On Tuesday, Texas announced that outfielders Lou Gilbert and Isabella Dayton will join the Longhorns as transfers.
Gilbert spent the past three years with Baylor’s softball team. Dayton is arriving in Austin following a two-season stint at Arizona.
Both Gilbert and Dayton will be eligible for the 2022 season. They join pitchers Hailey Dolcini (Fresno State), Logan Hulon (Houston) and Estelle Czech (North Carolina State) as UT’s incoming transfers.
“Both Lou Gilbert and Bella Dayton will elevate the athleticism of our team,” Texas coach Mike White said in a statement. “They possess excellent speed and defensive capabilities, plus provide our offense with two left-handed hitters that will create problems for opposing defenses. Our 2022 squad will be the strongest and deepest team we have fielded during my tenure at UT, and we are excited for the upcoming season.”
Gilbert earned a second-team designation on the Big 12’s all-conference team in 2021. This past season, she hit a team-high .327. Twenty of Gilbert’s 50 hits were extra-base knocks. She also registered 13 bunt singles and 18 stolen bases.
During her time in Waco, Gilbert started six times against Texas. She went 2-for-18 for a Baylor offense that scored just one run in six losses.
Dayton hit .252 over the 64 games that she played at Arizona. A Texas native, Dayton started in right field for Arizona’s opener at the 2021 Women’s College World Series.
Gilbert and Dayton will compete for playing time in an outfield that lost mainstays like Shannon Rhodes and Kaitlyn Washington this offseason. Taylor Ellsworth, the former catcher who moved to right field in the middle of last season, is also no longer an option for UT since she left for Arkansas as a graduate transfer.
Texas went 43-14 during the 2021 season. The Longhorns’ season was ended by a loss in the third game of a Super Regional against rival Oklahoma State.
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