Thursday, February 17
Clearwater, FL
11:30 AM
Texas Tech Athletics
3-2
1
vs
7
Auburn
6-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Texas Tech
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
2
Auburn
0
2
0
1
4
0
X
7
7
1
Photo by: Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports
Recap: Tech falls twice in SPC Elite Invitational
February 17, 2022 | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Texas Tech softball (3-3) got off to a slow start at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, dropping games against RV Auburn and #15 Clemson Thursday afternoon.
Texas Tech 1, Auburn 7
The Red Raiders struck first in the top of the second with a sac fly from Arriana Villa. Carson Armijo got the inning started with a single and a walk to Payton Jackson put two runners on with no outs. A deep fly ball from Alanna Barraza moved Armijo to third to set up the sac fly from Villa, driving in Tech's lone run of the game.
Auburn answered taking advantage of some defensive miscues to grab a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning. After the leadoff batter reached base on an error she was driven in on a single up the middle. Another run came across when a bunt was popped up to Kendall Fritz who caught it and attempted to turn a double play at first but overthrew Villa.
After striking out the side in the third inning, Fritz gave up her first earned run of the season in the bottom of the fourth with a two out solo shot to left field to make it 3-1 Auburn.
The Tigers carried over the momentum from the fourth putting up a four spot in the fifth to make it a 7-1 game. Auburn started by stringing together three straight singles to score one run, ending Fritz's day in the circle. Olivia Rains entered in relief of Fritz inheriting runners on first and second with one out. The very first batter she faced sent a three-run shot over the left field wall to bust things open for a six-run lead.
Maddie Kuehl made her collegiate debut in the bottom of the sixth, spinning a scoreless inning to keep the game within six runs but the Red Raiders were unable to rally in the seventh, falling in the opening game.
Fritz (2-1) picked up her first loss of the season giving up six runs, four earned, on five hits with five strikeouts.
Texas Tech 0, #15 Clemson 8 (5 innings)
Clemson opened the game with a five-run first inning to put Tech in a hole early. The home half of the inning started with a leadoff triple and the first run came across on an error. Another error allowed two more runs to score making it 3-0 early. A double to right center brought in two more runs to stretch the lead to 5-0 after one.
The Red Raiders best scoring chance of the afternoon came in the top of the third with a couple of infield singles, but back-to-back strikeouts squashed the momentum, keeping Tech scoreless.
Tech held Clemson scoreless for the next three innings before a three-run fifth inning gave the Tigers a run rule win. A couple of walks and a single loaded the bases for JoJo Hyatt who hit a bases clearing triple, ending the game early.
Morgan Hornback (0-2) went three innings allowing four hits and five runs, only one of which was earned with four strikeouts. Erna Carlin entered in the bottom of the fourth in relief of Hornback, pitching the final 1.2 innings giving up three runs on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
NOTABLES
UP NEXT
The Red Raiders will play a couple of games on Friday starting early with a matchup against Northwestern at 9:30 a.m. CT before facing off against #24 UCF at 6 p.m. CT for the nightcap.
Texas Tech 1, Auburn 7
The Red Raiders struck first in the top of the second with a sac fly from Arriana Villa. Carson Armijo got the inning started with a single and a walk to Payton Jackson put two runners on with no outs. A deep fly ball from Alanna Barraza moved Armijo to third to set up the sac fly from Villa, driving in Tech's lone run of the game.
Auburn answered taking advantage of some defensive miscues to grab a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning. After the leadoff batter reached base on an error she was driven in on a single up the middle. Another run came across when a bunt was popped up to Kendall Fritz who caught it and attempted to turn a double play at first but overthrew Villa.
After striking out the side in the third inning, Fritz gave up her first earned run of the season in the bottom of the fourth with a two out solo shot to left field to make it 3-1 Auburn.
The Tigers carried over the momentum from the fourth putting up a four spot in the fifth to make it a 7-1 game. Auburn started by stringing together three straight singles to score one run, ending Fritz's day in the circle. Olivia Rains entered in relief of Fritz inheriting runners on first and second with one out. The very first batter she faced sent a three-run shot over the left field wall to bust things open for a six-run lead.
Maddie Kuehl made her collegiate debut in the bottom of the sixth, spinning a scoreless inning to keep the game within six runs but the Red Raiders were unable to rally in the seventh, falling in the opening game.
Fritz (2-1) picked up her first loss of the season giving up six runs, four earned, on five hits with five strikeouts.
Texas Tech 0, #15 Clemson 8 (5 innings)
Clemson opened the game with a five-run first inning to put Tech in a hole early. The home half of the inning started with a leadoff triple and the first run came across on an error. Another error allowed two more runs to score making it 3-0 early. A double to right center brought in two more runs to stretch the lead to 5-0 after one.
The Red Raiders best scoring chance of the afternoon came in the top of the third with a couple of infield singles, but back-to-back strikeouts squashed the momentum, keeping Tech scoreless.
Tech held Clemson scoreless for the next three innings before a three-run fifth inning gave the Tigers a run rule win. A couple of walks and a single loaded the bases for JoJo Hyatt who hit a bases clearing triple, ending the game early.
Morgan Hornback (0-2) went three innings allowing four hits and five runs, only one of which was earned with four strikeouts. Erna Carlin entered in the bottom of the fourth in relief of Hornback, pitching the final 1.2 innings giving up three runs on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
NOTABLES
- Abbie Orrick recorded her second mult-hit game of the season against Clemson. She now has seven hits on the season and has recorded a hit in all but one game.
- Morgan Hornback's four strikeouts tied a career-high which she reached two times before against Southeast Missouri Feb. 27, 2021 and New Mexico March 13, 2021.
- Payton Jackson made a couple of highlight reel plays in left field robbing Clemson's Valerie Cagle of a hit twice. First in the bottom of the second she made a twisting catch back to the warning track while looking into the sun. The second came in the bottom of the fourth when she dove for a ball in shallow left field to end the inning.
UP NEXT
The Red Raiders will play a couple of games on Friday starting early with a matchup against Northwestern at 9:30 a.m. CT before facing off against #24 UCF at 6 p.m. CT for the nightcap.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shelby Lowe (4-0)
L: Fritz, Kendall (2-1)
Batting:
RBI: Villa, Arriana 1
SF: Villa, Arriana 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Armijo, Carson 1
HBP: Barraza, Alanna 1
Batting:
3B: Denver Bryant 1
HR: Bri Ellis 1 ; Jessie Blaine 1
RBI: Nelia Peralta 1 ; Bri Ellis 3 ; Jessie Blaine 1 ; Denver Bryant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Makayla Packer 1 ; Kelsey Schmidt 1 ; Nelia Peralta 1 ; Bri Ellis 1 ; Abbey Smith 1 ; Jessie Blaine 2
SB: Abbey Smith 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballINF/UTL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
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