May 20, 2011
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A two-out RBI single by Julie Ward in the bottom of the bottom of the seventh inning gave the No. 22/25 Oklahoma State softball team (38-17) a 2-1 win over No. 19/18 Georgia Tech (44-11) in the first round of the NCAA Softball Knoxville Regional Friday evening.
The Yellow Jackets will now face the loser of the game between No. 14 Tennessee and Liberty in an elimination game Saturday at 4:30 p.m. If Tech wins that game, it would come back and play again at 7 p.m.
Freshman Lindsey Anderson (12-1) took the loss for the Yellow Jackets as she went the distance allowing two runs on six hits in her first career postseason start. She walked four (one intentional) and struck out seven. Kat Espinosa (21-7) got the win for the Cowgirls as she scattered four hits and struck out four. She did not walk a batter and the run she allowed was unearned.
The Yellow Jackets struck first with a run in the second inning. After sophomore Caitlin Jordan led off with a single, sophomore pinch runner Kelly Delashmit scored on the next play. Freshman Akysha Rudnik bunted but OSU third baseman Mariah Gearhart threw the ball all the way to the wall in center field as Delashmit scored from first base to put Tech up 1-0. Rudnik was at third base with no outs but was stranded there.
Oklahoma State came back to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning. With a runner on third and one out, Alysia Hamitlon ripped a pitch just fair inside the first base bag plate the tying run.
Oklahoma State threatened to break the 1-1 tie in the sixth inning by putting two on with one out. After getting a strikeout, senior Kristine Priebe snared a line drive in foul ground to get out of the inning.
In the seventh inning, Anderson walked pinch hitter Tarah Ettinger to open the frame but got a first out when Priebe made a diving catch on a bunt pop-up in foul ground. After a sac bunt moved the potential winning run to second base with two outs, Anderson intentionally walked Alysia Hamilton, who was 2-for-3 with a double in the game. Anderson got ahead of Ward 0-2, but she batted back to a full count and eventually dumped the game-winning hit into right field.
Live audio and stats for every Georgia Tech game is available at RamblinWreck.com while ESPN3.com will provide streaming video for every game of the Knoxville Regional.
