Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Conclude Homestand With Masked Rider Invitational
March 10, 2011 | Softball
March 10, 2011
Game Notes | Promotions | Gameday Central
LUBBOCK, Texas - The 19th-ranked Texas Tech softball team closes its 25-game homestand this weekend with the Masked Rider Invitational, facing Alcorn State and Evansville in a three-day event that begins Friday at Rocky Johnson Field.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 11
Alcorn State vs. Evansville - 11 a.m.
Texas Tech vs. Alcorn State - 1 p.m.
Texas Tech vs. Evansville - 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 12
Alcorn State vs. Evansville - 11 a.m.
Texas Tech vs. Evansville - 1 p.m.
Texas Tech vs. Alcorn State - 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 13
Texas Tech vs. Alcorn State - Noon
Texas Tech vs. Evansville - 2 p.m.
LIVE STREAMING
Texas Tech will stream every home game free of charge this season at RaiderVision All-Access on the school's official website, www.texastech.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Texas Tech fans unable to make the trip to Lubbock can keep up with all the action through the Gameday Central page at texastech.com. The page will contain live scoring, an in-game blog, and stats and box scores from every Tech game along with postgame video from head coach Shanon Hays.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Texas Tech - No. 19/19
Alcorn State - None
Evansville - None
(ESPN.com/USA Softball - NFCA/USA Today)
RED RAIDERS RANKED 19TH NATIONALLY
The Red Raiders are ranked No. 19 nationally by both the NFCA/USA Today and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls as Tech remains one of the few undefeated teams in the nation. The ranking is the highest in school history as prior to this season Tech had not been ranked in either poll since ending the 1999 season at No. 24 in the NFCA rankings.
ALLEN NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Texas Tech's solid start to the season appears to be catching notice around the Big 12 as Cydney Allen was named this week's Player of the Week by conference officials. Allen follows teammate Logan Hall who earned the award just a week ago. The junior from Taylorsville, Utah went 7-for-13 at the plate in the Red Raider Classic to go along with three home runs and nine RBIs.
ON DECK
Texas Tech makes its first road trip in over a month next week, traveling to Clearwater, Fla. for the USF - The Game Tournament where the Red Raiders will face Jacksonville, Long Island, UT-Chattanooga, Boston University, and Liberty in a three-day event that runs March 18-20. The Red Raiders and Colorado State will play a non-tournament game on March 17.
THE SERIES
- Alcorn State - Tech will be facing the Braves for the first time in school history.
- Evansville - The Red Raiders are 1-1 all-time against the Purple Aces after a two-game series that took place March 4-5, 2000, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
A LOOK AT ALCORN STATE
The Braves enter this weekend's tournament 6-5 on the season with one of those wins coming over Ole Miss. An NCAA Regional participant a year ago, Alcorn State's lone win in its last six games came in a 3-1 victory against the Rebels in the first game of a doubleheader in Oxford, Miss.
A LOOK AT EVANSVILLE
Evansville arrives in Lubbock riding a nine-game losing streak as the Purple Aces are 1-11 on the season after tournaments at South Alabama, Southern Miss, and Georgia Tech. Evansville's lone win on the year came in a 10-3 victory Feb. 19 over Southeastern Louisiana. The Aces dropped a 6-0 decision to No. 7 Tennessee on March 3 in Knoxville, Tenn.
TAKING IT TO THE VALLEY
Tech will be facing its third opponent from the Missouri Valley Conference when it takes on Evansville this weekend. The Red Raiders have previously defeated both Bradley and Wichita State earlier in the year.
RED RAIDERS AMONG THE FINAL UNBEATEN
Texas Tech enters the midweek series as one of the few unbeaten teams left in the country. According to Ultimate College Softball, only five teams (Florida, Michigan, South Carolina-Upstate, Texas Tech, and Washington) remain undefeated through games Wednesday night.
POWERFUL OFFENSE LEADS THE BIG 12
Texas Tech enters this weekend with the top offense in the Big 12 as the Red Raiders have a league-leading .403 average to go along with 223 runs scored and 196 RBIs. The next-highest average in the conference is .346 from Texas.
NEW MEXICO PROVES TO BE TOUGH TEST
Wednesday's doubleheader against New Mexico ended up being two of Tech's closest games this season as the Red Raiders took game one, 9-6, before closing the day with a 5-3 win. Tech had previously played only one game (St. John's on Feb. 25) since the season-opening Arizona State Kajikawa Tournament that was decided by three runs or less.
JAMES LEAVES HER MARK AGAINST LOBOS
Sandy James provided a huge lift to the Tech offense against New Mexico, belting two home runs in the doubleheader while adding eight RBIs. Her four RBIs in each game set a new season high as the sophomore accounted for eight of Tech's 14 total runs.
