Texas Tech Athletics
Baylor
Texas Tech Upsets No. 5 Baylor
May 12, 2007 | Softball
May 12, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Texas Tech used 12 hits and scored eight runs (over 12 innings) to beat No. 5 Baylor and advance to the semi-finals of the Big 12 tournament.
In the top of the 11th inning with two outs and two strikes, Heather Parker blasted her second home run of the season to dead center field to lead Texas Tech to a, 4-3 lead over No. 5 Baylor. But, in the bottom of the inning, the Bears came charging back to knot the score at fours. (And, this action was in the third hour of the game.
Then, in the top of the 12th with the bases loaded, Robyn Wike stepped to the plate and smashed a double to the wall in right, clearing the bases. It was the second game-winning hit of the day for the junior catcher. Wike then scored on a double by H. Parker to put the score at 8-4 as the game moved toward its fourth hour and the clock struck midnight. The Bears threatened in the bottom of the 12th, but the Red Raiders held on to win, 8-4.
The win improves Tech to a 23-26 record and moves the team into the semi-finals of the Big 12 tournament. Baylor (45-13), the regular season conference champion and No. 1 seed at the event, will return to Waco to wait for its postseason assignment.
Ashly Jacobs picked up her 16th win of the season and second of the day--er--the start of the game was Friday, the win was logged on Saturday.
Texas Tech's longest winning streak of the season--five--began in College Station on Sunday, April 29, when the Red Raiders beat Texas A&M, 6-2. The teams will face each other again in the first semi final tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. as the Aggies beat Nebraska to advance to Saturday's schedule.
The box score and play by play for the game have been loaded for your reading pleasure, and one really should read about this game there, as fatigue has set so deeply in for this particular scribe, that many mistakes would be made if she tried to recap it at this time!
What one can't learn from a box socre or play-by-play description of a game is how many spectacular defensive plays were recorded (by both teams) and how much excitement was generated at various time throughout the game. For instance, while an out may read, out, H. Parker to Corkin (6-3), an audio description would've sounded more like this: "Parker goes deep in the hole, turns and fires to Corkin who is in full splits to make the grab and edge out the speedy..." In fact, many of the ground outs required such effort. None was bigger than a two-out catch in the bottom of the 11th by left fielder Leah Legler. The diving grab in short left field included a rolling lift of the ball to show the umpire she had it, and stopped the winning run from scoring. While the catch itself is still being reviewed by Baylor fans, the effort and follow up was rewarded by the hustling ump.
Saturday's game with No. 7 Texas A&M will be broadcast by A&M radio, but will be carried via the Tech Web site (as will Game Tracker) thanks to a cooperative effort between the teams and the wonder of CSTV (ain't that sweet!).
