Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raider Softball Heads West to Arizona
February 16, 2006 | Softball
Feb. 16, 2006
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LUBBOCK, Texas -- A week after opening its season with six games in Florida, the Texas Tech softball team will venture west this weekend to take part in the University of Arizona Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.
The five team field at the event will feature three teams which made the NCAA Tournament a year ago in the tournament-host No. 3 Arizona, Tennessee Tech and Big 12 rival Missouri. Tech will also face ACC foe N.C. State and Pacific, of the Big West Conference, at the tournament.
Last weekend, the Red Raider opened the season 2-0 with a doubleheader sweep of Jacksonville before suffering a pair of defeats each at the hands of Southern Illinois and Central Florida. By opening the season with a win, the 2006 Red Raiders become the fist Tech team to open their campaign with a victory since the 2001 season.
Senior pitcher Julie Hauck started the season off strong, tossing a complete game shutout in a 5-0 win over the Jacksonville Dolphins in the team season-opening match up. The Yukon, Okla., native returned to the circle a day later to set a career-high with eight strikeouts against Southern Illinois, only to top that mark a day later on Feb. 11 with a nine-strikeout performance against Central Florida. Fellow senior Erin Crawford also got the new season off to a solid start, only allowing two earned runs in 11 innings pitched over the weekend.
Offensively for Tech, sophomore second baseman Jennifer Bowers doubled her home run total from a season ago in only the first day of the 2006 campaign. The Deer Park, Texas, native slammed a home run in each of the games of the doubleheader with Jacksonville to pace the Red Raiders at the plate. Freshman Brooke Neuman was also impressive at the plate during her first weekend as a Red Raider, producing six hits in only 14 at bats for a .429 clip at the plate.
On the base paths, junior centerfielder Ashley Parker came close to matching her total of seven stolen bases a year ago but turning in six steals with a perfect 6-for-6 mark in the stolen base category. The Red Raiders will not take the field at Rocky Johnson Field until April 1, when they host the Texas A&M Aggies in their home opener.
