After trailing 8-4, Texas Tech scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pick up the 10-8 upset win over No. 18 Baylor on Friday in Lubbock. The Red Raiders picked up their fourth win of the season over a ranked opponent. Tech also beat No. 22 Maryland and No. 25 Texas State twice.
Tech snapped a three-game skid and moved to 3-7 in the Big 12 and 29-15 overall.
Baylor dropped to 2-5 in the Big 12 and 31-10 overall.
Frisco Wakeland’s Kendall Fritz earned the win with three unearned runs on two hits and one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Fritz improved her season record to 9-4. She was District MVP with 253 strikeouts and a 1.84 ERA as a senior with Wakeland during the 2018 season.
Tech took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a home run to center from Alanna Barraza. The Bears got one back in the fourth on a solo homer from Shaylon Govan and pulled within 3-2 in the fifth on a throwing error from the Red Raiders.
Arriana Villa drove in Tom Bean’s Ellie Bailey to extend the Tech lead to 4-2 before Baylor scored six runs in the top of the sixth to take an 8-4 lead. Kaci West had a two-run single and Amber Toven capped it off with a two-run homer to center.
Kailey Wyckoff tripled to left in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Eaton’s Kennedy Crites and pull the Red Raiders within 8-4. Bailey hit a two-run home run to left and Demi Elder added a three-run homer to give Tech the lead at 10-8.
It was Bailey’s 14th home run of the season to go along with 42 hits, 40 RBIs and a 0.339 batting average. Bailey was district offensive MVP as a junior in 2018 and hit 0.480 or better in all four years at Tom Bean. She hit 0.642 with 39 RBIs as a junior.
Tech also set a single-season program record with its 67th home run. The Red Raiders came in needing three dingers to break the record. Bailey’s bomb tied the record of 66, which was set in 2012 and Elder’s three-run homer not only was the game-winner for Tech, but the record breaker.
Wyckoff and Barraza each had three hits for Tech, which finished with 13 overall.
Sage Hoover started for Tech in the circle and allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in five innings. Fritz came in with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth. Hoover left with a 3-2 lead and two outs in the fifth, but returned with one out in the seventh to pick up the her second save.
Hoover had a seven-inning no-hitter earlier this season on Feb. 11 against UT-Arlington.
