Tulsa Drops Both Games in Final Day of South Alabama Invitational

Saturday, February 25

Mobile, Ala.

5:30 PM

Tulsa

7-8

South Alabama

8-6

Tulsa

South Alabama

Tulsa Drops Both Games in Final Day of South Alabama Invitational

2/25/2023 11:02:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Box v LA Tech (PDF) | Box at South Alabama (PDF) | Season Stats

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of Tulsa softball team closed out the weekend at with a pair of losses to Louisiana Tech 7-4 and South Alabama 5-3.

Tulsa (7-8) finishes the South Alabama with a 2-3 record, dropping the final three matchups of the weekend. The Hurricane were forced to play catchup in the day's opener but had a late lead that slipped away in the loss to the hosts.

Kylee Nash (3-4) took the ball against the Lady Techsters and was credited with the loss. She pitched four innings allowing three earned runs on six hits and striking out three batters. Kaiya Luneckas entered in the fifth and threw three innings, giving up four runs and striking out a pair.

Maura Moore (4-2) went the distance in the finale and pitched well, allowing seven hits and five runs, all earned while striking out four. Her effort was undone by a difficult sixth inning where she was tagged with four runs and five hits.

MacKenzie Denson was the only Tulsa player to have a two-hit game, recording a double and triple, scoring twice and driving in a run against the Lady Techsters. She added another hit against the Jaguars. Senior Haley Morgan finished with a hit and RBI in each game. Claira Skaggs picked up an RBI triple in the second game.

Kailyn Bearpaw wrapped up a strong weekend with two hits on the day and a sacrifice fly against South Alabama. The sophomore hit .429 over the five games, second only to Morgan's .471. Bearpaw drove in a team-high five and added a double.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Tulsa 4, LA Tech 7
For the first time this weekend, Tulsa failed to score in the opening inning. The Lady Techsters didn't share that problem, doing all their work with two outs. LA Tech strung together four-straight singles, including a two-run hit up the middle to take a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first.

After the first six Hurricane were retired, Denson got Tulsa going with a leadoff double in the third. A fielding error put runners on the corner, which allowed for a Morgan sacrifice fly to bring Denson home. Tulsa couldn't add to the inning and had to settle for a 2-1 score heading into the fourth.

The Lady Techsters got the run back in the top of the next inning, going up 3-1. TU responded in the bottom of the fourth starting with a leadoff single from Bearpaw. Kennedy Cramer stepped in as a pinch runner and stole second with one out and came in to score on a single from Abby Jones.

Leading 3-2, Tech started the fifth with three straight singles to score a run and extend its lead to two. A fielder's choice brought in a second run to push the lead to 5-2. Tulsa would go down in order in the fifth and sixth innings.

LA Tech added two more in the seventh to take a five-run lead as Tulsa came to bat one last time. Skaggs singled to lead off the inning and came around to score on Denson's triple. A throwing error brought Denson home and after a Morgan single, Tulsa had the tying run at the plate. But it was not to be as a flyout to center ended the game.

GAME NOTES

» Denson had two extra base hits in the ballgame, her first two of the season.
» Tulsa pitchers limited Louisiana Tech to just 3-for-16 (.188) with runners in scoring position.
» TU had just one hit in eight opportunities (.125) with two outs, while the Lady Techsters were 5-11 (.455).
» Both teams were successful in leadoff situations with Tech's leadoff batter getting a hit in four innings, and Tulsa's hitting safely in three.
» Louisiana Tech was led offensively by senior Amanda Gonzalez, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Tulsa 3, South Alabama 5

Tulsa led for most of the game, scoring a run in each of the first three innings, but it was the Jaguars who had the hot bats late which caused the difference.
The game changed in the sixth inning when South Alabama scored four on two home runs. Until that inning, Moore had kept the Jaguars at bay, allowing only two hits in the first inning and nothing except for a pair of walks until the sixth.

Back-to-back singles with one away was followed by a three-run home run to flip the score from 3-1 to 4-3. After a strikeout, the Jaguars went deep again to take the 5-3 lead, which would be the final score. Faith Russell singled to lead the seventh and bring the tying run to the plate, but the next three batters were either retired or hit into a fielder's choice.

Tulsa took an early lead in the first after Morgan led the game with a single up the middle. Imani Edwards followed suit with an infield single and after a walk loaded the bases, Morgan scored on a Bearpaw sacrifice fly. Tulsa couldn't take advantage of the two on with one out situation and only pushed across the one run.

South Alabama tied the game in the bottom of the frame with a two-out double brought home a runner. Tulsa would retake the lead in the second with another sacrifice fly as Morgan brought home Denson, who had walked to start the inning.

Skaggs pushed Tulsa's lead to 3-1 in the third inning. Celeste Wood walked for the second time to get things going. After a fielder's choice put Bearpaw on, Skaggs tripled to right field to bring in Tulsa's last run of the game.

GAME NOTES

» Tulsa pitchers faced 28 South Alabama hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out four.
» Neither team committed an error on the evening
» The game started nearly three hours after its projected start time after Mississippi State and Furman went 12 innings.
» Tulsa finished 0-5 with runners in scoring position
» The Tulsa leadoff batter got on base safely in four of seven innings with two hits and two walks.

Next week, the Golden Hurricane will play in front of the home crowd for the first time as Tulsa hosts the TU/OSU Invitational at the Collins Family Softball Complex. It is the first of back-to-back tournaments Tulsa will host. The Hurricane get the invitational started against Tarleton State on Friday at 2:30 p.m. All home games for Tulsa will air on ESPN+.