'I felt like I could make an impact': Hailey Dolcini leads Texas into NCAA super regionals
When the NCAA softball tournament bracket was released, Texas pitcher Hailey Dolcini knew her entire family would be in Fayetteville, Ark., this week.
The Longhorns were placed in the Seattle regional hosted by Washington, and if they beat the No. 13 Huskies, a super regionals road trip to fourth-seeded Arkansas was the likely outcome. That draw was noteworthy for Dolcini, whose younger sister Camrin is a Nevada pole vaulter who had already qualified for the NCAA West preliminary meet being held in Fayetteville this week.
So the only question for the family was whether Hailey would be cheering or competing in Fayetteville. She had little doubt it would be the latter.
"We weren't planning on losing," Dolcini said.
More: Fourteen innings and 199 pitches later, Hailey Dolcini sends Texas softball super regionals
Sure enough, Texas (41-18-1) has advanced to Arkansas' super regional that opens on Thursday, continues on Friday and will extend into Saturday if necessary. The sisters are competing around the same time there in Fayetteville on Thursday, but that isn't the worst problem for their parents since the softball and track venues are less than a mile away from each other. "It's still a better scenario than if we had been sent to supers at Mississippi State," Dolcini remarked.
Over at Bogle Park, Texas will attempt to earn its first trip to the Women's College World Series since 2013. And expect the Longhorns to lean heavily on Dolcini's right arm. She's 21-9 this season with a 2.21 ERA and 0.90 WHIP and has 204 strikeouts. She was one of five first-team pitchers on the all-Big 12 team.
Dolcini also was an all-conference pick in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but she was pitching in the Mountain West. The Mountain West's 2021 pitcher of the year chose to transfer from Fresno State this past offseason in part because she wanted to chase a championship.
"I felt like I could make an impact in one short season," Dolcini said. "Us female athletes don't necessarily have the same opportunities professionally as our male counterparts across the street, so for me, it was making as much out of my career as I could. I feel like I've really done that ending my career here at Texas."
More: Alyssa Washington and Mia Scott set for NCAA Softball Tournament debuts
Texas got a sneak peek at Dolcini in 2020 when she was the pitcher of record in Fresno State's 4-3 win over the Longhorns. She recalled the Bulldogs were playing that day for catcher Kelcey Carrasco, whose father had been killed in a car accident three days earlier. She pitched six innings against No. 3 Texas, allowing five hits and striking out six.
Less than two years later, Dolcini joined the Longhorns. She quickly impressed her new teammates.
"It took one bullpen (session)," said UT catcher Mary Iakopo, when asked how long it took for her and Dolcini to get on the same page. "I trusted her immediately. I saw her struggle a little bit, as we all did this season ... and I saw the person she truly was to fight back and be the person she is now, the competitor that she has been for us this entire season."
Dolcini has a pair of 14-strikeout games against Sam Houston State and Texas Tech. On April 16, she became the first pitcher to beat No. 1 Oklahoma this season.
Last weekend, she threw 301 pitches in a two-day, three-game span against Washington. The 15th strikeout of her weekend closed out UT's 3-2 win in the decisive contest.
"I thought our ladies gutted it out, especially Hailey Dolcini, just a tremendous job," UT coach Mike White said. "I know she was getting tired, but you couldn't tell, she just had that pitcher’s mentality about her and didn't want to give in."
Dolcini and a pitching staff that also includes sophomore Estelle Czech (11-1, 3.41 ERA) and freshman Sophia Simpson (7-4, 4.00) must now contain one of the best offenses in the country. Nationally, Arkansas (47-9) is No. 3 in scoring (7.39 runs per game), No. 4 in home runs (109) and No. 6 in batting average (.335).
Meanwhile, Texas has won nine of its last 12 games. Only one of UT's last seven opponents has scored more than two runs.
"Right now, it's way up there as you can imagine after winning a regional on the road," Dolcini said. "I'd say we're all super confident in the way we've been playing and our approach going into this weekend."
Fayetteville Super Regional
No. 16 Texas at No. 4 Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark., ESPN2, 105.3 (6 p.m. Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday TBA (if needed)
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Fresno State transfer Hailey Dolcini making a big impact for Texas
