Red Raiders ready for Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech Red Raiders travel south to El Paso for the Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament hosted by UTEP. Tech's first game will be against Buffalo on Thursday at 2 p.m.

All six of Texas Tech's games will be streamed live on UTEP's YouTube.

The Red Raiders (3-2) head to El Paso after spending opening weekend in Arlington for the Maverick Invitational. Texas Tech earned a pair of wins over Tulsa and a win over UT Arlington.

It was Sage Hoover from the eight-person pitching staff as the sophomore hurled a seven-inning no-hitter to power Tech past UT Arlington, 4-0. Hoover fanned five batters and allowed just two walks in her first start in the red and black.

Ellie Bailey led the squad offense, going 5-for-11 with a double, a home run and a team-leading seven RBIs.

Texas Tech's Weekend Schedule
Thursday: Texas Tech vs Buffalo – 2 p.m.
Friday: Texas Tech vs Santa Clara – 2 p.m.
Texas Tech vs UTEP – 4 p.m.
Saturday: Texas Tech vs New Mexico – 2 p.m.
Texas Tech vs UTEP – 8 p.m.
Sunday: Texas Tech vs Santa Clara – 10 a.m.

Quick Hitters
• The Texas Tech Red Raiders begin a new era under head coach Craig Snider this season. Snider made previous stops at Texas A&M and Florida State as an assistant before becoming the ninth head coach in school history. The Franklin, Kentucky native brings a slew of post season experience, including a national championship.
• After initially planning to forego her fifth year of eligibility, Makinzy Herzog caught wind of Snider being named the head coach at Texas Tech and hit the transfer portal. The two-time All-SEC selection rejoins Snider, who recruited her at Florida State and coached her at A&M, to finish her playing career.
• Snider added Makinzy Herzog and Sage Hoover from the transfer portal to aide the Texas Tech bullpen. Herzog brings more than 320 innings worth of experience and strikeouts to Lubbock. On the other hand, Hoover was named the 2022 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year after a stellar first season in the circle, where she logged 175 strikeouts and a 2.56 ERA.
• The Red Raiders also return all six of its pitchers from a year ago, including NFCA Third Team All-Region selection Kendall Fritz. Tech's pitching staff this season will consist of eight hurlers.
• To lead the bullpen, Craig Snider tabbed the 2018 NFCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Paige Cassady as the team's pitching coach. Cassady was the first member of Snider's charter staff. In her nine seasons at Liberty, she helped lead the Lady Flames to five regular season conference championships and three tournament championships. Four of Cassady's pitchers have been named the ASUN Pitcher of the Year.
• In her first start in the red and black, pitcher Sage Hoover tossed a seven-inning no-hitter to lead the Red Raiders to victory over UT Arlington, 4-0. Her battery mate, freshman Kailey Wyckoff had also earned her first start that game. The duo is one of two batteries in the country to pitch/catch a no-hitter in their first career starts for their respective teams this weekend. UCLA was the only other school.
• The Red Raiders have eight pitchers on the roster, seven of which saw action during opening weekend. Texas Tech is one of just two teams in the country to have used seven pitchers during opening weekend with Mississippi State being the only other.
• Four hitters tallied a slugging percentage over .700 last weekend – Bailey, Abbie Orrick, Makinzy Herzog and Arriana Villa. The Red Raiders also smashed six home runs this weekend, marking the second straight opening weekend that Tech has tallied six home runs.

Red Raiders ready for Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Ellie Bailey

Kendall Fritz

Makinzy Herzog

Sage Hoover

Abbie Orrick

Arriana Villa

Kailey Wyckoff