Red Raiders Open Home Slate with Texas Tech Invitational

Friday, March 1

Lubbock, TX

3 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

UT Arlington

Red Raiders Open Home Slate with Texas Tech Invitational

February 27, 2019 | Softball

Texas Tech Invitational

The Texas Tech softball program will play host to North Texas and UT Arlington at Rocky Johnson Field.

By: Texas Tech Athletics Communications

LUBBOCK, Texas – After a 14-game road stint, the No. 18/16 Texas Tech softball team returns home to Rocky Johnson Field to host North Texas and UT Arlington at the Texas Tech Invitational on Mar. 1-2.

The hosting Red Raiders begin the tournament on Friday, Mar. 1, with a 3 p.m. game against UT Arlington before facing North Texas at 5:30 p.m. Tech will face the two teams once more on Saturday, this time beginning with North Texas (3 p.m.) and ending with UT Arlington (5:30 p.m.)

Live stats will be available for all four matchups and live streams on Texas Tech TV will be available for all Red Raider softball games.

Texas Tech Invitational
Dates	March 1-2
Site \| Location	Rocky Johnson Field \| Lubbock, Texas
Game 1	Texas Tech vs. UT Arlington \| 3 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Game 2	Texas Tech vs. North Texas \| 5:30 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Game 3	Texas Tech vs. North Texas \| 3 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Game 4	Texas Tech vs. UT Arlington \| 5:30 p.m. \| Live Stats \| Watch
Promotions	March 1: Employee Appreciation - free admission for TTU faculty and staff (with ID) - schedule magnet giveaway March 2: Signature Saturday
Texas Tech Softball	Tournament Central \| Game Notes \| Softball Home Page \| Twitter

RED RAIDER QUICK HITS

The Texas Tech softball team jumped in three separate polls after a strong outing at the 2019 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Red Raiders came in at No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and No. 18 in the USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Red Raiders eclipsed their No. 17 ranking from 1998 with a No. 16 appearance in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. The program has been ranked in four other seasons – 1998, 1999, 2011 and 2012. Tech was also ranked No. 14 in Softball America's Top 25 Poll, which is in its first year of existence.
Texas Tech remains at the top of the conference standings for the third-straight week. The Red Raiders recently passed Baylor (24) and Oklahoma State (21/18) in this week's top 25-polls. The only two Big 12 teams that rank above the Red Raiders are Oklahoma (4/4) and Texas (9/10).
Tech enters week four with an impressive 13-1 overall record and a handful of notable wins. After posting wins against Nebraska (15-10, 4-1) and Wisconsin (8-3) on opening weekend, they went a perfect 5-0 at the Plainsman Invitational where they ground out key victories against No. 21 Auburn (5-4) and Drake (1-0, 4-0). They continued their crusade with an 8-0 run-rule over No. 13/15 Arizona State and a 5-0 victory over No. 17 Oregon at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
The Red Raiders' only loss this season was a narrow, 4-1 decision to No. 5 Washington on Feb. 24. Tech and No. 5 Washington posted equal hits, racking up five apiece.
Sophomore hurler Erin Edmoundson had a phenomenal week in the circle as she posted back-to-back shutouts over Arizona State and Oregon. The southpaw tallied 16 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched and was the only pitcher in the league to post shutouts over Top 20 opponents last week. Edmoundson ranks second in the nation with four shutouts this season.
The Red Raider offense produced 21 hits and six home runs at the prestigious Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Karli Hamilton led the way with five hits while Trenity Edwards and Kelcy Leach gathered two home runs apiece. Breanna Russell and Taylor Satchell were the other Red Raiders to send balls out of the park.
As a team, the Red Raider are out-hitting their opponents 120-58, out-scoring opponents 86-27 and combine for a .325 average at the plate. Tech ranks third in the league in home runs, walks, stolen bases and batting average, as well as second in hits, slugging percentage and triples.
Three Red Raiders rank in the top 10 in the league's total hits. Sophomore Heaven Burton leads the league with 21 hits and Karli Hamilton ties for fourth with 19 on the season. Transfer Trenity Edwards ties for 10^th in the league with 15 hits. Edwards, who has seen most of her time as a designated player leads the Big 12 with 17 RBI and ties for first with five homers this season. Hamilton leads the league with eight stolen bases.
The Tech pitching staff maintains a sub-2.00 ERA with six shutouts on the season. Edmoundson, Missy Zoch and Morgan Hornback have held hitters to a 1.75 batting average through 14 games.
Breanna Russell leads the league and ranks 22^nd in the nation with 13 walks this season. The Crosby, Texas, native also ranks 50^th in the nation with a .568 on-base percentage.
Prior to No. 5 Washington's first run on Feb. 24, the Texas Tech pitching staff posted 28 scoreless innings. New pitching coach Letty Olivarez has helped the pitching staff conjure up 104 strikeouts and six shutouts. Texas Tech ranks third in the league with a 1.73 ERA.

A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
North Texas
Off to a strong start, North Texas comes to Lubbock with a 10-5 overall record. They recently lost to UT Arlington (13-10) on Wednesday, but have posted notable wins over Texas A&M (10-2), Creighton (7-3) and Louisiana (5-1). Tech holds an 8-5 all-time series lead over North Texas. UNT won the last meeting in a high-scoring, 12-11 game at Rocky Johnson Field on Mar. 5, 2017. Led by Katie Clark, North Texas combines for a .314 batting average. Clark paces the Mean Green with a team-leading 30 hits, six doubles, 14 runs and .556 batting average. Hanna Rebar leads the squad with four home runs while Lacy Gregory paces the team with 20 RBI. Hope Trautwein leads the Mean Green's efforts in the circle with 59 strikeouts and a 6-1 record in 56.1 innings. The North Texas pitching staff boasts a 2.65 ERA and has held batters to a .229 average at the plate. North Texas looks to new leadership as head coach Rodney DeLong is in the midst of his first season at the helm.

UT Arlington
Coming off of a recent 13-10 win over North Texas, the Mavericks enter the weekend with a 9-6 overall record. UT Arlington suffered a narrow, 2-1 loss to No. 1 UCLA, but picked up two wins against the then-ranked No. 16 Baylor (5-2, 10-2). The Red Raiders hold a 13-6 all-time series lead over the Mavericks. UTA won the most-recent contest, grinding out a 5-2 win over Tech at the NISC Regional in Conway, Ark. Two Mavericks hold a batting average over .400. Krista Rude leads the team with 21 hits, 17 runs scored, eight stolen bases and a .420 batting average while Whitney Walton follows closely behind hitting .413 this season. In the circle, Randi Phillips leads UT Arlington with 22 strikeouts and a 5-3 record in 55.2 innings. PJ Brun is in her second season as head coach of the UT Arlington softball program.

FINAL DETAILS
The Red Raiders are set to open up the Texas Tech Invitational on Friday with a 3 p.m. matchup against UT Arlington. Live stats and live streams will be available for all four of Tech's games this weekend. For all the latest information on the Texas Tech softball team, visit TexasTech.com or follow @TexasTechSB on Twitter and Instagram.