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2005 Texas Softball: Armed and Ready for a National Championship

Longhorns use experienced players and plentiful pitching to help lay a route to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series

The fourth-ranked Texas softball team is armed and ready for the 2005 campaign. Head coach Connie Clark's team is loaded with talented veterans and promising newcomers and the Longhorns have only one goal in mind in 2005: lofting the NCAA Championship trophy overhead in early June.

The 2003 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Cat Osterman, is back for her junior year in the pitching circle after spending all of the 2003-04 season with the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic softball team. Two years ago, led by Osterman, the Longhorns finished third at the Women's College World Series and were one out away from a championship game appearance. Earlier in the season, Texas completed a two-year sweep of both the Big 12 Conference regular-season and tournament titles, marking the first time in league history a school had accomplished the tandem back-to-back feat.

Last season, beset by injuries - including a season-ending knee injury to two-time All-Big 12 pitcher Amy Bradford - UT struggled to find consistency, finishing the campaign with a 24-25 overall record and an eighth-place finish in the Big 12. But last year, while the pitching staff was depleted to two hurlers, the Horns' offense blossomed. In 2004, Texas boasted a record-setting offense that broke or nearly broke almost every school offensive record, including home run and slugging percentage.

Seven of nine everyday players return this season; the pitching staff claims six strong arms and eight of the team's top 10 batters will also come back. Junior Amber Hall led the Big 12 in batting last year with a .373 mark, while senior Wynter Turner, with nine dingers, was one home run shy of matching the UT record for home runs in a season (10). Both players were recognized as National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Midwest selections last year, while a total of four Longhorns earned All-Big 12 Conference honors.

In addition to all the pitching and offense returning this season, Texas is also lucky to welcome one of the nation's top recruiting classes to the Forty Acres this year. Heralded freshmen Meagan Denny, a pitcher from Crowley, Texas, and Desiree Williams, a utility player from Tucson, Arizona, are expected to make immediate contributions in the lineup. Both players were Gatorade high school state players of the year (in their respective states) in 2004, and were widely considered two of the nation's top prep players. Also playing in their first seasons at Texas are local stand-outs MicKayla Padilla, the district player of the year in 2004 from Cedar Park, and Rachael Cook, from Anna, Texas.

But what really has both the Texas coaches' mouths watering - and opponents' jaws dropping - is the stellar strength of the UT pitching staff. Osterman was the only collegian on the U.S. Olympic team last year and is thought of as one of the world's top pitchers. Bradford is back and looking stronger than ever after recovering from an off-season knee surgery, and Denny has already proven to be as good as advertised. Add to that the veteran depth of Lizi Sowers and Christina Gwyn, both of whom shouldered the pitching load in 2004, and the raw talent of Williams, and opponents will face an imposing collective force in the circle.

If the opening day of play is any indication, Texas' opposition this season won't be getting much to hit at the plate. Osterman opened the season, tossing a 15-strikeout one-hitter which Texas won 4-0, before giving way to Denny in the nightcap. The freshman also threw a one-hitter, while striking out 16 batters and had a perfect game going through 6.2 innings in the 6-0 victory.

Clark and her Longhorns are optimistic for the season to get under way and, as usual, Clark has packed the schedule full of top-notch opponents. The Longhorns will face two of the nation’s top-three ranked teams this month.

In addition to the always-strong Big 12 Conference schedule, Texas also has non-conference games scheduled against Evansville (three-game series, March 4-6), UT-San Antonio (doubleheader on March 9), UTEP (doubleheader on March 11), North Texas (doubleheader on March 23) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (doubleheader on April 20).

Once the schedule turns to Big 12 time, Texas has the benefit of hosting some of its top competition for the league title at Red & Charline McCombs Field. In an eight-day period - April 6-April13 - UT will host league rivals Texas A&M (April 6 at 6:30 p.m.), Oklahoma (April 9 at noon and April 10 at 1 p.m.) and Baylor (April 13 at 6:30 p.m.). Both games against OU, whom the pollsters picked fourth nationally to start the season but the Big 12 coaches picked to finish second in the league behind Texas, will be televised live on College Sports Television (CSTV). UT also will play Kansas (March 25-26), Iowa State (April 23-24) and Texas Tech (doubleheader on April 26) at McCombs Field. Seniors Monica Askew, Amy Bradford, Alexis Garcia, Melanie Jarrett, Lacy Robinson, Lizi Sowers and Turner will be honored in a pre-game ceremony on Sunday, April 24.

With all the excitement surrounding the Texas softball team, Longhorn fans are encouraged to make their way to McCombs Field to catch a game or two...or three, or four or more. Individual tickets are $5-$7 and can be purchased at any Texas Box Office location, or by calling the charge-by-phone line at 1-800-982-BEVO or 512-471-3333.

2005 Texas Softball Home Schedule

* Big 12 Conference game; DH - doubleheader