• Roster
• |
• Schedule/Results
• |
• Stats
• |
• News
• |
• Archives

AUSTIN, Texas -- All-America senior lefthander Cat Osterman fired a four-hit shutout and struck out 16, and freshman leftfielder Shannon Thomas delivered the game-winning hit with a two-out line drive single in the fifth, to lift Texas to a 1-0 victory over Washington Friday evening in the first game of the Texas Super Regional taking place at Red and Charline McCombs Field.

With the win in the best-of-three series, Texas (53-7) needs just one more victory to advance to the 2006 Women's College World Series, taking place June 1-7 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Texas and Washington (35-24) square off on Saturday, May 27 at 3 p.m. (Central) on ESPN. If Washington wins that game, there will be a deciding Super Regional game played Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Texas struck for the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on Thomas' RBI single to center.

First baseman Jackie Williams hit a one-out single to left to start the rally, and moved to second on an infield groundout. Thomas then ripped a line drive up the middle, with Williams coming from second for the score. On the ensuing throw from the outfield to the plate, Thomas moved to third, but was stranded when Husky freshman pitcher Danielle Lawrie got the final UT batter on an infield popup. Thomas' RBI was her 16th of the year.

Osterman picked up her 36th victory of the year and ties her own school record for single season victories. Osterman, now 36-2, had 36 wins in 2002. She registered her fourth consecutive shutout in four NCAA Championship games.

In addition to yielding three singles and a double, Osterman walked two - consecutive batters with two outs in the top of the fourth. With the two runners on, Osterman got Sarah Hyatt looking on a called third strike to end the Huskies' rally.

Lawrie (23-15) absorbed the loss. In addition to giving up the one earned run, she allowed four hits, walked one and fanned seven.

Washington left four on base - with only two runners advancing to second, while Texas stranded four runners as well. Thomas ended the game two-for-two at the plate with her RBI single and a double. The other UT hits were singles by Williams and CF Tina Boutelle.

The attendance was 1,437 (paid attendance) at McCombs Field, and ties the Texas second highest single season game attendance mark in history. The highest was 1,570, set on April 30th of this year against Oklahoma State in UT's regular season finale.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Washington Head Coach Heather Tarr
Her general statement the game and Washington's game plan against Cat Osterman...
"Overall it was the game that I think everybody expected, a pitcher's dual. Danielle [Lawrie] threw well enough to win, and we need to do a better job of executing tomorrow. You have to swing at strikes, and our hitters know their strike zone. They know what's there and what's not there. I would of liked to see us attack a little bit better in certain counts. Going into the game we understood what our plan of attack was. We maintained that plan of attack for a portion of the game. We have to stick to our plan and to our approach for seven innings or however long the game goes."

Washington freshman pitcher Danielle Lawrie
On the pressure pitching in the Super Regional...
"It's tough, but they're not going to put me out there if they don't have enough confidence in me to be able to the job. I thought I threw decent. There were some situations that I could have executed a lot better in. It's a learning experience and stuff that I can hold on to."

On if the heat or pitching in her first Super Regional affected her in the circle...
"The heat didn't affect me. Nothing really affected me. It was one inning where it didn't happen to go our way. It's just something that I'm going to have to do different tomorrow in those situations."

Texas Head Coach Connie Clark
Her general statement on the game...
"I think the game played pretty much like we anticipated. Washington's a great ball club. We knew it was going to be a heavyweight fight and a pitcher's dual. [Danielle] Lawrie is a great pitcher and competitor. Their team competes exceptionally well.

I thought we had some good at-bats early. We continued to just try and stay the course and focus on what we were anticipating from her, and we finally opened things up later in the ballgame. We did a good job of playing pitch-to-pitch and staying the course, and you have to do that against a great club like Washington."

Texas senior pitcher Cat Osterman
On facing Washington for the second time this season...
"Teams that have seen me before do usually try to be a little more patient when they see me again. Washington did that tonight. I got in a groove as the game went on, and I felt good out there. You tip your hat to them. They're a great ball club, and they compete in the Pac 10, which is one of the best conferences, so they see great pitching day-in and day-out. This is nothing new to them. I just made my adjustments. I wasn't quite able to figure out their game plan, but I just stuck to ours becuase it was working."

Texas freshman left fielder Shannon Thomas
On her RBI single in the fifth inning and where they ranks among her biggest career hits...
"When I was up there I wasn't really thinking about anything but 'see ball, hit ball.' I saw the ball and just hit it. Is it one of the biggest hits I've ever had? I really don't know. I've had a lot of hits, but really, right now, this one is the best because it helped our team get another win and get closer to the World Series. It feels good, but I have to put that behind me and work on the next game coming up tomorrow."