Mia Williams delivered a leadoff walk-off home run in the seventh inning to lift 11th-seeded Texas Tech to a 5-4 win over top-seeded Alabama in the Women’s College World Series on Monday.
The Red Raiders’ win set up an elimination game between the teams later Monday.
The winner will take on Texas in the best-of-three WCWS Championship Series beginning Wednesday.
The Crimson Tide were on the ropes in the seventh, trailing by two with one out before Kristen White’s infield single brought the tying run to the plate.
Jena Young fell behind 0-2 off Kaitlyn Terry, before hammering Terry’s breaking ball out to right field to tie it.
But then Williams, who was 0-for-3 to that point, ended the game with a home run to left-center on the fourth pitch she saw.
Each team had an early one-run lead, and both times, the other team tied it in the following half inning.
Crimson Tide reliever Vic Moten appeared to be cruising in the fifth, retiring the first two Texas Tech hitters on just three pitches.
Jackie Lis then drew a walk and Moten started Taylor Pannell off with consecutive balls before Pannell crushed the next pitch out to left to break a 2-all tie.
Alabama grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on Audrey Vandagriff’s sacrifice fly after back-to-back singles.
The Red Raiders answered in the bottom half on Hailey Toney’s RBI double.
Lauren Allred put Texas Tech on top for the first time with a two-out home run in the third before the Crimson Tide’s Marlie Giles tied it with a leadoff homer in the fourth.
–Field Level Media
