University Field. Registering four Tiger hits on the day, right fielder Julie Silver (Chesterfield, Mo.) provided the game-winning knock with a single to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning. The sweep of the Longhorns is Missouri's third in 11 years and lifts the Tigers to a two game advantage in the all-time series, 7-5.
Scoreless through five-and-a-half, the Missouri freshman, who finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate, drove in catcher Kathy Masterson (St. Louis, Mo.) from second. Masterson reached base earlier in the inning on a leadoff single and advanced to second on a botched fielder's choice that left third baseman Amanda Jo White (Tallmadge, Ohio) safe at first.
Silver, who helped the Tigers to a 6-4 win in last night's game with a two run double in the fourth, recorded Missouri's first hit of today's game in the bottom of the fourth inning (a bunt single).
Junior pitcher Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) recorded her second win in three years over the Longhorns and improves to 11-4 on the season after throwing her first solo shutout and sixth complete game of the campaign. Bruck has recorded four of Missouri's past five wins.
The Longhorns threatened to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning. With two runners on and two outs on the board, Bruck intentionally walked cleanup hitter Megan Willis to load the bases and set up the final out. The bases were loaded for sophomore Kacie Gaskin, but her groundout to Bruck brought one hour and 44 minute game to an end.
The last time Missouri swept Texas at home came in 1997, the year the Tigers claimed the program's first Big 12 title. Since then, Missouri has only swept the Longhorns on one other occasion, 2004 in Austin, Texas.
Missouri and 16th-ranked Baylor lead the league at 3-0 in conference play. 2007 marks the first time in three years that the Tigers have opened the Big 12 season with a 3-0 record. In 2004, Missouri started 5-0 before falling to Oklahoma, 5-0.
The Tigers will resume Big 12 action Friday, April 6, at 7 p.m. (CT) against the Cowgirls of Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. The two-game series will wrap up Saturday, April 7 at 1 p.m. (CT).
