Texas Tech Athletics
Texas
Raiders End Losing Skid, Upset No. 19 Texas
February 12, 2000 | Softball
Feb. 12, 2000
HONOLULU - After losing two close games to national powerhouses earlier in the week, the Texas Tech Red Raiders softball team finally got over the hump Saturday afternoon when they defeated the Texas Lady Longhorns 4-0 in play at the Chevron Paradise Classic tournament in Honolulu. It was Tech's first win of the year (1-9) and first ever win against the Longhorns. Texas Falls to 4-5 on the year.
"It's great to get the win and get that monkey off our back," Raiders head coach Renee Luers-Gillespie said. "After playing so well against UCLA and Long Beach and losing we finally figured out as a team what it takes to finish off one of these big games. We hit well throughout the order, kept our mistakes to a minimum. I'm proud of the team."
On the opening day of the tournament, the Raiders fell short against defending champion UCLA 3-2. The next day against No.15 Long Beach State, Tech held a 2-1 lead with two outs in the seventh inning but then imploded by allowing seven unearned runs to the 49ers. Tech took a 8-4 loss in that game.
Things would be different today as the Raiders used a combination of timely hitting and overpowering pitching to garner the win.
It was the best offensive performance of the season for the Raiders as they notched seven hits and scored four runs in six innings of play. Senior shortstop Paula Workman led the charge on offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI. Amanda Renfro, who just two days earlier lost the close battle to No.1 UCLA, earned the win for the Raiders.
The score was tied in the bottom of the third when Paula Workman stepped to the plate. With two outs and Sandy Butler at second and Eva Harshman at first, Workman drilled a liner into the right centerfield gap to score Butler. However, Harshman was thrown out at the plate and the inning was over.
Tech got on the board again in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, Harshman hit a slow bouncer to second base to score Tiffany Harrington from third and give the Red Raiders a two run lead. Two batters later Workman hit a bloop pop-up just out of the reach of the Texas second baseman. The hit scored Briana Nietert from third and Butler from second and Tech led 4-0.
Taking the mound two days after losing a close 3-2 contest to defending national champion UCLA, Amanda Renfro took charge to ensure a Tech victory. Renfro held the Longhorns hitless through five innings before a double off the bat of Keely Franks broke up the no-hitter. Renfro recovered to mow down the next two batters and get out of the inning. She then retired the Lady Horn in order in the seventh to improve her record to 1-4. On the day, Renfro went seven innings, allowing only one hit and striking out 13 Lady Longhorn batters.
