Texas Tech University Athletics
Softball Swings Its Way Into Sin City
March 03, 2009 | Softball
Complete Release in PDF Format 
March 3, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - Coming off its best weekend of play since opening weekend, Red Raider softball (5-13) swings into Las Vegas, Nev. to participate in the UNLV Invitational. Tech will face UC Santa Barbara (11-7) and host UNLV (12-8) on Fri., March 6, before facing Notre Dame (3-5) on Saturday and Sunday.
Watkins Puts On A Show
Senior Alex Watkins is showing what she is made of both in the circle and at the plate. Hitting .317 with two home runs and a career high six doubles, she had 11 RBI's, eight this past weekend. And despite a record of 0-4 in the circle, Watkins has 38 strikeouts, with 18 of them at the Florida Cox Invitational.
Call It A Senior Moment
The Red Raider seniors are putting on an offensive clinic in 2009. First baseman Elizabeth Eimen leads Tech batting .424 with nine RBI's and three doubles. Center fielder Megan Shupp is batting .346 with 13 RBI's and one home run, while pitcher and outfielder Alex Watkins is batting .317 with 11 RBI's, two home runs, and six doubles.
Red Raiders Hold Their Own Against No. 2 Florida
Texas Tech held its own against No. 2 Florida after losing to the Gators 11-0 (5) earlier in the season. While Florida was only giving up an average of .83 runs per game, the Red Raiders managed to get three and batted .250 in the game compared to the season average of .158 against the Gators.
Turning It Around
After tough losses against Illinois and South Florida, the Red Raiders were challenged by coach Amy Suiter to leave it all out on the field. Tech responded in a big way defeating Pacific the next morning, 7-5, before turning in the aforementioned respectable performance against No. 2 Florida and finishing 2-1 in their past three games.
Total Team Effort
Against Pacific on Sunday, coach Amy Suiter utilized 13 players of the 15-member roster to rally back from a 7-5 deficit in the seventh inning to tie the game. Eimen played at first and right field, while Holley Gentsch played catcher and first. Skyler Peterson and Karli Merlich also found themselves playing first at points throughout the game. Jen Lee came through with a big two-out pinch hit single in the seventh to tie the game, and went in to play catcher for the remaining 3 innings.
