Texas Tech Athletics
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Texas Tech Softball Falls to No. 20 Washington 14-5
February 12, 2016 | Softball
Kiana Miles went 2-4 and brought in two runs in the Red Raiders' loss to Washington.
Feb. 12, 2016
Las Vegas, Nevada -- Texas Tech (2-1) picked up its first loss of the season with an abbreviated 14-5 run-rule loss to No. 20 Washington (1-0) at Eller Media Stadium on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev."I ask our kids all of the time what we are good at," said head coach Adrian Gregory. "We are good at our approach at the plate. We were good at the plate tonight, but we ran ourselves out too many times. You can't give any outs away to a top-20 opponent especially with how many we felt like we gave away tonight."
Texas Tech did have a great approach at the plate keeping pace with the Washington hitting, but it was the long ball by the Huskies that put the Red Raiders away.
"Washington is known for their free swinging," added Gregory. "They don't get cheated at the plate. We ran into pitching problems early, but we fought our way back. You have to give them credit, they are a very potent offense. I thought we had our fair share of opportunities, but just didn't take advantage of them."
Texas Tech, which was designated as the visiting team, led the game off with a one run first inning as Kiani Ramsey singled to lead off the game. Following a pair of ground outs, a fielding error by the center fielder proved enough to score Ramsey from second.
Washington would respond in a huge way in the home half of the opening inning as the Huskies would combine for five runs on four hits including two home runs to send the game to the second inning with Tech trailing 5-1.
Washington would plate another run in the bottom of the third when Julia DePonte launched a solo shot over the center field wall to put the Huskies up 6-1.
The Red Raiders would chip away at the lead in the top half of the fifth as Tech would plate two runs on three hits to cut the deficit to 3-6 before chalking up a much needed three up three down half inning to close out the fourth frame.
The Red Raiders brought in two more runs off the bat of freshman Karli Hamilton, who connected on her third career home run and fifth hit in this Sportco Kick Off Classic, pushing the Red Raiders within one run of the No. 20 Huskies.
Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, the Washington bats would come back to life in the final two innings as the Huskies would combine for eight runs to close out the game.
The loss represented the most lopsided result between the two squads topping the seven run victory Washington claimed in the 2008 meeting between the two teams.
Texas Tech will try to bounce back from Friday afternoon's defeat with an 11 a.m. CT matchup against Long Beach State followed by a 1:15 p.m. CT tilt with No. 14 Minnesota on Saturday. Follow all of the action from Texas Tech softball by following @TTUSB on Twitter.
