Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Nebraska
No. 18 Nebraska Run-Rules Texas Tech in Tournament Finale
February 07, 2015 | Softball
Brittany Warnecke connected on her first home run of the season Saturday with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. The homer gave Tech a 3-2 lead before Nebraska answered with nine runs over the next three innings.
Feb. 7, 2015
Warnecke's home run, her first of the season, gave Tech (2-3) a 3-2 lead in the fourth before Nebraska (3-1) answered by taking a 5-3 lead in the bottom half of the fourth and then breaking the game open with three more runs an inning later.
The loss was the third-straight for the Red Raiders to close the Hotel Encanto Classic after Tech opened the season with a pair of victories Thursday against host New Mexico State and Montana.
Missed opportunities plagued the Red Raiders, though, as Tech stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames, included the bases loaded in the second inning when Nebraska led 1-0 early.
Tech finished with eight hits off Nebraska starter Emily Lockman (1-1) but recorded only one following Warnecke's three-run blast with no outs in the fourth inning. Kierra Miles delivered that hit with a leadoff double to start the fifth.
Miles joined with Warnecke and Lea Hopson with a 2-for-3 day at the plate. It was the second multiple-hit game of the year for Miles and the first for both Warnecke and Hopson.
Lockman finished with the win for the Huskers in a complete-game effort where she tossed six full innings and struck out four, allowing only the three-run homer to Warnecke.
Mattison Maisel (0-1) took the loss in the circle despite a strong performance in her first career start. Maisel gave the Red Raiders a chance to win in her 3.1 innings of work where she surrendered four runs, three of which that were earned, off five hits.
Cara Custer relieved Maisel with one out and two runners on base in the fourth inning but struggled with seven runs allowed, six of which that were earned. The Huskers recorded eight hits off the right-hander before Maisel returned with two outs in the sixth.
Nebraska's speed at the top of the lineup hurt the Red Raiders throughout the day as Kiki Stokes finished a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI from the leadoff spot. She was one of three Huskers with at least two hits, joining Steph Pasquale and Dawna Tyson who were both 2-for-4 overall.
Stokes pretty much put the game out of reach for Nebraska with a two-run, two-out double in the fifth inning. She later scored off a Tech fielding error that prolonged the inning in what was one of three times the centerfielder crossed plate.
The game was the first between the two former Big 12 Conference members since Nebraska left the league to join the Big Ten following the 2011 season.
The Red Raiders will look to bounce back next weekend when Tech travels to the Centurylink Classic hosted by Texas State. Tech opens the three-day tournament with a doubleheader Friday against UTSA and the host Bobcats.
