Hartwell Shines as Tech Loses Pair at Ram Classic

Saturday, May 6

Fort Collins, CO

11:00 AM

Texas Tech Athletics

17-32

South Dakota

21-27

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Texas Tech	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	7	1
South Dakota	1	1	0	2	0	1	X	5	10	0

Hartwell Shines as Tech Loses Pair at Ram Classic

May 06, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Red Raiders close the regular season Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. CT.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Texas Tech softball dropped its first two games at the Ram Classic, falling 5-2 to South Dakota and 10-2 in six innings to host Colorado State Saturday on a sunny day in Fort Collins, Colo.

Sophomore Jessica Hartwell finished 3-5 on the day with a home run, double, walk and two RBI, while sophomore Kiani Ramsey tied the school's single-season and career marks for triples in the loss to the Coyotes. The Red Raiders (17-33, 4-14) have now suffered 13 straight setbacks.

In game one, South Dakota (21-27, 10-8 Summit League) opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first thanks to a bases-loaded walk. Tech then went to junior Cheyene Powell out of the bullpen, who retired the next two Coyotes to end the inning. The Coyotes would add a run in the second, before shortstop Brittany Warnecke made a play on a line drive and tagged the runner on second for an unassisted double play to end the inning.

The Red Raiders cut into the lead in the fifth and sixth. Ramsey led off the fifth with her eighth career triple and was batted in by freshman Raina O'Neal. Ramsey's triple moved her into a tie for the most career triples by a Red Raider and matched the single-season triples mark with four. Hartwell made it 4-2 in the sixth with a blast to left field, her ninth home run of the season.

The Coyotes tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead to 5-2, and held the Red Raiders scoreless in the seventh to hand Tech its 12^th straight loss. Senior Mattison Maisel started and moves to 5-7 with the loss, while Powell pitched her longest outing of the year at 5.2 innings in relief.

In the second game of the day against Colorado State (23-20, 8-13 Mountain West), the Red Raiders erased a 1-0 deficit in the third as senior Kierra Miles got a grounder by the second basemen to score senior Ashley Fultz from second.

The Rams, however, bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the third capped off by a two-out, two-run home run to left field that made it 5-1.

Tech would cut the lead to 5-2 as Hartwell singled home Ramsey the next inning, but the Rams pulled away down the stretch for the 10-2 victory in six innings.

UP NEXT
Sunday marks Tech's final day of the regular season as it closes the Ram Classic with a doubleheader against South Dakota and Colorado State starting at 10 a.m. CT.

POST-GAME NOTES
SOUTH DAKOTA

Texas Tech moves to 0-2 all-time versus South Dakota.
Hartwell hit her ninth home run of the season.
Ramsey moved into a tie for first on the school's career triples list.
Tech has now hit 48 home runs in 49 games, which leads the Big 12.

COLORADO STATE

Texas Tech falls to 2-5 all-time versus Colorado State
The Red Raiders fall to 4-24 when the opponent scores first.
Tech moves to 13-19 in non-conference play this season.
Tech falls to 1-17 when scoring two runs or less.
The loss moves Tech's losing streak to 13 games.
Hartwell has hit safely in six of the last seven games.
Ramsey has hit safely in 13 of the last 16 games.

AROUND THE BIG 12
Texas Tech dropped to sixth in the Big 12 standings Saturday after Iowa State defeated Kansas for its fifth Big 12 win of the season. The Red Raiders will remain in sixth and advance to the Big 12 Championships next week if the Cyclones complete the sweep of the Jayhawks Sunday.