May 10, 2006
Box Score
Oklahoma City, Okla. - Playing their first game of the Big 12 Championship and fourth of the season against Texas Tech, the seventh-seeded Missouri softball team (24-25) shut down the 10th-seeded Red Raiders (19-35), 6-3, on field four of ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.
For the first time of their four meetings, Texas Tech scored first. An unearned run, Devin Zaragoza advanced home from second in the top of the first on a standup double to left center by Brandy Moulin. Zaragoza, batting second for the Red Raiders, reached first on a fielding error by Missouri third baseman Alli Kennewell (Eden Prairie, Minn.) earlier in the inning.
The Tigers came back in the bottom half, scoring two runs on redshirt sophomore Micaela Minner's (Sanger, Texas) double to right center. Minner was tagged out on her slide into third base, but helped leadoff batter Leanne Bowers (Arnold Mo) and outfielder Janessa Roening (Port Angeles, Wash.) advance home from second and first, respectively. Bowers opened the inning by reaching first on a fielding error by Red Raider shortstop Heather Parker. Batting second for Missouri, Roening took second after being hit by Erin Crawford's pitch.
Missouri added two runs in the bottom of the third inning and managed three straight hits off Crawford before she was relieved by Julie Hauck after throwing 43 pitches from the circle. Hauck gave up two runs, both earned, when starting Missouri pitcher Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) hit her 12th double of the season, this one down the left field line, to drive in base runners Roening and Bowers.
Adding two more runs in the fourth, Missouri finished the day with seven members of the starting lineup credited with at least one hit. Bowers finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate, while Roening was 2-for-2.
Keeping the game interesting, Texas Tech scored two runs in the top of the seventh to close within three runs of the Tigers. The inning came to an end on freshman Andee Allen's (Barnhart, Mo.) diving save on a groundout to short. Bruck, now 22-19 on the season, struck out five Texas Tech batters and forced 11 groundouts in the game.
Missouri is now 4-1 on the season over Texas Tech and 17-12 in the all-time series. Also, the Tigers improved to 6-5 when playing game one of the Big 12 Championships.
Up next for the Tigers, Missouri will play second-seeded Nebraska in a 7:30 p.m. (CST) game also on field four of ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Live stats will be available on mutigers.com.
