Janae Jefferson, Estelle Czech help Texas cruise past Weber State in NCAA softball regional

SEATTLE — Coming into the NCAA softball regionals, the Texas Longhorns were ready to focus on what they could control.

They couldn't control the NCAA selection committee's decision to send them to Seattle, but in their opening game Friday against Weber State, the Longhorns were in full control, riding a big day at the plate from Janae Jefferson and a dominant outing on the mound from Estelle Czech to a 6-0 win.

Texas had come into this regional fresh off the sting of not being picked as one of 16 hosts despite going 38-17-1 this season and finishing third in the Big 12.

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“It’s over the body of work of a year, and obviously they didn’t think we did good enough,” Texas coach Mike White said. “What we’ve got to do is come out and prove ourselves, and play the game like we know we can.”

On Friday, the Longhorns showed that their pitching staff has a bit of depth.

Czech (11-1), a sophomore who came into the game with a 3.71 ERA, pitched masterfully, giving up only five hits to the Wildcats, with one walk and six strikeouts over seven innings.

Two of those five hits came in the top of the first inning, as Weber State's Faith Hoe led off with a double and advanced to third on a single by Wildcats pitcher Arissa Henderson.

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But third base was as close as a Weber State runner would get to scoring all day. Czech got out of the inning after coaxing a popout from Chloe Camarero and getting McKell McCuistion to ground into a double play.

Texas took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning, when Jefferson led off with a single and scored on Mary Iakopo's RBI single to center for a 1-0 lead.

From there, the Longhorns were off and running.

“The turning point of the game was obviously the first inning,” White said. “(Czech) was able to work out of a jam there and did a great job, and then we were able to score some early runs. She settled down and did a fantastic job for us, was pretty efficient. She kept the pitch count down, and the defense played well. We were able to use our small ball game to get ahead.”

After allowing two batters to reach in the first, Czech didn't allow more than one base runner in any of the final six innings.

“Visualization was really big for me this game,” Czech said. “Just doing my job overall, that’s what I plan on doing. Something that helped me a lot was my team talking behind me, and my defense, and when I did get the strikeouts, visualization was a big key thing for me, and that is something that I’ve been working on.”

Jefferson scored again in the second inning, as she and Alyssa Popelka came in on a single from Mia Scott, putting Texas up 3-0.

The Longhorns added three more runs against Henderson in the bottom of the fourth, as Jordyn Whitaker led off with a double and scored from third on a groundout to short. Jefferson then added to her lopsided stat sheet with a solo homer to right field, her fourth homer of the season.

Scott then reached base on an infield single and scored on McKenzie Parker's double to right-center to put Texas up 6-0.

The Longhorns finished with 13 hits, Jefferson and Scott accounting for three each. Jefferson also scored three runs; Scott had a pair of RBIs.

Jefferson raised her average to .425 on the season, and with her second-inning double is now tied for the program’s single-season doubles record of 20.

“I think I was just seeing the ball early and trying to be aggressive early in the count,” Jefferson said. “And just making sure I had my timing down as well. My second at-bat, I was kind of late on some pitches and then kind of just got my foot down early. That was the one I ripped to right field. Just working with my timing and making sure I’m swinging at good pitches.”

The Longhorns will play at 2 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday's Washington-Lehigh game. 

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Jefferson, Czech power Texas softball past Weber State in regional win