The Red Raiders did something no team had ever done in NCAA tournament history to advance to the regional final.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders moved on to the Lubbock Regional final after a 10-9 stunner on Saturday headlined by a comeback for the ages.
Trailing 8-0 to Ole Miss going into the bottom of the seventh inning, No. 11 overall seed Texas Tech mounted one of the largest comebacks in NCAA tournament history, scoring eight to tie it.
First baseman Lauren Allred launched an opposite-field grand slam to drive in the game-tying runs.
In extras, the Rebels tallied another one, but the Red Raiders got two runners on via walks to lead off the bottom of the inning, drove one in on a single that moved the other runner to third, then induced a sacrifice fly to walk it off.
Previously, teams were 0-640 since 2000 when trailing by eight or more runs in the national tournament. Make that 1-640.
After leading off the inning with a single, Allred took us inside her mindset during the comeback, and the moment she stepped to the plate as the tying run.
"Just trying to make sure I get on for the team that way we can just do what we do and put something together," Allred said. "And then everybody else started getting hits with two outs, and I was like 'Okay, we got a rally going, like we're playing for each other now.'
"You can really see everybody come together in the dugout and the energy is just electric. Then I go back up, and hearing the crowd cheer and everything, I felt so calm and at peace in that at bat that I just knew I had to get inside the ball and good things will happen."
Allred, a redshirt junior and member of last year's Women's College World Series team, shared how she built on the spirit that charged throughout the team during the comeback.
"I don't think it's just me," she said. "It's the people around me on the team, like setting the moments up and just allow me to be in the position that I get in whenever it comes."
"She's always been a clutch hitter," head coach Gerry Glasco said. "I felt really good [in that spot]. When we got to her, I felt really good about where we were at, and I just had a feeling it was going to happen at that point, and I think our whole team did, to be honest."
After Ole Miss rebounded to eliminate Boston U Saturday evening, it will be a rematch between the Rebels and Red Raiders to decide the regional champion. Texas Tech would need to lose twice on Sunday to knocked out. One win puts them back in the super regionals where they will likely play No. 6 overall seed Florida in Gainesville.
Texas Tech hosts Ole Miss at 3 p.m. CT at Tracy Sellers Field on May 17.
