Texas Tech University Athletics
Softball to Take On ACU Wednesday
March 29, 2016 | Softball
Red Raiders to face ACU in final test before Big 12 Conference play begins Friday.
March 29, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas--Texas Tech softball will hit the road for the team's final non-conference road test with a 6 p.m. game against Abilene Christian Wednesday night. The Red Raiders will be back in action following Wednesday's game with a three game weekend series against Oklahoma State to begin Big 12 play.Texas Tech is making the trip to Abilene for the first time since the 1998 season and will look to remain perfect against the Wildcats as Tech enters the contest with an unblemished 9-0 record against ACU.
Texas Tech cracked the 30 home run plateau last weekend with three long balls against No. 21 Arizona State. The Red Raiders rank third in the Big 12, behind Oklahoma (34) and Oklahoma State (34), with 30 homers so far this season.
The Red Raider defense has been extremely opportunistic through the first 33 games of the 2016 season. Texas Tech has turned 10 double plays so far and is one of only two league teams to record ten or more double plays. The Red Raiders also boast a .953 fielding percentage through two months of play.
The top of the Red Raider lineup has been extremely productive through the first 33 games of the season. Both Jordan Bettiol and Kierra Miles rank among the best in the Big 12 at the plate as both have maintained batting averages over the .345 mark with over 200 at-bats. Miles leads the Big 12 in home runs with 10 while Bettiol ranks second in the league with 14 stolen bases.
Texas Tech has tested itself early facing some of the nation's best teams in the early part of the 2016 season. So far, the Red Raiders have played 14 games against teams in the top-25 with 10 of those games in true road contests.
Senior Jordan Bettiol ranks third in the Big 12 with 38 hits. Bettiol trails Jessie Scroggins of Baylor (40) and Brittany Gomez of Iowa State (39) for the league lead in hits.
Inside The Series
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
The Red Raiders and Wildcats will meet for the tenth time in softball program history on Wednesday night. Wednesday's contest will mark the fifth meeting between the two teams in Abilene and first road contest for the Red Raiders in the series since the 1998 season.
The Red Raiders enter Wednesday's contest holding a 9-0 lead in the all-time series record, including a 4-0 mark in Abilene. Texas Tech last played ACU in the 2014 season when the Red Raiders defeated the Wildcats 9-1 in Lubbock, Texas. Before the 2014 meeting the Red Raiders and Wildcats met in the 1998 season in Abilene where the Red Raiders claimed a 9-3 victory in the second half of a doubleheader.
The Wildcats (12-14, 6-3 Southland) come into their game against the Red Raiders on the heels of a hard-fought series at Central Arkansas, in which the final two games were decided in extra innings. ACU lost 4-1 Friday afternoon before rallying to beat the Bears, 3-2, in eight innings. Saturday, the Wildcats played one of the longest games in program history, falling 11-10 in 12 innings (3:10) despite holding the lead on five occasions.
