Hays gets 500th softball win as LCU edges Texas Woman's
Daren Hays got his 500th victory as a softball coach when Lubbock Christian University beat Texas Woman's 1-0 Saturday night in a Lone Star Conference series opener at Maner Park.
Taylor Franco struck out 11 in a two-hit shutout and Skylar Herrera doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the eighth for LCU (14-4, 4-3). Texas Woman's pitcher Alyssa LeBlanc (5-3) had a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts before Tiarra Delrosario tripled leading off the eighth and Herrera brought her home.
The victory made Hays 500-161 in his 13th season leading the LCU softball team. Earlier in his career, he was 356-163 in eight seasons as the LCU baseball coach.
The Lady Chaps added to their coach's win count Sunday, sweeping Texas Woman's in a doubleheader 9-1 in five innings and 4-3. LCU improved to 16-4 on the season and 6-3 in conference play. Texas Woman's is 9-7 and 5-4.
In Sunday's first game, Hope Banales and Kasey Flores homered and Sydnee Bowlin drove in two runs with a double and a single, backing complete-game pitching from Maxine Valdez (6-2). Flores finished 3 for 3 with two RBI.
In the finale, Franco (6-3) threw six shutout innings and Amanda Valdiviezo and Banales homered, helping the Lady Chaps build a 4-0 lead. Valdez gave up a three-run homer to Lauren Trinh with one out in the seventh, but struck out the last two batters for her first save.
LCU basketball
Lubbock Christian University will be the No. 5 seed and will play No .4 seed St. Edward's in the first round of the Lone Star Conference tournament. The tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Comerica Center in Frisco.
LCU (18-10, 14-8) beat St. Edward's (21-10, 15-7) by 82-57 in the regular-season conference game Feb. 16 at the Rip Griffin Center.
The LCU-St. Edward's winner will play a semifinal at 6 p.m. Saturday against No. 1 seed West Texas A&M (22-6) or No. 8 seed Eastern New Mexico (17-11).
In the women's bracket, LCU (21-9) also will be the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville (18-10) in a first-round game at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Comerica Center. The winner will play a semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 1 seed Texas Woman's (24-4) or No. 8 seed St. Edward's (14-16).
Tech softball
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Olivia Rains threw a one-hitter Saturday and Dee McClarity drove in three runs with a pair of singles, leading Texas Tech to a 9-0 conquest of Bethune-Cookman in a game shortened to five innings by run rule.
Abbie Orrick drove in two runs and Makinzy Herzog and Kailey Wyckoff had two hits apiece for Tech.
The game was part of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Earlier Saturday, Tech downed UC San Diego 11-5, getting three RBI from Herzog and three hits and two RBI apiece from Carson Armijo and Wyckoff.
In Tech's final game of the weekend Sunday, California shut out the Red Raiders 3-0 on a four-hitter by Haylei Archer (5-0). The Golden Bears (14-2) got all the offense they needed in the third inning when D'Asha Saiki hit a solo homer and Mika Lee a run-scoring double, leading to an early exit for Tech pitcher Kendall Fritz (3-1).
Cal has won nine games in a row. Tech (12-5), after 17 games away to start the season, hosts the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic from Thursday through Saturday. The Red Raiders will play North Dakota and two games each against Rutgers and Seton Hall.
Tech women's tennis
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Casie Wooten, Anna Brylin and Nevena Carton won singles matches, helping Wake Forest beat Texas Tech 4-2 for the championship of the Blue-Gray Classic.
Yekaterina Dmitrichenko and Arina Oreshchenkova won No. 5 and No. 6 singles for the Red Raiders (8-4). Wake Forest (8-5) won the tournament for the second time in four years.
In the first two rounds, Tech shut out Yale 4-0 on Friday and Arizona 4-0 on Saturday. Against Yale (5-4), the teams played singles first because of a rain delay. The Red Raiders' wins came from Dmitrichenko, Metka Komac, Cristina Tiglea and Olivia Peet, all in straight sets on the Nos. 5, 4, 3 and 1 courts.
Tech took the best-of-three doubles point against Arizona (10-4) with wins from the teams of Dmitrichenko-Camryn Stepp and Komac-Avelina Sayfetdinova. In singles, Sayfetdinova, Peet and Dmitrichenko won in straight sets on courts 2, 1 and 5.
Tech men's tennis
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Lorenzo Esquici outlasted Joao Ferreira 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-4 in the deciding match of Texas Tech's 4-3 victory against Alabama on Saturday night in the Blue-Gray Classic.
Tech overcame a 3-1 deficit by taking the last three matches, singles wins from Olle Wallin at No. 1, Sebastian Abboud at No. 6 and Esquici at No. 5.
Tech (6-6) finished 1-2 in the tournament. The Red Raiders lost to Auburn 4-1 on Friday and to Tulane 4-3 on earlier Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Area college roundup: Hays gets 500th softball win as LCU edges Texas Woman's
