No. 11 Softball falls on walk-off single at No. 15 Texas Tech, 3-2

Saturday, April 6

Lubbock, Texas

3 p.m. CT

University of Texas

33-9, 0

#15 Texas Tech

30-7, 0

Texas

Texas Tech

No. 11 Softball falls on walk-off single at No. 15 Texas Tech, 3-2

04.06.2019 | Softball

Box Score

Junior third baseman Shannon Rhodes blasted her fourth HR of the season during the loss

LUBBOCK, Texas – On Saturday afternoon in front of 947 fans at Rocky Johnson Field, a walk-off single completed a late rally as No. 15 Texas Tech (30-7, 3-5 Big 12 Conference) knocked off No. 11 Texas softball (33-9, 6-3 Big 12 Conference) to even the two teams' league series.

Important Notes

With three innings of work (allowed one unearned run) on Saturday, Texas freshman pitcher Shealyn O'Leary managed to lower her Big 12 Conference-leading ERA to 0.52 over her first 80 collegiate frames of work. Only UCLA standout Rachel Garcia (0.50) tops O'Leary in the race for the NCAA Division I ERA crown.
Texas scored both its runs on Saturday during the fourth inning. With those tallies, the Longhorns have now out-scored opponents during that frame this season, 76-10. In all, 31% of Texas' total runs have been manufactured in the fourth inning of games in 2019.
Saturday's loss was the first for the Longhorns after leading through the fourth inning of a contest. UT had entered the match-up against the Red Raiders a perfect 30-0 in such situations during 2019.

Major Players

Junior third baseman Shannon Rhodes led the offense by going 2-for-3 with a run scored, a two-run HR (her fourth) and two RBIs. Redshirt junior center fielder Reagan Hathaway was 1-for-3 with a walk, sophomore second baseman Janae Jefferson was 1-for-4 and sophomore catcher Mary Iakopo walked twice and scored a run over three plate appearances.

In the Circle

Senior left hander Brooke Bolinger (7-3) suffered the loss in relief after allowing two earned runs on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 3.2 frames. O'Leary started the contest for the Horns, permitting one unearned run on four hits with a single strikeout over 3.0 innings.

The Details

It was Texas Tech that grabbed the early advantage on Saturday as a UT infield error on a bouncer from leadoff batter Zoe Jones came back to hurt the Horns. With one out, right fielder Peyton Blythe battled to a 3-2 count before lining a double to left center to plate Jones with an unearned run for a 1-0 lead.

With Iakopo aboard on a one-out walk in the top of the fourth, Texas got the benefit of some good fortune as Rhodes blasted a pitch to deep right center. Texas Tech right fielder Blythe raced back to the wall and jumped, appearing to have the ball in her glove briefly. Unfortunately for the Red Raider outfielder, the ball popped free during her collision with the wall and continued over for a two-run HR to grant the Longhorns a 2-1 advantage.

Tech managed to load the bases against Bolinger with no outs in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and a bunt single. Following a TTU strikeout, third baseman Breanna Russell lifted a sacrifice fly to center, plating pitcher Erin Edmoundson from third to tie the count at 2-2. Bolinger managed to dance her way out of further danger, however, by getting clean-up batter Trenity Edwards to pop-up to short as the Red Raiders left two stranded.

Texas had a golden chance to re-take the lead with two outs in the top of the seventh as Jefferson singled through the right side, stole second and moved to third on TTU catcher Kelcy Leach's throwing error. The Humble, Texas, native became the seventh Longhorns runner stranded in the contest, though, as a fly out to left ended the threat.

With the opportunity for a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh, the Red Raiders managed to take advantage. A leadoff single by TTU pinch hitter Shelby Henderson got things started. Shortstop Taylor Satchell stepped up and bunted a ball right back to the circle. Bolinger corralled it, pivoted quickly and fired a strike to second, but her throw was ruled just late to retire the lead runner. UT's hurler got closer to escaping the jam with a strikeout, but allowed a walk-off Russell single to left center to end the contest.