AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas made Game 2 against Texas Tech interesting late, but the Women’s College World Series finals will go the distance.
The Red Raiders scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings, and then hung on to beat the Longhorns 4-3, evening the best-of-3 championship series 1-1 Thursday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 at 7 p.m. CDT Friday on ESPN.
The Longhorns scored twice and got the go-ahead run to the plate in the seventh, but couldn’t get the big hit they needed off of Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady. Leighann Goode drove in a run with a double, scoring Katie Stewart, who reached on an error to start the frame. Pinch hitter Katie Cimusz hit a line drive to left field for a sacrifice fly that scored Victoria Hunter to draw the Longhorns within a run with one out.
Ashton Maloney grounded out to move Goode, representing the tying run, to third base, but Canady struck Kayden Henry out to end the game. Canady went all seven innings for the Red Raiders like Game 1, except she came out on the right side of the result. She allowed two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
“We never gave up and fought back, and I’m proud of how we did that,” Longhorns head Mike White said. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes and misplays that they took advantage of.”
White opted not to start Teagan Kavan in the circle, instead going with senior Mac Morgan. She pitched two innings before freshman Cambria Salmon entered, and she kept the Red Raiders off the board until the fifth.
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Texas Tech loaded the bases with two hits and a walk, and then Salmon hit Alana Johnson to force home the game’s first run. The next batter, Salmon threw a changeup in the dirt that snuck underneath catcher Reese Atwood and rolled to the backstop, allowing another run to score.
Texas third baseman Mia Scott cut the lead in half with a line drive over the center field wall for a solo home run in the sixth, but the middle of the Longhorns’ lineup came up empty with Atwood striking out and Joley Mitchell popping out in foul ground. Atwood and Mitchell went a combined 0-for-6 in the game.
Texas Tech scored two in the sixth after two fielding errors by Texas. Citlaly Gutierrez started the inning in the circle and got Canady to fly out for the first out, but a walk and the first fielding error put runners on first and third. Bailey Lindemuth hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score a run off Kavan, who entered the game after the error. The second fielding error, a ground ball that glanced off Mitchell’s mitt, brought home the run that turned out to be the difference.
“We’re a hard-nosed ballclub,” Red Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco said. “We take great pride in that. We’ve worked hard to become a mentally tough team.”
Scott’s two hits led the way for the Longhorns, who had six hits overall. Mihyia Davis had two hits, including a double, for the Red Raiders. They had five hits as a team.
Game 3 should be another pitching showdown between Kavan and Canady. Kavan threw just 12 pitches in relief while Canady threw 107. In two games, Canady has thrown 195 pitches.
“Last night wasn’t my best game, and this game wasn’t, either,” Canady said. “I’m just trying to learn and get better each game.”
The game was delayed 50 minutes from its original start time due to weather. The first pitch came at 7:50 p.m.