Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Loyola-Chicago
Wild Game Ends in Tech Win
March 01, 2008 | Softball
March 1, 2008
FULLERTON, Calif. - It took an international tiebreaker, but Texas Tech softball avenged a previous loss to Loyola Chicago with a 4-3 win in a wild contest Saturday morning to pick up its second win of the Fullerton Worth Invitational.
Devin Zaragoza went 2-4 to extend her hitting streak to eight games, while Montana Patin was 1-3 with two RBI and Robyn Wike had the potential game-winning hit for the Red Raiders. Sarah Losleben (1-3) picked up the win in relief, and freshmen Jennifer Lee and Jennifer Krause picked up their first career hits for Tech.
The action moved along quietly through the first four innings as neither team could break through with any runs. The Red Raiders finally broke out in the fifth, putting three runs on the board. Megan Shupp started the action with an infield single and eventually moved to third on Zaragoza's second hit of the game. She came across a short time later on a wild pitch. Patin followed with a two-run single to give Tech a 3-0 lead. The Ramblers' hurler settled in and retired the next three Red Raiders in order.
Loyola came right back with a pair of runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2. Tech had a chance to put more runs on the board in the sixth with runners on first and second with two outs, but it was unable to move them along. The Ramblers came back and eventually brought the tying run in on a fielder's choice.
The Red Raiders had another chance in their half of the seventh when Patin walked and eventually moved to third with two outs. Loyola put a halt on it with a third-out strikeout. The Ramblers came dangerously close to ending the contest in the bottom of the seventh, but Zaragoza gunned down the potential winning run at the plate and the sixth-place hitter grounded out to force the international tiebreaker.
Elizabeth Eimen took her place at second base to begin the tiebreaking action for Tech. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Lee and came in a short time later on a single to left from Wike. The Ramblers put the potential winning run on first with just one out in their turn, but Losleben battled back for a strikeout and forced a pop out to give the Red Raiders the victory.
Tech will be right back in action at 3:30 CT when it takes on the No. 8-ranked Stanford Cardinal. Fans can follow the action via www.texastech.com.
