Meinen’s Walk-Off Home Run Pushes TU Past Arkansas In Regional Opener

<p>Sophomore&nbsp;Haley Meinen&nbsp;hit a walk-off home run to the opposite field on the first pitch&nbsp;in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday as Tulsa defeated Arkansas 5-4 in the opening game of the NCAA Norman Regional.&nbsp;</p>

Friday, May 19th 2017, 6:04 pm

By: News On 6


Sophomore Haley Meinen hit a walk-off home run to the opposite field on the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday as No. 23/23-ranked Tulsa defeated Arkansas 5-4 in the opening game of the NCAA Norman Regional. The Hurricane (40-15 Overall) twice responded to runs scored by the Razorbacks (31-23 Overall), answering with a pair in the bottom of the second after falling behind 3-0 and again in the seventh after the game was tied at 4-4.
 
Tulsa trailed 3-0 after Arkansas' second plate appearance as a solo home run from Nicole Schroeder and a two-RBI triple from Autumn Russell gave the visitors an advantage.
 
Morgan Neal opened up the bottom half of the frame with a double to right center field before Rylie Spell reached on a hard hit ball that was ruled an error with one out.
 
Shannon Hughes sent a two-RBI triple to right center field to drive in the two Tulsa runs and bring the Hurricane within one on her second triple of the season.
 
After giving up a trio of runs in the second, Emily Watson bounced back by retiring the next 11 Arkansas hitters before a walk broke up the trend in the top of the sixth inning. Watson finished the game with four strikeouts and three walks while moving to 29-4 on the year in the circle.
 
Maggie Withee reached on a single through the left side to put two runners on to open the fifth prior to Tori Stafford advancing both runners on a sacrifice bunt. Meinen followed with her first RBI of the day, sending a ground ball to second base as Julia Hollingsworth beat out the throw back to the plate that tied the game at 3-3.
 
Maddie Withee set down a squeeze bunt on the very first pitch of her at-bat to score Maggie Withee from third base and give Tulsa their first lead of the afternoon.
 
Arkansas knotted the game at four on their first at-bat in the top of the seventh inning with their second home run, this one from Katie Warrick.
 
After a one-out walk, Watson was hit by a line drive off the shin for a base hit although the would return to the game and get a popup to third base to send it to the bottom half of the inning and set up the game-winning Meinen home run.
 
Tulsa will continue regional play tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of this afternoon's game between No. 10-seed Oklahoma and North Dakota State. 

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

May 19th, 2017

November 28th, 2019

October 13th, 2019

October 6th, 2019

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024