Just days after All-American candidate Miranda Elish’s heroic performance lifted the Longhorns to their first super regional since 2013, the ace suffered her worst performance of the postseason in a 3-0 loss Thursday night. Alabama proved to be too much for head coach Mike White’s star right-hander. Elish, who allowed just two earned runs over thirty innings in the regional, was shredded for two runs in the first three innings of a devastating game one defeat in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. After a suspenseful and scoreless first two innings, Alabama broke through in the third behind a two-run blast from Merris Schroder — the hitter in the nine hole — to take a 2-0 lead. “She capitalized on one of my mistakes,” Elish said. “I threw a pitch right down the middle and she drove it. I made mistakes and (Alabama) capitalized on them. I could have done better and should have done better.” One inning later, the deficit grew when catcher Mary Iakopo made her second errant throw on a pickoff attempt of the night, costing Texas a run to stretch the Alabama’s lead to 3-0. “We just have to minimize our mistakes and play our best softball,” Elish said. “Alabama is a really good team and you can’t afford mistakes against them.” Things were not much better for the Longhorns at the plate. Texas’ pitching and defensive struggles were met with a frustrating lack of offense. The same offense that sparked late-inning explosions in the Austin regional, which provided much-needed insurance runs, was limited to just two hits by SEC Freshman of the Year Montana Fouts. “I feel like (Fouts) was bringing it a little bit,” second baseman Janae Jefferson said. “But it wasn’t too overpowering for us. We just have to attack the ball early in the counts and be more of an aggressive hitting team.” Mike White was all too aware of his team’s offensive struggles. “You can’t win a game if you don’t score a run,” White said post game. So what exactly does this game one loss mean for Texas? Teams that take game one go on to win the best-of-three series a whopping 79 percent of the time. If that isn’t enough, Alabama will likely throw Sarah Cornell in game two, who only lost one regular-season game. Texas will have the opportunity to avenge its loss in game two Friday at 8 p.m.  

The Longhorns ace struggled and the Crimson Tide did what the program does well. The postseason brilliance of the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa continued on Thursday with a 3-0 victory over the Texas Longhorns that puts head coach Mike White’s team on the verge of elimination heading into Friday’s contest. All of the elements that make the Alabama offense so dangerous were on display. In the third inning, Texas ace Miranda Elish hit the leadoff batter. Due to the liberal substitution rules in softball, the Crimson Tide used a pinch runner. With catcher Mary Iakopo worried about the baserunner, she tried a snap throw to first base, but Lauren Burke wasn’t there to cover, allowing a sacrifice bunt to further the pressure on Elish with the runner moving to third base. Eventually, the Alabama offensive onslaught was too much, as Elish attempted to battle back from a 3-0 count, but left a pitch too far over the plate and at the right height for Merris Schroder. Despite hitting in the No. 9 slot for the Crimson Tide, Shroder has plenty of power and didn’t miss the mistake from Elish, hitting her 12th home run of the season to give the home team a 2-0 lead. In the fourth, it was more of the same. Alabama star Bailey Hemphill stroked a leadoff double to allow another pinch runner. When the Crimson Tide put the pinch runner in motion with the hitter faking a sacrifice bunt, Iakopo made her second mistake. With the third baseman defending the possible bunt, the shortstop wasn’t able to beat the runner to third and Iakopo’s throw went into left field to score the game’s third run. Another bad decision. As Elish and Iakopo weren’t able to raise their collective level of play to compete against one of the top softball programs in the country, the hitters failed, too. Through the first five innings, the Longhorns only managed two hits. In the fourth inning, two singles put runners on first and second with one out, but junior third baseman Shannon Rhoades struck out on a rise ball after battling back from an 0-2 count and junior left fielder Kaitlyn Washington flied out to left field on the first pitch of her at bat. Against freshman sensation Montana Fouts, the Texas slap hitters weren’t able to generate offense and the power hitters didn’t come through with extra-base hits. And now the Longhorns are in the same position as last weekend — needing to win multiple games in a row to advance. Except this time, the Crimson Tide will provide a much more formidable opponent. First pitch on Friday is 8 p.m. Central on ESPN and 104.9 The Horn.

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The Houston Aldine MacArthur star visited Austin on numerous occasions this offseason. After seeing his recruiting stock soar throughout the spring, Houston Aldine MacArthur cornerback Joshua Eaton has trimmed his list of 29 scholarship offers to a top 12 list. Unsurprisingly, the Texas Longhorns survived the cut, alongside Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Oregon, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, TCU, and Arkansas. Corinthians 10:13No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. pic.twitter.com/qfHuz1HBvp— JE 1 (@JoshuaEaton_1) May 24, 2019 Texas’ inclusion in Eaton’s top group comes after the three-star talent made a trio of trips to the Forty Acres throughout the spring. The first of which took place for Texas’ Junior Day, which is when the Longhorns offered the the No. 32-ranked cornerback in the country, per the 247Sports Composite. Eaton then returned to Austin on Feb. 24 for his second visit in as many weeks. “They had a big season last year. They went 10-4, 7-2 in the Big 12, and they beat Georgia. They surprised everybody with that,” Eaton previously told BON. “They have the players to do anything.” “This upcoming season, I want to see Tom Herman do the same thing he did this past season,” he added. “They have a dog at corner stepping up, Anthony Cook, that’s who I look up to.” Everything is Bigger in Texas #JoshTheIslander pic.twitter.com/xJl9Ztyljr— JE 1 (@JoshuaEaton_1) February 24, 2019 Most recently, Eaton was back on campus a bit more than a month ago for the Orange-White spring game, which marked his second major visit in as many days, as the 6’2, 175-pound prospect traveled to College Station for an April 12 visit. Beyond the unofficial trips, though, Eaton is aiming to utilize each of his official visits before making a decision, and the Longhorns will quite likely receive one of those visits, as Texas has made him a priority early on. The Horns hold his only Crystal Ball pick to date. If you take a look at Eaton and analyze the type of player he is, you’ll see someone that embodies what Herman and his staff want at that cornerback position. Listed at 6’2, 175 pounds, Eaton is a long, rangy kid with tremendous speed and has receiver-like ball skills. His big-play ability on the defensive side of the ball makes him a high commodity at the moment and could potentially take him to even greater heights as a gridiron standout. Beyond his sheer skill set, though, Eaton is most proud of his intangibles. “I bring leadership, athleticism, and a dog mentality,” said Eaton, who’s currently considered to be the No. 485 prospect nationally and the No. 67 recruit in the state.