Recap: Tech drops a pair of games in Clearwater - Texas Tech Red Raiders - TexasTech.com

techsooper.blogspot.com CLEARWATER, Fla. – Texas Tech softball (3-5) battled in a pair of games on Friday but came up short against Northwestern (5-1) and #24 UCF (5-3) on day two of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational.

The Red Raiders tallied four home runs against Northwestern, but they were not enough to overcome the Wildcats dropping the contest 9-6. In the night cap, Tech led for five innings, but could not hold off the Knights' offense, falling 7-3 in extra innings.

Texas Tech 6, Northwestern 9
Northwestern opened the scoring in the first inning, loading the bases with no outs to put pressure on the Red Raiders. A walk brought in one run and a bases loaded sac fly brought in another for an early 2-0 lead.

Abbie Orrick got one run back for Tech with a leadoff home run to left in the home half of the inning.

The Wildcats put up two more runs in the second after a leadoff triple put a runner 60 feet away. A bunt single put runners on the corners with one out. passed ball allowed the runner at third to score and an errant throw to third allowed one more run to come in to make it 4-1.

The Red Raiders tallied another run in the bottom of the second when Arriana Villa laced a single to center, scoring Carson Armijo who reached on a hit by pitch.

Northwestern pushed the lead to 6-2 in the third with a solo home run and an RBI single that scored a runner on second who reached on a double.

Tech cut the lead to 6-3 with a leadoff home run from Villa in the fourth inning, but Northwestern answered with a three-spot in the fifth to go up 9-3. Back-to-back doubles scored one run and a groundout moved the runner to third. A passed ball and an error allowed two more runs to come across.

The Red Raiders tallied two more in the bottom of the fifth on a Maddie Westmoreland home run to left center that brought in Jacee Hamlin after reaching on a double. Tech's third home run of the game made it 9-5, Wildcats.

Tech held Northwestern scoreless in the top of the sixth to keep it a four-run game and cut the deficit to three with another solo home run from Villa. The Red Raiders kept the Wildcats off the board again in the seventh but went down in order in the final frame to end the game.

Maddie Kuehl (0-1) made her first career start going 1.1 innings giving up four runs on four hits with two walks. Morgan Hornback, Erna Carlin and Ranci Willis each split the next 3.2 innings before Olivia Rains tossed the final two frames.

Texas Tech 3, #24 UCF 7 (8 inn.)
The Red Raiders struck first, notching two runs in the first inning, to take a lead that would last until the fifth inning. Orrick was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Hamlin walked to put two runners on for Tech. Westmoreland hit a ball back to the second baseman who couldn't handle it, allowing both runners to score.

UCF homered in the first at bat of the second inning to make it 2-1 and both sides would be held scoreless for two more innings to keep the score the same.

The Knights tied the game at two with a two-out double that scored a runner from first base in the top of the fifth.

Tech responded in the bottom half of the inning, regaining the lead, 3-2, sparked by a leadoff triple from Riley Love. Love sent the ball deep to right center wheeled to third for her first hit of the season. She scored on a wild pitch after UCF made a call to the bullpen for Gianna Mancha.

UCF evened the game again in the sixth after a sac bunt moved a runner to third and a single drove the runner in.

Tech was held scoreless in the sixth and seventh, forcing extra innings for the first time this season.

With a runner starting on second due to international tie break rules, UCF singled to go ahead 4-3. A double to right field would bring in two more runs and another double brought in a fourth run to make it 7-3, Knights.

The Red Raiders were retired in order in the eighth to end the ballgame.

Mancha (2-1) pitched 4.0 innings for UCF in relief of Kama Woodall, striking out 10 of 12 batters faced.

Kendall Frtiz started in the circle for Tech, going 5.0 innings allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout and three walks. Rains (0-1) was credited with the loss, pitching 2.0 innings, surrendering three runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout. Hornback entered in the eighth inning giving up one run on two hits with one strikeout.

NOTABLES

Arriana Villa went 3-for-3 at the plate with two home runs and three RBI. It was the second multi-home run game of her career, the last coming against UTEP on March 20, 2021.
The Red Raiders hit four home runs against Northwestern, three of which were leadoff home runs coming in the first, fourth and sixth innings. It was the second 4+ home run game of the season for Tech and the first since No. 16 Baylor on April 6, 2018.
Tech failed to register a strikeout against Northwestern, the last time the Red Raider pitching staff failed to strikeout a batter came on April 10, 2021 against No. 12 Oklahoma State.
Tech recorded just one hit against UCF, despite scoring three runs in the game. The lone hit, a triple from Riley Love, was the first triple of the season for Tech and Love's first hit of the year.

UP NEXT
Texas Tech will face No. 6 Washington Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

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