Lady Tigers conclude play at Longhorn Invitational

AUSTIN, Texas – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University concluded play at the Longhorn Invitational on Saturday with two hard-fought games against ranked opponents.
 
Texas Southern opened the day with a 6-2 setback against No. 9-ranked Texas. They concluded the day with a 7-4 loss to No. 22 Minnesota.
 
The Lady Tigers play their first home games Tuesday when they welcome Texas A&M–Corpus Christi to Memorial Park for a doubleheader. First pitch in the opening game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
Texas 6, TSU 2
No. 9 Texas held TSU scoreless for six innings before the Lady Tigers rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh. With one out in the inning, pinch-hitter Aubri Ford singled, knocking Ashling Shahan over to third base. Ebony Wiltz then pinch-ran for Ford and stole second; a throwing error on the stolen base attempt allowed Shahan to come home with the first run.
 
With two outs in the inning, Sierra Cothern knocked an RBI single to center field to score Wiltz from second base.
 
Naomi Reyes was the pitcher of record for the Lady Tigers, tossing three innings and giving up three earned runs while scattering six hits. Mariah Youngblood threw three innings of relief, giving up only one earned run.
 
Minnesota 7, TSU 4
The Lady Tigers fell behind 7-0 but rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth inning against No. 20 Minnesota. After TSU loaded the bases with the aid of a walk and an error, Ashlyn Taylor singled to second base to score Emma Ortiz with the first run.
 
With two outs in the inning, Cothern singled to move the runners up and a base and score Madi Marek from third. That was followed with singles from Terren Vinson and Julia Bilbao to score Shahan and Taylor, respectively.
 
Minnesota scored two runs in the second inning and five runs in the fourth.
 
Destiny Ricks was the pitcher of record for the Lady Tigers, while Tyra Williams tossed two and two-thirds shutout innings for TSU.