Three Thoughts on Texas’ 7-6 Win Over Texas in the Big 12 Softball Championship
In the second game of the Big 12 Softball Championship, the Texas Longhorns came back from a 6-2 deficit to walk off Texas Tech in extra innings, 7-6.
The win sets up Texas to take on the winner of Oklahoma State and Kansas tomorrow in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at 4:00 p.m. CT.
Texas Tech finishes the season at 31-22, and will hope to get an invite to the NISC Tournament, while Texas looks primed to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Here are three thoughts on the game and what it means for both teams moving forward.
PEYTON BLYTHE LEADS UPSTART RED RAIDERS OFFENSE
When staring at the reality of potentially playing in your last game as a senior, the Big 12 Tournament is a storybook moment to have a great game. Senior outfielder Peyton Blythe did exactly that.
Blythe led the Red Raiders to the second round of the Big 12 Tournament by going 3-3, with three RBIs in Thursday afternoon’s masterclass. One of the major statistics that Blythe impacted was the difference in two-out batting.
The Red Raiders drove in a whopping six two-out RBIs in the game, three of which came by way of Blythe. Texas Tech batted .281 on the day, but an impressive .400 (4-10) with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t hang on, and let Texas steal this one.
LATE-GAME LASERS LIFT LONGHORNS
Heading into the sixth inning, Texas found itself in a 6-2 deficit and hadn’t had much offense to speak of with the bats seemingly going cold. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, some magic started to happen for the Burnt Orange.
With two outs, Bella Dayton striped an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall making it 6-4. The Longhorns couldn’t pour anymore on that inning, but still had one more chance in the seventh. Katie Cimusz and Vanessa Quiroga made sure to take advantage of the opportunity, jacking back-to-back homers over the left-field wall to draw the score even at 6-6.
From there, the game would go into extra innings before Texas would secure a 7-6 win following a wild pitch that led to a walk-off score from Bella Dayton.
WHAT A GAME
If you like Big 12 softball, this game covered all the bases for you. The Red Raiders built a large lead and looked like the superior team for the first five innings of the game. Then, as if something in the air changed, Texas came on strong in the sixth inning and simply outlasted the Red Raiders in crunch time.
Texas is a perfect 4-0 against the Red Raiders this season, but had to come from behind to win in three of those contests. In the latest installment, it took an extra inning to get it done, but Mike White and the Longhorns will take it.
Unfortunately, there has to be a loser in these matchups, and it ended up being Texas Tech today. But, what Craig Snider has done with this squad in Year 1 is outstanding, and should excite Red Raiders’ fans for what’s to come in the near future.
