Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Softball to Compete in Campbell/Cartier Classic
February 18, 2016 | Softball
Feb. 18, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif.- Texas Tech softball will travel to the West Coast for the second weekend of play in the 2016 season. Texas Tech is scheduled to play a five game stand at the 2016 Campbell/Cartier Classic hosted by San Diego State University.Texas Tech opened the 2016 season with a 3-2 showing at the 2016 Sportco Kick Off Classic. The Red Raiders opened the season with a 7-3 victory over UNLV to mark the second consecutive year the Red Raiders won their season opener. With the win, Adrian Gregory also improved to 2-0 in season openers with the Red Raiders.
In Texas Tech's opening weekend, three freshman made appearances in the starting lineup. Kiani Ramsey started every game for the Red Raiders in left field while Jessica Hartwell started all five outings at second base. Karli Hamilton, after hitting a home run in Friday's contest in a pinch hitting role, made four starts at DP for the Red Raiders.
Freshman Karli Hamilton burst into the 2016 season with an incredible offensive performance in the opening weekend of play. In her first collegiate at-bat, the Houston, Texas, native blasted a two run home run over the fence in right center to give Texas Tech a 5-0 lead over UNLV. The freshman followed Friday night's performance with home runs in three of the remaining four games of the weekend. Hamilton tallied 17 total bases and added eight RBI through the weekend while maintaining a .385 batting average and 1.308 slugging percentage.
In Adrian Gregory's mind, "to be the best, you have to play the best." The second-year head coach is putting that motto to the test this season as Texas Tech again boasts one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. This weekend, the Red Raiders will take on a pair of ranked opponents including No. 18 Kentucky and No. 22 California. Having already faced two ranked teams in No. 20 Washington and No. 14 Minnesota, the Red Raiders will face a combined 11 opponents ranked in the latest NFCA Coaches poll.
Texas Tech posted the second highest batting average in the Big 12 through week one after recording a .324 average in 136 at-bats. The Red Raiders also recorded the second most home runs in the first week of play, hitting six homers to finish three back of Kansas' nine home runs in week one. The Red Raiders also created havoc on the base path recording a league leading nine stolen bases in week one.
Series History
San Diego
The Red Raiders and Toreros will be meeting for the first time in each of the programs histories on Friday afternoon. San Diego will enter Friday's contest led by senior second baseman Tatum Schultz who was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week. Schultz hit .556 (10-for-18) with six extra base-hits in five games for the Toreros at the Kajikawa Classic at Arizona State over the weekend. In the first game of the season against Boise State, Schultz went 3-4 with a pair of doubles. After going 1-3 with a triple against New Mexico, Schultz was 4-4 against Maryland with a double, triple, two runs and a RBI. In the final two games on Sunday, Schultz went 2-7 with a double and two runs scored. Through the first week of action, Schultz leads the WCC in hits (10), total bases (18) and batting average (.556).
San Diego State
The Red Raiders and Aztecs will renew their rivalry as the two teams will meet for the 13th time in the storied history between the teams. While the Red Raiders have dropped their last two contests against San Diego State, the Red Raiders still hold a 7-5 advantage in the all-times series record. The Red Raiders and Aztecs have met four times since the 2010 season with each team holding a 2-2 record in those meetings.
Kentucky
The Red Raiders and Wildcats will meet for the second time in Texas Tech softball program history on Saturday. The last meeting between the two teams came in 2003 when the two teams met on the second day of the Houston Invitational. The Red Raiders gave up a run early, but rallied to reclaim the lead with a four run third inning. The Wildcats mounted a late rally of their own plating two runs in the fourth, but it wasn't enough as the Red Raiders would tack on another run in the seventh to win the game 5-4.
California
The Red Raiders and Golden Bears will be meeting for the first time since the 2011 season in Saturday's tilt. Texas Tech, despite winning the last meeting between the two programs, trails in the all-time series record 3-1. The first meeting came in the 1999 season and saw California take a 0-1 win followed by a second shutout defeat (0-7) in 2003. The Red Raiders will be looking for their first win of the season against a PAC-12 opponent in Saturday's matchup as Texas Tech fell to Washington 14-5 in the 2016 Sportco Classic last weekend.
South Dakota
The Red Raiders and Yotes will be meeting for the first time in program history in the final game of the Campbell/ Cartier Classic. South Dakota enters the weekend still looking for its first win in the 2016 season after starting its season 0-5 at the Sportco Classic last weekend. The Yotes began the 2016 campaign with an abbreviated 4-12 loss to Long Beach State on Friday night, followed by a pair of losses to No. 20 Washington (3-14) and Utah Valley (5-13) on Saturday. South Dakota closed out the event with losses to Lamar (7-11) and UNLV (3-7).
