Tulsa Wins a Pair on Opening Day of North Texas Invitational

Friday, March 2

Denton, Texas

11 AM

Tulsa

8-7

Nicholls State

9-5

Nicholls State

Tulsa

Tulsa Wins a Pair on Opening Day of North Texas Invitational

3/2/2018 5:02:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Game One Box Score (.pdf) | Game Two Box Score (.pdf) | Season Stats (.pdf)

DENTON, Texas – The University of Tulsa softball team swept the opening day of the North Texas Invitational with an 11-3 run-rule victory over Nicholls State and a 4-3, eight-inning win over host North Texas on Friday at Lovelace Stadium.

Shelby Estocado recorded five hits, including two doubles, while Morgan Neal notched four hits and scored four runs on the day for the Golden Hurricane (9-7), who have now won sixth of its last seven games. Tori Stafford hit a big three-run homer in the opener and the pitching staff combined to strike out 20 batters in 14 innings

In the opener, Stafford went 2-for-3 with a career-high four RBIs and hit her three-run homer in the fifth to help Tulsa run-rule the Colonels (9-5), 11-3.

Tulsa jumped ahead 4-0 with three runs in the first and another in the bottom of the second for the early lead.

In the first, Stafford singled through the left side to bring home Julia Hollingsworth, who opened the inning with a walk. Haley Meinen then plated Neal with an infield hit and Shannon Hughes capped the rally with a single up the middle that brought Stafford home. Estocado then made it 4-0 in the second with an RBI double to left.

After allowing just two hits over four scoreless innings, TU pitcher Samantha Pochop ran into trouble in the fifth as the Colonels cut the deficit to 4-3.

However, that would be as close as Nicholls State would get as the Tulsa offense exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fifth and added another in the sixth for the 11-3 run-rule victory.

Following singles from Neal and Estocado, Stafford launched her three-run homer to give the Hurricane some breathing room. Shannon Hughes brought home another run with a double before RBIs from Mikayla Whitten and Neal pushed the advantage to 10-3. Sarah Briers plated the game-ending run in the sixth on a fielder's choice.

Pochop improved to 3-3 on the campaign with a season-high nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work, while Madison Higley picked up the first save of her career with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.

In game two, Tulsa plated three runs in the top of the eighth and then held on to defeat the Mean Green (7-5), 4-3.

The Hurricane wasted no time in gaining the advantage as back-to-back doubles from Hollingsworth and Neal to start the game gave the visitors a 1-0 lead that it would hold until the bottom of the sixth.

Reigning American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week Emily Watson allowed just one hit over the first five innings, but North Texas tied the score with a solo homer in the sixth.

The score remained tied through seven frames to send the contest to extra innings.

Playing under the international tie-breaker rule, TU started the eighth with a runner on second and Neal lined a one-out single to score Meinen for the 2-1 lead. The Hurricane would get its final two runs of the inning on a wild pitch and an error to extend the cushion to 4-1.

The Mean Green would not go away as it opened the bottom half of the panel with a two-run homer off the bat of Harley Perella to pull within 4-3. Watson shook off the long-ball and retired the next three batters to close out the game.

She improved to 6-2 on the season with just three hits and two earned runs allowed over eight innings. Watson also struck out 11 against just one walk.

Tulsa will play two more games on Saturday, March 3, beginning with a 10 a.m. matchup against UT Arlington.

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