An emotionally-driven win-or-go-home contest ended in No. 11 Texas Tech softball parading Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium field, carrying the Gainesville Super Regional trophy over their heads Sunday afternoon.
The Red Raiders 16-7 run-rule victory over No. 6 University of Florida started with a near-dugout clearance on the first pitch and ended with the Gators electing to not shake hands with Tech after the game. Tech senior catcher Victoria Valdez was also issued a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct during the game, and Florida head coach Tim Walton was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing over a pitch.
The two teams exchanged blows for the first two innings, trading home runs and verbal jabs across the dugouts until a 7-7 tie was broken in the third frame. Junior infielder Taylor Pannell barreled a solo home run to deep left field, resulting in Florida electing to relieve its starting pitcher.
The choice to relieve junior pitcher Keagan Rothrock led to a 9-0 run for the Red Raiders. During the stretch, junior infielder Jackie Lis hit a first-pitch, three-run homer to dead center field against freshman relief pitcher Leah Stevens. Pannell blasted another home run in the fourth inning to end Steven’s day.
Florida threatened throughout the contest, chasing starting pitcher Kaitlyn Terry and relief pitcher NiJaree Canady off the mound repeatedly. Tech head coach Gerry Glasco rotated the two All-American pitchers seven times, with a singular pitch being the shortest time between pitchers.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Florida loaded the bases down 13-7 after having already forced a pitcher swap, and Canady came back in for a second time with two outs. She struck out senior infielder Kendall Grover, who brought in two runs in the first inning, and swapped once more in the fifth inning for Terry to end the game.
Tech’s eventual run-rule enforcing scores were the result of walked-in runners and an error at first base. During the stretch, Florida junior relief pitcher Allison Sparkman threw 28 balls. Fans in attendance were already arguing pitches, but calls in the fifth inning were met with vulgarity and fans standing to yell.
The initial tension started when Tech junior infielder Mia Williams, who transferred from Florida, was hit by a pitch for the fifth time in the series. Multiple Red Raiders left the dugout to begin yelling at Rothrock. Valdez, who received a warning for a separate event, was the most vocal, being heard screaming expletives toward the Gator’s starter.
Williams eventually trotted home on a two-RBI double from junior catcher Jasmyn Burns. The former Gator stomped on home plate and screamed toward her dugout.
Following the four-and-a-half-hour game, the Red Raiders will travel home to Lubbock, pack up and head back out to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for game one of the Women’s College World Series. Matchups will be announced following the conclusion of the remaining Super Regionals.
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