The Texas Tech softball team being on brink of elimination is starting to feel like familiar territory for me. And that’s probably only because it’s a relatively recent development for the Red Raiders. Recency bias is impacting how I view this situation, but it is a situation that Gerry Glasco and his team have faced a few times over the postseason.
After beating the Florida Gators in Game 1 of the Gainesville Super Regional, Texas Tech lost Game 2 by eight runs and it looked like the Red Raiders had lost all momentum. Glasco’s Red Raiders responded just fine in that situation, beating the Gators 16-7 in Game 3 to advance on to the Women’s College World Series.
Then in Oklahoma City, after losing to the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Day 3 of the WCWS, the Red Raiders were forced to play and win three games straight. Texas Tech did just that, taking down the UCLA Bruins in extra innings and then beating the Alabama Crimson Tide twice, sending both the Bruins and the Crimson Tide home.
So, how will Texas Tech respond to losing against Texas 7-3 in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series championship series? Well, the head coach of the Red Raiders would like everyone to remember that his team hasn’t lost back-to-back games up to this point.
And that matters right now. Because as Molly Keshin with The Athletic informed Gerry Glasco during the postgame press conference, the team that wins Game 1 of the WCWS finals has won the thing roughly 80 percent of the time.
Texas Tech softball’s Gerry Glasco isn’t worried about the odds following the Red Raiders’ deflating loss to Texas
“We have no choice,” Glasco said after Texas Tech suffered the loss to the Longhorns. “We’ve not lost two games in a row the whole year, so we’ve got to hang our hat on that, we’ve got to come back out tomorrow and fight. Then if we get that momentum, if we can survive tomorrow night’s game, you’ve got momentum going into Game 3. Our kids will feel a lot different after they win a game than they do right now.”
And there’s a lot of truth in that. Texas Tech has no choice. The Red Raiders can’t afford to stumble at this point. Not if they hope to win a national title, that is. With their backs against the wall, there’s nothing they can do other than to go out and win.
“We’ve got to get up off the floor and that’s the hardest part,” Glasco explained. “I think we’ve got a really talented team, I think we can play as well as, or better than, any team in the country when we play well. We’ve just got to refocus, readjust, get momentum in our dugout, and get tomorrow’s game. That’s all that matters, tomorrow’s game. If we do that and we live to see another day, it’ll be a fun Game 3.”
Again, he’s right. The Red Raiders are an incredibly talented team. They wouldn’t be in this position and have beaten the teams that they’ve beaten if they weren’t talented. But how will Texas Tech respond? Can they get off the floor?
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