Texas Tech Tabbed Fifth in Preseason Big 12 Softball Poll

Texas Tech Tabbed Fifth in Preseason Big 12 Softball Poll

January 20, 2021 | Softball

LUBBOCK, Texas – Leading up to the start of the 2021 season, the Texas Tech softball team has been picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 preseason softball poll, announced Thursday by the conference office.

The Red Raiders were selected ahead of both Iowa State and Kansas. Oklahoma leads the conference preseason poll followed by Texas, Oklahoma State and Baylor. Four of the seven Big 12 teams ranked in DI Softball's preseason top 25.

After jumping out to a 17-9 start to the 2020 season, one weekend before the Red Raiders were set to begin Big 12 play, sports came to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The Red Raiders' season ended in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 11, at the Rainbow Wahine Classic after defeating Hawaii 5-0.

For nearly six months all team activities and in-person classes were paused as the world tried to navigate the "new normal" and college athletics developed a plan to resume to athletics as safely as possible. For the Red Raiders, even more change would come as Sami Ward was named the eighth head softball coach in school history on Oct. 16, 2020.

With a new coaching staff in place and a hunger left over from the unfinished business of the 2020 season, the Red Raiders got to work in the fall with their eyes set on the same prize they were six months prior, the Women's College World Series.

Entering her first season at the helm of the Texas Tech program, Ward has an experienced roster that features 13 upperclassmen including eight seniors. That experience will come in handy as the Red Raiders look to put up a fight in Big 12 conference that gets more competitive each season.

Last season, four Big 12 teams finished the abbreviated season in the top 25: Texas (3), Oklahoma (6), Oklahoma State (12) and Baylor (23). The Red Raiders sat just outside of the top 25 receiving several votes in the USA Today/NFCA coaches' poll and recorded key victories over No. 18/17 South Carolina and No. 15 Georgia at the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational.

The NCAA adjusted eligibility rules to allow the seniors whose final season was cut short due to the pandemic to return for one final season. This opened the door for seniors Karli Hamilton and Missy Zoch to put on the scarlet and black one more time in 2021. Hamilton, who earned All-Big 12 First Team, NFCA All-Region and NFCA All-America honors in 2019, had another solid season batting .286 with 20 hits and 16 RBI. Zoch recorded a 2.53 ERA in the circle with 56 strikeouts in 44.1 innings of work, the second most strikeouts on staff.

Rising seniors Erin Edmoundson and Breanna Russell had stand-out seasons in 2020 to lead the way for the Red Raiders. Russell hit a career-best .355 to lead the offense with 27 hits. Just 26 games into the season the slugger was one home run from tying her career-high of five. Her slugging percentage improved from .497 in 2019 to .605 in 2020 and she tallied 17 RBI, which ranked second on the squad. Edmoundson was dealing in the circle with a career-best 1.42 ERA. In 18 appearances she recorded 93 strikeouts and held opponents to an abysmal .180 batting average. On March 7, just days before the season ended, Edmoundson tossed her first career perfect game against Fairleigh Dickinson. The lefty recorded seven strikeouts in the outing for the just the third spotless game in program history and the first since 2001. Russell and Edmoundson each landed on the Softball America Top 100 players list with Edmoundson at No. 34 and Russell at No. 81.

Fellow seniors Heaven Burton, Kelcy Leach, Maddie Westmoreland and Olga Zamarripa look to have a considerable impact on the field and in the dugout as leaders of the 2021 squad. Burton's 26 hits a season ago were second-best on the team. She also led the Red Raiders with 10 stolen bases and 24 runs scored. Leach started 20 games behind the dish with a team-leading 168 put outs. Offensively, she tallied 11 hits and raked three home runs. Westmoreland also spent some time behind the plate and primarily served in the DP slot for the Red Raiders. She recorded a .296 clip with eight hits and two home runs in 27 at bats. Zamarripa recorded three at bats and served as a pinch runner for the Red Raiders in her junior season.

Juniors Zoe Jones, Morgan Hornback, Yvonne Whaley, Peyton Blythe and Myamie Thompson add to the depth and maturity of the Texas Tech roster. Jones proved to be a big bat in the lineup with a team-leading 26 RBI and seven home runs while slugging .639 with 21 hits. Hornback, a skilled two-way player, went 1-0 in the circle in 2020 with one save in three appearances and hit .222 with a home run. Whaley ranked second on the team with a career-best .326 batting average a season ago. She tallied 15 hits with a pair of doubles and one triple and just three strikeouts. Whaley was solid on the base paths going 8-of-9 in stolen base attempts. Blythe started 14-of-26 games in the outfield in 2020 tallying eight put outs and one assist with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. At the plate, she recorded six hits with two doubles and one RBI. Thompson started six games for the Red Raiders in 2020 before tearing her ACL, the second season-ending injury of her career.

Tech returns four sophomores who got some valuable playing experience in 2020 and add Ellie Bailey, a transfer from South Carolina, whose first collegiate hit came against the Red Raiders in Clearwater. The Whitewright, Texas native played in 11 games with two starts in the infield for the Gamecocks. Bailey joins Payton Jackson, Kamryn Caldwell and Alanna Barraza as part of the Texas Tech sophomore class. Jackson appeared mostly in the pinch running capacity in 20 games for the Red Raiders, swiping two bags and scoring five runs. She recorded three at bats with one hit, a two-RBI double against Fairleigh Dickinson. Caldwell made two appearances in the circle for Tech. She picked up the save against Delaware State, pitching the final two frames of the contest with two strikeouts. Barraza tallied 13 at bats in four starts and 13 appearances. She recorded two hits, both doubles, and one RBI in her freshman campaign.

There are six new faces on the Red Raiders' roster ahead of the 2021 season. Arriana Villa, Riley Love, Kennedy Crites, Abbie Orrick, Jacee Hamlin and Rawnie Weststrate look to contribute to an already talented lineup during their first season in Lubbock. Villa, Love and Orrick hope to provide depth to a talented Texas Tech infield. Crites looks to contribute to some stellar defense behind the plate and as a utility player. Hamlin is an athletic utility player that has experience in the outfield and on the base paths. Weststrate is a member of the Canadian junior national team that adds to the Red Raiders pitching staff that ranked 20^th in the nation in ERA a season ago.

Coach Ward alongside Associate Head Coach Randy Ward and Assistant Coach Brittany Miller look to make some noise in their first season at Texas Tech. With an experienced roster that has over 130 wins in five seasons and a new staff that is determined to develop a strong culture in Lubbock, the sky is the limit for the Red Raiders in 2021.

Big 12 Softball Preseason Poll