Softball Readies for Final Leg of California Tour

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech softball will wrap up its 10-day tour of California with five games at the Highlander Invitational, starting Friday at Amy S. Harrison Field on the campus of UC Riverside.

The Red Raiders (16-9) begin play Friday with Idaho State (1-14) at 11 a.m. CT and Purdue (4-19) at 1:30 p.m. CT. Tech will take on the same two foes back-to-back on Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m. CT, and then conclude the event with UC Riverside (21-7) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

No stream will be available, but live stats can be found through SidearmStats.com. As always, @TexasTechSB will provide live updates, while a full recap of each day will be posted at TexasTech.com.

Following its 4-1 weekend at the CSUN Tournament that included a win over Oregon State, the Red Raiders earned a vote in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll this week for the first time since the 2013 preseason poll. Despite a midweek loss at No. 22 Long Beach State, the Red Raiders enter the weekend with wins in nine of their last 12 games overall.

Three Red Raiders are hitting .385 or better, led by redshirt freshman Heaven Burton's .405 batting average. Junior Jessica Hartwell follows with a .400 average, while redshirt freshman Michaela Cochran comes in at .385.

Burton hit .500 with two doubles and two triples at CSUN to lead the Red Raider offense. The outfielder, who had her 16-game hitting streak halted at LBSU, leads the team in batting at .429 and ranks sixth in the nation with four triples on the year.

Hartwell hit a home run and three doubles in Northridge. The infielder remains among the nation's leaders in home runs with 10 (4^th), RBI with 33 (8^th), and slugging percentage at 1.000 (5^th). Meanwhile, Cochran continues to lead the Red Raiders with 35 hits while starting all 25 games in centerfield.

Tech's pitching staff has improved considerably from 2017 to 2018. Through 25 games, Tech's 2018 ERA is 2.61, compared to 4.39 through the first 25 games in 2017. Additionally, opponents are hitting just .235 against Tech in 2018 compared to a .281 average for foes through 25 games last season.

Underclassmen Erin Edmoundson and Kassidy Scott continue to lead the charge. Edmoundson is 10-3 on the year with a 1.44 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 82.2 innings, while Scott is 4-3 on tehh year and boasts a 3.07 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 54.2 innings. Senior Cheyene Powell has also been steady, featuring a 3.06 ERA in 34.1 innings of work.

SERIES HISTORIES
Idaho State – Tech leads the all-time series 1-0 with an 8-4 win in 2012 in Las Vegas.
Purdue – Tech and Purdue will meet for the first time since 2003 with the Boilermakers winning all three prior meetings.
UC Riverside – Tech travels to UCR for the first time with the series split 2-2. Tech took a win in 2003, split two games in 2005 and fell to the Highlanders in 2006.

UP NEXT
The Red Raiders head into Big 12 play next week with a three-game series at No. 5 Oklahoma. The series starts Friday, March 23, with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. The two sides meet on Saturday at 2 p.m., and noon on Sunday.

Softball Readies for Final Leg of California Tour

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Players Mentioned

Heaven Burton

Michaela Cochran

Erin Edmoundson

Jessica Hartwell

Cheyene Powell

Kassidy Scott