Texas Tech nearly did a complete lineup change in-between games as the Red Raiders would bounce back from a 6-5 loss in leg one of a double-header with Texas State with a 7-2 win in the finale.
Game One
In game one, Tech held a 2-0 lead, courtesy of a two-run home run by Kelcy Leach, heading into the top of the 6th. At that point, Texas Tech ace Erin Edmoundson was rolling looking to secure a dominant game one victory with just six outs to go.
However, a sac-fly and a three-run bomb by ArieAnn Bell gave the Bobcats their first lead of the day, 4-2. The long bomb was far from making its last appearance in the game.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Zoe Jones hit her second homer of the season to bring the game within one. After a Breanna Russell single, Peyton Blythe capped off the two-out rally by belting a ball over the centerfield fence to give the advantage back to the Red Raiders.
Head coach Sami Stinz-Ward, coaching in her first home game as the Texas Tech skipper, decided to leave her ace in to face the Bobcats lineup the fourth time through. One more time, Texas State got the best of Emoundson. Three straight base hits from the 2, 3, and 4 hitters brought home two runs to give the lead back to Texas State, 6-5.
In the bottom of the 7th, Arriana Villa was brought off the bench and delivered a lead-off pinch-hit single, promoting a Texas State pitching change. Secondary starter Meagan King shut the door on the Red Raiders, retiring the next three batters and stranding Villa at second.
Game Two
With King returning to the circle to start game two, Coach Ward threw her a new look.
Seven of the nine starters in the lineup in game two did not play in game one with Alanna Barraza and Blythe being the only two returnees. Freshmen Abbie Orrick and Jacee Hamlin got their first career starts, as a result.
Though the lineup was youthful, with Maddie Westmoreland being the only senior, they were able to do what their veteran counterparts were unable to do late in game one: get to King.
Ellie Bailey recorded her first two RBIs in a Red Raider uniform with run-scoring singles in both the first and second innings. However, it was Kennedy Crites who put the crooked number on the board, blasting her first-career home run over the center-field wall to plate three runs and give Tech a 5-0 lead.
The Red Raiders scored additional runs in the third, via an error, and the sixth, thanks to a Westmoreland RBI single, to account for the two other Texas Tech runs in the game.
Missy Zoch was locked in on the mound, turning in a 5.1 inning, six strikeout outing while only giving up two runs, both in the sixth.
Up Next
The Red Raiders (6-7) will stay at home for the next 17 games, starting with the Texas Tech Invitation which begins Saturday at 1. Tech will square off with two games each against Abilene Christian and Kansas City.
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