Softball Wins Twice Friday to Open UTSA Classic

Friday, February 19

San Antonio, Texas

10 a.m.

Tulsa

4-2

Virginia

2-4

Virginia

Tulsa

Softball Wins Twice Friday to Open UTSA Classic

2/19/2016 6:43:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score vs Virginia | Box Score vs North Dakota

SAN ANTONIO – Junior left fielder Maddie Withee drove in five runs and senior first baseman Jocelyn Sheffield tallied four RBI to lead the Tulsa softball team to wins over Virginia (4-3) and North Dakota (15-0, 6 inn.) Friday afternoon at the UTSA Classic at Roadrunner Field.

The Golden Hurricane (5-2) used a four-run fourth inning to overtake Virginia, and scored in four innings, including an eight-run sixth against North Dakota. Withee tallied five hits on the day, including a two-run home run against Virginia, and junior third baseman Maggie Withee totaled four hits in the two games.

Sophomore Emily Watson (2-1) struck out nine batters and allowed just two hits in five shutout innings of North Dakota. At the plate, Sheffield went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, four RBI and two runs scored. Maddie Withee went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and sophomore shortstop Shelby Estocado went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three runs.

Senior Caitlin Sill (2-1) went the distance against Virginia, and allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out four batters. Maddie Withee was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Maggie Withee went 2-for-4 at the plate.

"It was good to come from behind in that first game and play in a tight-scoring game and come through with the victory (against Virginia)," Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt said. "Maddie Withee really with one swing of the bat put us back in a tie ballgame. Then we continued to go on and score that inning."

After recording just two hits in the first three innings, the Hurricane exploded for four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth. Senior catcher Catherine Horner led off with a single to center, and Maddie Withee followed with her game-tying home run to left field. It was her first homer of the season. Estocado followed with a single to right field, Sheffield walked, and junior right fielder Brittany Walker singled to load the bases. Freshman Rylie Spell hit a sacrifice fly to plate Estocado, and Maggie Withee singled home Sheffield to make the score, 4-0.

Virginia scored a run in the second and third innings on solo home runs by center fielder Allison Davis and pitcher Erika Osherow. The Cavaliers added one run in the top of the fifth on an RBI fielder's choice by Katie Park. After the run scored, Sill retired the final two batters to end the inning, then retired the side in the sixth. A leadoff walk and a one-out error in the seventh put a runner on third, but Maggie Withee cut off the runner at home on a grounder to third base, and a foul out to Withee ended the game.

In the second game, Tulsa scored two runs each in the second and third innings, then added three runs in the fifth frame before the eight-run sixth. The Hurricane scored season-highs of 15 runs on 17 hits with no errors, while limiting North Dakota to no runs on three hits and three errors. Sophomre Lexi Blevins tossed the final inning, striking out two batters and allowing a hit.

"We even had a lot of barrel shots that went for outs (against North Dakota). It took us a while to be free and easy with the swing, and once we started doing that, we found the barrel a lot more," said Bargfeldt. "Emily (Watson) got a lot of swings and misses, and was able to get out of a jam or two when she fell behind in the count. She did a nice job of keeping them off the board early."

Estocado put the Hurricane on the board with an opposite-field two-run homer to right center in the second inning. Her first home run of the season also plated Maddie Withee, who led off the inning with a single. TU got three straight hits to start the third inning, and Withee's two-run single scored freshman second baseman Morgan Neal and Horner, making the score 4-0.

Tulsa extended its lead to 7-0 in the fifth inning with Sheffield's three-run shot to center field. Her team-leading third homer of the season scored freshman Julia Hollingsworth and Estocado.

The Hurricane poured on eight unearned runs in the sixth inning to make the score 15-0. All nine hitter contributed to the runs, as eight different players scored a run, and five players drove in runs. Freshman Tori Stafford, a replacement in right field, drove a two-run single to right center for her first two career RBI. Sheffield and Maddie Withee each had a one-run single, and freshmen Lauren Lomax and Hollingsworth each drew run-scoring walks.

The Golden Hurricane plays Saturday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m., followed by UTSA at 7 p.m. TU closes the weekend against UTSA at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Follow Tulsa Softball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaSoftball and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaWSoftball. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.

Tulsa 4, Virginia 3 (Feb 19, 2016 at San Antonio, Texas)
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Virginia............ 011 010 0 - 3 7 1      (2-4)
Tulsa............... 000 400 X - 4 10 1      (4-2)
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Pitchers: Virginia - E. Osherow and O. Gott. Tulsa - SILL, Caitlin and HORNER, Catherine.
Win-SILL, Caitlin(2-1) Loss-E. Osherow(2-3) T-1:39 A-0
HR VA - A. Davis (1); E. Osherow (1).
HR TLS - WITHEE, Maddie (1).
Weather: 66, cloudy, S 12 mph

Tulsa 15, North Dakota 0 (Feb 19, 2016 at San Antonio, Texas)
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Tulsa............... 022 038 - 15 17 0      (5-2)
North Dakota........ 000 000 - 0 3 3      (1-4)
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Pitchers: Tulsa - WATSON, Emily; BLEVINS, Lexi(6) and HORNER, Catherine. North Dakota
VanDomelen; Lenzi(5); Zins(6) and Clowdus.
Win-WATSON, Emily(2-1) Loss-VanDomelen(1-2) T-2:00 A-0
HR TLS - ESTOCADO, Shelby (1); SHEFFIELD, Jocelyn (3).
Weather: 76, mostly cloudy, S 10 mph