Texas Tech University Athletics
2007 Season Begins in Warmer Climate (Hopefully!)
January 31, 2007 | Softball
Jan. 31, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Red Raiders begin their 2007 campaign in Tempe, Ariz. facing the nation's pre-season No. 27 team, Cal State Fullerton (37-24, 2006 Big West Conference Champions), on Friday, Feb. 9 at the Kajikawa Classic tournament hosted by Arizona State University.
Head Coach Teresa Wilson begins her third season at the helm of Texas Tech and her 20th overall season as a head coach. Win No. 800 is well within her sights for the 2007 season, as the veteran program-builder has 788 notched thus far with four programs: Oregon, Minnesota, Washington and Texas Tech.
Ashley Parker (.286 career average) leads the veteran Red Raiders squad (15 returners, including 9 starters), as the senior center fielder will enter 2007 on a 7-game hitting streak after leading the team with 12 multiple-hit games and with 34 stolen bases last year. Her twin sister, Heather (senior, SS), anchors a solid infield which also features standouts Jennifer Bowers (the team's leading home-run threat from a year ago), either Natalie Kula (senior) or Brooke Neuman (soph., from Gilbert, Ariz.) at third, and likely Jennifer Corkin (junior) or Brandy Moulin (senior) at first. The team features a roster which is legitimately 20-players deep, with all athletes expected to see action in a variety of positions (but not at once, that's not legal). See Season Preview for detailed lineup card possibilities. Sarah Losleben (junior, right-hander) leads a youthful pitching staff and enters the season No. 2 on the Red Raiders all-time strikeout per seven inning list, with a 6.52 clip. Sophomore Alex Watkins (Big Spring) and freshmen Ashly Jacobs (Houston) and Rachel Wheeler (Puyallup, Wash.) round out the staff.
The Titans are led by senior pitcher Candice Baker (22-10, 2.16 era) who was recently named to the 2007 USA National Player of the Year watch list. The round-robin format tournament continues with games against Northwestern State (28-32), the Ohio State (39-23), Nevada (33-33), and culminates with a game vs. Oregon (24-29) on the campus at ASU on Sunday morning, Feb. 11.
For more detailed information on the team, click on the weekly release link at the right of this page. Additionally, several historical, statistical links (from the soon-to-be-published 2007 media guide) are now available in PDF format.
