Red Raiders lose to Cowgirls after leading by 7

by: KLBK Sports

Posted: Apr 27, 2019 / 10:14 PM CDT

Updated: Apr 27, 2019 / 10:14 PM CDT

Tech racked up 13 hits and a 7-0 lead but struggled late in the game as Oklahoma State plated eight unanswered runs. Five Red Raiders – Karli Hamilton, Heaven Burton, Trenity Edwards, Peyton Blythe and Zoe Jones – recorded a pair of hits while Hartwell and Kelcy Leach both sent balls out of the park.

Tech starter Erin Edmoundson surrendered five runs in 4.1 innings, but reliever Missy Zoch (15-8) took the loss as Tech dropped to 8-9 in Big 12 Conference play and 35-11 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Back-to-back singles from Hamilton and Burton put immediate pressure on the Cowgirl defense in the opening frame. With no outs, Breanna Russell brought in Tech’s first run of the game on an RBI double that landed directly on the left-field line. Edwards followed suit immediately after and produced an RBI single deep in the six-hole to give Tech a 2-0 lead.

Hartwell kept the ball rolling when she reached on an error and Russell scored Tech’s third run of the inning thanks to heads-up base running on the error.

Oklahoma State tried to answer back in the bottom of the inning when Cowgirls’ first two hitters reached base on walks. Tech’s first out of the inning moved the runners to second and third, but Edmoundson buckled down and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.

Both teams were silent in the second but Tech added onto its lead in the third thanks to two blasts off Oklahoma State starter Samantha Clakley. Two consecutive singles from Edwards and Blythe primed the Tech offense and Hartwell wrote her name atop the Tech record book with the 46^th homer of her career – a three-run shot that put Tech up, 6-0.

Two batters later, Leach extended the Red Raiders’ lead, 7-0, on a rocket shot that went sailing over the right-field wall.

The Cowgirls answered back in the bottom of the inning with three runs off two home runs and, after Tech sent Zoch to the circle in relief, Oklahoma State tied up the game with a four-run bottom of the fifth.

Tech was held off the board once again in the top of the sixth and the Cowgirls used one run on three hits to take an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the inning.

Blythe tried to spark the offense with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh, but Tech was unable to score and fell by one run to the Cowgirls.

COMING UP NEXT
The Red Raiders close out their final Big 12 series with a 1 p.m. contest against the Cowgirls on Sunday, April 28. Live stats, as well as a live stream, will be available for tomorrow’s game. For all the latest information on the Texas Tech softball team, visit TexasTech.com or follow @TexasTechSB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.