Tech third baseman Emily Bledsoe went 3-for-4 and drove in eight runs to lead the Red Raiders to an 11-6 win against the Broncos.

The wet, sloppy field made it tough on both pitchers to hit the strike zone and get into a rhythm in the
circle. The limited strike zone provoked Tech head coach Shanon Hays into arguing a few balls and strikes and eventually, Hays was ejected from the game, but not before the Broncos opened up a commanding lead.
If he meant to spark his team, it worked.

Tech’s next at bat started slowly with two quick outs, but freshman catcher Randi Tongate hit a shot to left field that rolled to the fence for a double. That started the frenzy. Shortstop Leah Leger singled, skip the wild pitch and walks to both Stephanie Drewry and Logan Hall, the bases were loaded for Bledsoe with Tech trailing 6-1.

She watched the first pitch tail outside, and then lined the next pitch she saw over the right field fence for a grand slam.

In her next at bat, the bases were juiced again. This time she hit a ball into the left-centerfield gap scoring all three base runners. An RBI single in the sixth gave her eight runs batted in for the game, setting a new school record.

“It doesn’t happen all that often,” said Bledsoe who came in hitting .400 on the season. “This whole weekend my swing has just been off a little bit. Today I guess it was on.”

The record broke Alex Watkins’ record of seven that was set last season.

“She was great,” Hays said. “When she gets it going we are a totally different team. She is a big reason for our success so far.”

That game brought her season totals to six home runs and 25 RBIs all while batting over .400 and scoring another 27 runs.

After the come-from-behind win, Tech had to face Wichita State, a team that broke Tech’s program-long win streak Saturday. Senior Ashly Jacobs got the start, and commanded the game from the first inning. She held the Shockers to only five hits in five innings, and did not give up a run in her 42nd career win, tied for second-most all time in Texas Tech history.

The big bats were quiet for the most part in game two, but costly errors by the Shockers helped Tech jump out to a 7-0 first-inning lead. Tech later added another run to earn the run-rule win after just five innings.

“I was really proud of our team,” Bledsoe said. “We came out after the loss (Saturday) and really got after it.

“We gave them the game Saturday, and (Sunday) we came out and just did what we needed to do.”

Tech improves to 19-2 this season, and has only lost one of its 13 home games.

“When you can win five of six, especially teams like Wichita State and Boise State, its a good weekend for our girls,” Hays said.

“We have to build up some confidence going into conference, so you got to win these games.”
Tech will take a few days off, and will prepare to face Jackson State and North Carolina Central March 12-14 at Rocky Johnson Field.

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In a game that saw no extra base hits, the Red Raiders (16-1) played a little small ball to get those nine runs. Ashly Jacobs started in the circle, and only allowed three hits while striking out three in the five-inning game.

Shortstop Leah Legler and second baseman Logan Hall led the Raiders with three RBI a piece. Boise State pitcher Aubray Zell was able to come away with a grain of good news from the loss:

She kept the Big 12’s hottest hitter, Texas Tech’s Emily Bledsoe who came in hitting over .425, off the hit column.
Other than that, the rightie didn’t have much else to write home about.

Tech blasted away for eight hits, and drew two walks, but did their head coach, Shanon Hays, proud by getting hits with runners in scoring position.

“It’s the kind of game you want,” said Hays in his first year with Tech softball. “We didn’t run the bases well at times, but if you put together timely hits and good pitching, that can carry you pretty far.”

Tech set the program record for consecutive wins in a season with 14, passing the 1998 club that won 13 in a row, but Hays looks beyond the good start.

“Well its nice for the girls,” Hays said. “They’ve been playing consistent, Ashley Jacobs came out (Friday) and hit her spots early and got us some momentum. Hopefully that carries over this weekend.”

Tech will play four more games this weekend starting with today’s rematch with Boise State at 1 p.m., and a quick turnaround against Wichita State at 3 p.m.

The Red Raiders have already improved on last season’s 15-42 record, and with 38 games to go this season the Red Raiders look forward to building on this early success.

“It means something, you want to see your program get better,” said Hays. “But it’s still early so we have a lot of softball ahead of us.”

Notes:
Ashly Jacobs improved to 5-0 on the season … Hays has used Legler very sparingly early this spring due to a nagging knee injury that has left the senior shortstop frustrated about helping her team. Legler was relieved in the fourth inning by Kristin Reeves, Tech was leading 7-0 … Bledsoe finished Friday’s game 0-2, but reached base on a hit-by-pitch in the third … Everyone on the team gives catcher Holley Gentsch a hard time about being the slowest on the field, but the slow played fast Friday. Gentsch cued a ball off the end of her bat that died in between the pitcher and second base for an infield hit, her first infield hit of the season … Bledsoe went back to her old glove. The laces on her favorite glove broke before Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep against Houston Baptist. She had two errors in the two games, but made up for it at the plate, finishing the two games 5-for-5 with three doubles. She switched back to the old glove for Friday’s game, finishing with no errors.

The Texas Tech softball team is off to their best start in school history after beating the University of Missouri at Kansas City 5-4 in overtime, and defeating Maine 5-0 Saturday at Rocky Johnson Field on day two of the Raider Classic.

Tech (8-1) got an early lead on UMKC (2-5), but senior pitcher Ashly Jacobs gave up a run in the second inning that tied it. The game hit a lull for the most part until the sixth when both teams scored two runs to make it a 3-3 ballgame headed into the seventh.

That’s when things got interesting.

UMKC’s Carli Slagle connected for her first homerun of the year off Tech relief pitcher Hillary Phillips. In the bottom of the inning, leftfielder Stephanie Drewry answered. After Tech had strung together a walk and a couple of hits, Drewry belted a grounder up the middle that scored Jordan Palmer to tie it.

In the International Overtime Rule, each team starts with a runner at second base, in an attempt to make the games go by quicker.

UMKC turned their runner into a bases-loaded situation, but Tech’s Karli Merlich relieved Phillips and retired UMKC 1-2-3.

“Bases loaded with no outs, that’s my favorite position to come in,” said Merlich. “That’s when your team comes together because everyone has to do their job. That’s when the game is really fun.”

Tech made their turn look easy. Friday’s homerun hero, Mikey Kenney started at second, and after a popout, catcher Holly Gentsch ripped a double down the left field line to score the winning run.

“I was just trying to stay relaxed, and I just needed to be loose, and I was. I was able to see the ball all the way and hit it hard.”

Tech continued their late-game heroics as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Maine (1-8) in game two. Shortstop Emily Bledsoe moved up from the three-hole in the batting order to number two, and she made head coach Shanon Hays proud.

She drilled a pitch from Maine’s Anna Souhlaris over the right field wall to give Tech an early advantage.

“When you get a big inning early, it helps the pitcher stay ahead and relax,” said Hays.

That was all game-two starter Karli Merlich needed as she earned her third win in not even 24 hours Saturday. Merlich earned the complete-game win Firday night after allowing only two hits, and earned the win in Saturday’s relief appearance.

“I was really proud of our girls how they responded at the end of the game,” Hays said. “And I was thrilled with how Karli came out and got us out of a huge jam, and then came out and pitched a gem in game two.”

Merlich (4-0) used only 72 pitches to get her second complete game in the Raider Classic.

“Both games she started, she got on top of them and didn’t let them up,” Hays said. “She dominated them, and she did that again (Saturday) in relief in game one.”

The big bats that Hays and the girls had talked about earlier this season finally came through in game two as the Red Raiders got their five runs on 11 hits.

“What sparked them is that they got on top of the ball,” Hays said. “They quit popping it up. That’s been us all year, we hit the ball real well when we don’t pop the ball up, we started getting on top of the ball, and then it’s contagious, and we made some big things happen.”

Gentsch helped that cause by going 4-of-7 from the plate with 4 RBI, including the game winner in game one.

“We just had great momentum from that first game,” said Gentsch. “We finally showed our home fans how well we can hit.”

Tech followed up Saturday’s sweep by defeating Maine 12-9 Sunday morning and ending the tournament with a 7-3 victory against UMKC.

The Red Raiders will host the University of Texas at San Antonio Tuesday and Wednesday.

Texas Tech benefited from strong pitching by Hillary Phillips and Karli Merlich and timely hitting from Emily Bledsoe and Mikey Kenney to win both games Friday against Maine and the University of Missouri at Kansas City to kickoff the Raider Classic at Rocky Johnson Field.

Bledsoe provided the winning hit in a 4-3 decision against Maine in game one, and Merlich pitched a one-hitter against UMKC in a 2-1 victory in game two.

Senior Ashley Jacobs started game one in the circlefor the Red Raiders, giving up an early run in the first, but she quickly calmed down as she didn’t give up another run until the sixth inning.

Texas Tech's Ashley Hamada(7) is greeted by teammates after scoring on a RBI single by Logan Hall during the Red Raiders 4-3 win over Maine on Friday in Lubbock. (Zach Long)

Texas Tech's Ashley Jacobs throws a pitch during the Red Raiders 4-3 win over Maine on Friday in Lubbock. (Zach Long)

Texas Tech's Logan Hall makes a throw during the Red Raiders 4-3 win over Maine on Friday in Lubbock. (Zach Long)

Tech (6-1) trailed Maine (1-6) going into the third, but outfielder Ashley Hamada walked and stole second, putting herself in scoring position. Second baseman Logan Hall then rocketed a double off the right-centerfield wall scoring Hamada to tie the game.

The Red Raiders picked up where they left off in the fourth when Raven Richardson tripled to right field and scored on the errant throw to second base.

“We got some key hits at the right moments to win both games,” head coach Shanon Hays said. “The pitching we faced today threw well, and we didn’t play well offensively, but we pitched well enough to get the wins.”

Jacobs got through five innings without letting Maine string many hits together, but gave up a two-run home
run to Alexis Souhlaris that gave Maine the 3-2 advantage.

Phillips came in and allowed only one hit over the next two innings, giving Tech’s bats a chance to win it.

That’s exactly what they did.

Outfielder Stephanie Drewry doubled to deep right setting the stage for Bledsoe to be the hero.

She got down two strikes, but battled back to a two-and-two count before lining a ball down the first base line into the rightfield corner. Rounding first, she ran into Maine first-baseman Kirstin Allen. The interference call gave Bledsoe a free base to third.

“The first baseman got in my way, so I just gave her a little nudge,” said Bledsoe. That “little nudge” allowed Drewry to score from second giving Tech a 4-3 lead.

“Emily (Bledsoe) had a key at bat,” said Hays. “And that was the difference in the first game.”

In game two, Tech got down early again. Merlich threw strikes, but the defense behind her gave up three errors in the first inning, and UMKC took the lead, 1-0.

The defense settled down, and did not commit another error. Merlich did her part by allowing only one hit, and keeping UMKC off the bases.

“We made those three errors, Karli was pitching well, but we gave them a run,” said Hays. “I thought we were off to having a good offensive game, but thankfully Karli went out and threw a great game.”

Tech responded quickly in the bottom of the first, however, when Kenney came to the plate. She drove a pitch into deep centerfield that left the ballpark giving Tech a 2-1 lead.

“I just knew I needed to step it up and get a base hit since I didn’t play so well the first game,” Kenney said. “When Emily got on, I just wanted to get on base and move the runners around.”

The Red Raiders played their first five games at the Kijakawa Classic last week in Arizona, finishing second with a 4-1 record.

They continued that hot streak by winning their first two at home on a weekend that also includes the unveiling of the new softball facilities tomorrow.

After a lackluster offensive performace on Friday, the Red Raiders know things must change in order for them to continue on this early success.

“We aren’t an Arizona or a UCLA or an OU, so these are the games we have to win,” said Hays. “If we play like we did (Friday) offensively, we are always going to give teams a chance to win, so every game is huge for us.”

Bledsoe also knows the struggles will come and go this season.

“I think we need a little more focus out here,” said Bledsoe. “We have on days and off days, and I guess today was an off day for us. We need to come out here and pick it up.”

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Roddick joins teammates Bryce Lamb (men’s triple jump) and Shade Weygandt (women’s pole vault) as automatic qualifiers to the NCAA meet March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Tech put up 10 provisional marks Saturday. On the men’s side, those included provisionals by Brian Porter (17-3 in the pole vault), Omo Osaghae (7.81 in the 60-meter hurdles), Silas Kemboi (1:50.33 for second place in the 800 meters) and Lamb (25-83/4 in the long jump).

Provisionals from the Tech women were by Caroline Karunde (9 minutes, 18.59 seconds in winning the 3,000 meters) and Purity Biwott (2:08.15 for second in the 800). Running at the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas,
Tech’s Lillian Badaru finished second in the 5,000 with a provisional-qualifying time of 16:28.58.

Two Tech 1,600-meter relay teams also had provisional times in College Station: the women’s quartet of Erica Alexander, Taylor Evans, Candace Jackson and Trudeann Clark took third in 3:38.37. The men’s relay of Gil Roberts, Markus Henderson, Zach Plinario and Bryce Brown won in 3:08.04.

-Men’s tennis
The Texas Tech men’s tennis team picked up a pair of victories on Saturday, following a win over McMurry with a 7-0 sweep of Abilene Christian at the McLeod Tennis Center.
Tech breezed through singles competition, losing only seven games, and also swept doubles competition as well.

-Softball splits at tourney in Tempe
TEMPE, Ariz. — Raven Richardson’s three-run home run in the top of the seventh helped the Texas Tech softball team to a 4-3 win over Oregon at the ASU Kajikawa Tournament on Saturday.

The win comes after the Red Raiders (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season, a 6-1 decision to Auburn.

Krista Clyde’s grand slam home run and a solid effort in the circle from Anna Thompson led Auburn the win.

Ashley Brokeshoulder suffered the loss for the Red Raiders, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks in 31/3 innings.

Tech’s offense managed just two hits, both singles, one each by Leah Legler and Logan Hall.

Tech was scheduled to play Oregon later Saturday and wind up the tournament with San Diego State today.

This year, not so much.

Hays left Lubbock Christian after amassing a 114-16 record in two seasons along with a 2008 NAIA national title. He now takes over a Texas Tech softball program that went 15-42 last season under interim head coach Amy Suiter.

Hays

After building LCU into a successful program, Hays will face some of the same challenges at Tech.

“This year for me feels like my first year at Lubbock Christian,” said Hays, who won back-to-back Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Awards. “The biggest challenge is to build a winning reputation, an expectation to win, and convincing our girls that we have what it takes to compete in the Big 12.”

Helping Hays make his transition a little easier will be the two returning seniors, infielder Leah Legler, and pitcher Ashley Jacobs.
Legler started every game the last two seasons and has a lifetime .319 batting average, which ranks fourth all-time for Tech.

Jacobs takes over as ace of staff after Alex Watkins graduated after the 2009 season. She went 9-18 last season with a 4.35 earned run average.

Returning sophomores Emily Bledsoe and Stephanie Drewry will also lighten Hays’ transition into the NCAA. Bledsoe started all 57 games last season and will provide a spark at third base.

Drewry, who will play mostly left field, finished second on the team last year with a .339 average just behind graduated senior Elizabeth Eimen’s .354.

“I was very impressed with these girls when I first came in,” Hays said. “They had some pitching injuries last year, which greatly changed the outcome of a bunch of their games, but they were hungry to come in and get started.

“I think them seeing my background of being a part of winning programs, hopefully they think I can bring that here, too.”

Legler, who had 13 multi-hit games in 2009, leads the list of players who feel more relaxed playing for Hays.

“He is really up front with his expectations,” Legler said, “and he simplifies the game in a way that is really beneficial to his players.”
Hays knows the reputation for good recruiting and building programs precedes him, but also knows he cannot do it by himself.

“One thing I do bring is experience of building winning programs. I’ve always come into a situation that wasn’t very successful, but I have been fortunate to have good players that help us turn things around.”

With renovations to Rocky Johnson field, and the addition of the new softball facility, Tech looks to improve on its subpar 2009, as well as show off the new digs.

Tech will travel to Tempe, Ariz., Friday to partake in the Kajikawa Classic, but will return to host its own tournament Feb. 19-21 with Maine and University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Tech will have 19 of its first 32 games at Rocky Johnson field before starting Big 12 Conference play.

Hays hopes the heavy home schedule will give his team a boost before heading into conference.

“Well its great for your momentum if you win. One of the things (Athletic Director Gerald Myers) wanted when he brought me in was have a bigger home schedule,” said Hays, who returns to Tech after being an assistant men’s basketball coach for two seasons, 2000-2001. “If you win them, you have momentum, if you don’t, then you don’t.”

Now with a head coach and a coaching staff used to winning, the plays think they can relax and just play softball.

“I think last year it was just a tough situation for our previous coaches,” said Bledsoe. “They did a great job with what was on their plates, but it’s a completely different atmosphere with this coaching staff. They are very laid back but insistent when they need to be. They give us the leeway to just go have fun and play.”

Even though Tech hasn’t seen an opponent yet this season, the goals and expectations coming in are positive.

“I think the lessons learned from previous years is that you have to win half your games to get into postseason,” said Legler. “So that’s our priority, to get into postseason however we have to do that. We have to win the games that we’re supposed to win.”

Hays coaching resume
-2010: Head coach, Texas Tech Softball
-2008-09: Head coach, LCU Softball
-2005-06: Associated men’s head basketball coach, University of Houston
-2003-04: Head basketball coach, Midland College
-2002-03: Director of athletics, Abilene Christian University
-2000-01: Assistant coach, Tech men’s basketball
-1996-99: Head basketball coach, ACU

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Kelsey Dennis, Taylor Powell and Brittany Talley will enter Tech next fall and will compete for the Red Raiders for the 2011 season.

“We have a great group of young players on our squad this year and this group of signees just adds to that type of talent,” Hays said. “We’ve been really focused and excited about getting ready for the 2010 season which begins for us in February, but jumping ahead a little bit when we get these letters of intent in, is pretty exciting when we think about the blend of talent we’ll have in 2011 as well.”

“This is a great move for me, and I’m thrilled to be here, excited and thankful for this,” Hays said during a Monday morning news conference. “Coming over here and seeing the emphasis being placed on women’s softball made the decision easy for me. I grew up playing fastpitch softball and I love the game and I love the direction that fastpitch softball is going toward. My goal is to make this program here something the Lubbock community and the Red Raider community can be proud of.”

Hays

Hays becomes the program’s fifth head coach since 1996, a program which struggled throughout the majority of the decade. Tech has not finished with a winning record, either overall or in Big 12 play, since 1996. Tech operated the 2009 season under interim head coach Amy Suiter, a former assistant who took over when former head coach Teresa Wilson resigned to pursue positions elsewhere.

Tech was just 15-42 overall in 2009 and 3-15 in Big 12 play, finishing last among the 10 softball-playing teams in the conference. However, Tech was a young team overall last season and will lose just three seniors — infielder Elizabeth Eimen, pitcher Alex Watkins and outfielder Megan Shupp.

“Having great players obviously is the first step toward having a great program,” Hays said. “If you want to have a good program you have to have the right components. We’re going to try and have talented kids competing at the highest level possible. I think we can do some things this year that the coaching staff was building on here last year.”

Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said the search for a new coach did not begin in earnest until after the season ended, although he and senior associate athletic director Judi Henry kept an eye on candidates throughout the season. Myers said they interviewed several candidates, but in the end, it all came back to Hays.

“All the time I think in the back of our minds we kept thinking about the fantastic job, the unbelievable job Shanon did at LCU,” Myers said. “He’s been successful in quite a few positions as a coach. He has great talent as a recruiter and we’re extremely excited and pleased that he has accepted the job to be our new softball coach.”

Hays spent the past three seasons building and turning LCU into an NAIA softball power. He built the program from the ground up, recruiting exclusively that first season before beginning competition in 2008. It didn’t take long for the Lady Chaps to assert their dominance, going 60-10 and capturing the NAIA national championship. This past season, LCU won the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season crown before being bounced early in bracket play at the national tournament. He is a two-time SAC Coach of the Year honoree and was named the 2008 NAIA Coach of the Year.

LCU athletic director Paul Hise said he is hoping to have a replacement for Hays announced as soon as possible, possibly even this week, but added that if initial plans fall through then the search for a new coach could broaden and take a bit longer.

Prior to compiling a 114-17 mark at LCU, Hays was an assistant basketball coach at the University of Houston, this after serving a short time as athletic director at Division II Abilene Christian University. ACU was also one of his numerous basketball coaching stops along with Frank Phillips College and Midland College. He was also an assistant for two seasons at Tech under former coach James Dickey.

He played basketball for LCU in 1987 before transferring to Texas Tech to play baseball for his father for three seasons.

And, in a strange twist of fate, he now makes a move similar to that of his father, who led LCU to a national championship in baseball in 1983 and left the school following the 1986 season to take over the Tech program. Now, 23 years later, Shanon is doing the same.

“I’ve got confidence in him that he’s going to do what’s best for him and his family and all that,” Larry Hays said. “It’s mixed emotions because I really hate to see him leave Lubbock Christian but the fact that he’s coming to Tech makes it all right. Anywhere else and I’d hate to see it but he’s coming from a great place and going to another one.”

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Sporting a banged-up hand and a new nickname, Cameron “four-finger” Rupp still was able to provide the pop that pushed Texas to its fourth Big 12 baseball title.

Playing with his right ring finger bandaged up, Rupp hit a grand slam during an 11-run outburst in the fourth inning as the top-seeded Longhorns beat Missouri 12-7 Sunday to repeat as conference champions.

“It felt a lot better today than it did yesterday, that’s for sure,” said Rupp, who split his finger open a day earlier when he smashed against a Kansas State player’s bat while trying to throw out a baserunner from behind the plate.

Rupp moved from catcher to designated hitter and had the big hit in an inning filled with free passes from the Tigers. He earned a hearty pat on the back from his coach, who called him “four-finger Rupp” in his postgame news conference.

It took four relievers to get out of the fourth after Missouri starter Scooter Hicks (5-3) let the first two hitters reach base. Texas’ big inning was fueled by four walks and two batters who were hit by pitches.

Rupp then delivered the exclamation point with a line drive that cleared the 400-foot mark in center field at the Bricktown Ballpark to make it 11-1.

“I didn’t think it was going to get out of the ballpark,” Rupp said. “I knew I hit it good off the bat. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be high enough.”

The Longhorns (41-13-1) became the first team to win back-to-back titles since they pulled off the feat in 2002 and 2003. They also matched Nebraska with a league-high four conference crowns.

“I think it’s a feel-good tournament,” said Texas coach Augie Garrido, whose team scored 34 runs in four games after coming in with the nation’s top ERA. “I think it was a tournament where the hitters could take a lot of confidence from their performances. They were steady. They were good.

“We’ve been criticized for being a weak-hitting team, and we responded. We’re hitting the ball hard, we’re hitting it often and we’re hitting it far.”

During the inning, Texas learned that it would host an NCAA tournament regional at Disch-Falk Field for the first time since 2006. The Longhorns also hosted a regional in 2007, but at a minor-league ballpark in Round Rock.

Texas has been eliminated in regional play each of the past three years after wining the College World Series in 2005.

“Even though we’ve hosted, we haven’t hosted on a field where we have the home-field advantage,” Garrido said.

Missouri (34-25) ran out of pitching depth in only its second appearance in the Big 12 championship game, following a 13-inning loss to Oklahoma State in 2004. Led by strong starts from pro prospect Kyle Gibson and Adam Tepesch, the third-seeded Tigers had advanced to the title game despite having the fewest hits in the eight-team field during pool play.

Mizzou still became the first team in conference history to play in the football, men’s basketball and baseball championship games in the same academic year. And it seemed like the Tigers had karma in their favor after the men’s basketball and softball teams had both won Big 12 titles in Oklahoma City this year.

School administrators even gave coach Tim Jamieson a fresh reminder as the team left campus.

That all fell apart when Hicks ran out of steam in the fourth. He had never thrown more than 4 2-3 innings in a college game and said he was trying to get over an illness on top of that.

“That was probably my biggest opponent,” Hicks said. “I just tried to go out there and give it everything I had today and try to win this game. I just came up a little bit short.”

Hicks issued a leadoff walk to Brandon Belt and then gave up a single to Michael Torres, who had been trying to sacrifice before swinging away with a full count.

Ian Berger replaced Hicks and didn’t retire any of the three batters he faced, sandwiching walks around a two-run single by Brandon Loy. It snowballed from there as left-fielder Aaron Senne misplayed Preston Clark’s fly ball into a single and relievers Ryan Clubb and Phil McCormick beaned consecutive batters.

“We gave them eight base-runners. One was a bunt they tried to give us and we couldn’t capitalize on that, and then the dropped fly ball. It wasn’t an error, but it should have been an out. You add those two to the walks and hit-by-pitches, that’s tough to overcome,” Jamieson said.

The Tigers came back with three runs off of reliever Austin Dicharry (7-2) in the top of the fifth, but the rally fizzled after center fielder Connor Rowe made a diving catch on a sacrifice fly by Greg Folgia that made it 12-4. Missouri added another three runs in the ninth without getting a hit.

Garrido said the sloppy finish, featuring the last of the Longhorns’ 10 walks and four errors in the game, would give the team some areas to focus on heading into NCAA regional play.

“We need to put the wheels back on the car,” Garrido said. “It was a rough race. And we’ve got to tune up the engine again and get everything straightened out.” Notes: Jamieson had held out hope that Missouri’s appearance in the title game, combined with geography, would land the Tigers an NCAA regional site for only the second time since 1965. But he was more disappointed the Big 12 got only two regional sites, Texas and Oklahoma. “I think the conference, whether it be us or Kansas State or somebody else, certainly earned a third site,” Jamieson said. “People are on us about, ‘You need to get a team to Omaha.’ Well, you know what? Reward the conference for the regular season and make it easier for us to get a team to Omaha.” … With Clark replacing Rupp behind the plate, the Longhorns gave up three stolen bases – including two when Clark threw wildly into center field. … Missouri is holding out hope catcher Travis Coleman, who has missed the past month with a broken right hand, can return for NCAA tournament. “I’m confident he’ll be back,” Jamieson said. “But the question is how good can he be?”

OSU’s Anna Whiddon and Sarah Odom combined for a seven-hit shutout, and the Cowgirls (34-19) scored all seven of their runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Stephanie Drewry and Leah Legler each had two hits to Tech (15-42).

Big 12 honors were announced on Friday, and Elizabeth Eimen, a senior first baseman who led the Red Raiders with a .346 batting average, was a second-team all-Big 12 selection.

Megan Shupp and Legler were named first-team academic all-Big 12, and Danielle Matthews and Eimen were second-team academic selections.