Texas Tech softball fell to No. 21 Arizona State 7-3, Saturday afternoon in the final game of a three game series at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium.
“I am happy with where we are at right now,” said Texas Tech head softball coach Adrian Gregory. “I thought last week we needed to find out where our hearts and guts were, but I think this weekend we found it. We worked hard over the week in practice and we came out exactly where we needed to be heading into conference play next weekend.”
The Sun Devils struck first with a two out solo shot to left field in the bottom of the first, giving ASU a 1-0 lead heading to the second inning.
Freshman Karli Hamilton answered back for the Red Raiders in the top of the second with her fifth home run of the season to tie the game. Hamilton’s homer was her first since the opening weekend of play, where the freshman connected on four home runs in 13 at bats.
Hamilton’s home run was the Red Raider’s 30th homer of the season, with 19 of those homer runs coming in the month of March.
“I really like where our freshman class is going,” said Greggory. “They have gone through some growth and I feel like they are a confident group. You can see it in their play. They are a fun group and it makes for a bright future for us.”
The Texas Tech lead would be short lived as the Sun Devils would answer back with a grand slam and an RBI single in the bottom of the third to take a 6-2 lead into the fourth inning.
With the Red Raider offense held in check in the top of the fourth, the ASU offense added to their lead with an RBI single to right center scoring Abby Spiel from third.
The Red Raiders cut into the Sun Devil lead with a one run sixth, but it would not be enough as the Sun Devils would go on to win the game 7-3.  
With the loss, the Red Raiders fell to 14-19 on the season. The loss also moved the overall series record between Texas Tech and Arizona State to 0-9 including a 0-6 mark against the Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz.     
The Red Raiders will be back in action on Wednesday March 30 with the Red Raiders’ final non-conference test against Abilene Christian before opening Big 12 play with Oklahoma State next weekend. First pitch for Wednesday’s game in Abilene, Texas, is scheduled for 6 p.m.