Tech hosts No. 1 Oklahoma in Big 12 battle

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech is set to host No. 1 Oklahoma in the Red Raiders first Big 12 series at the Rocky Johnson this season. Game one will begin on Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a game on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the final game on Sunday at 12 p.m.

The Red Raiders (21-5, 2-1) are winners of seven of their last eight including a 2-1 weekend in Provo against BYU to open their Big 12 schedule.

Oklahoma (24-1, 3-0) is again atop the softball world after falling to No. 2 in some polls last week, they are right back to number one following six-straight wins, five of which by run rule.

The Sooners lead the series all-time with a 65-7 record against the Red Raiders. This will be the last time these two team's face-off in a Big 12 conference series.

Scouting the Sooners:

Of the Sooners 24 wins, 14 of them have been by run rule.
Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in ERA (1.28) and fielding percentage (0.987) while being second in batting average (.390). The Sooners also lead the conference in home runs (48) and RBIs (197).
The Sooners have six batters batting .400 or better and all six of their pitchers have an ERA below 1.70.

STORYLINES:
• Sophomore Kailey Wyckoff is back to form after a "slow" start to the season. While it wasn't slow in the traditional sense, the former Big 12 Freshman of the Year did take some time to get back to that level. She enters the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak including a 9-for-11 performance at the dish against BYU. Wyckoff also hit her first homer of the season and followed that up with a three-run blast in game two against New Mexico which helped her set a new career-high for RBIs in a game with four. Over her seven-game hit streak, she is slashing .667/1.048/.680 with 14 hits, two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs.

• The bullpen was of some interest heading into the 2024 season. The Red Raiders have a good amount of arms, but not much experience behind those arms. Transfer Maddy Wright helped alleviate some of that when she committed to play for coach Snider following four years at Charlotte. Wright has been as advertised early on, with a 2.03 ERA and has a solid 6-2 record. A pleasant surprise early, however, has been the emergence of junior pitcher Maddie Kuehl. In her appearances she has already set new career highs in wins, innings pitched, batters faced, saves, complete games and strikeouts. This was all highlighted by her brilliant complete game performance against Texas State where she struck out a career-high seven batters in route to her second win of the season. Kuehl then set another career high for strikeouts, sitting down nine against New Mexico State as she improved to 5-3 on the season.

• Senior Riley Love has seemed to save the best for last as she has been on an absolute tear to start the 2024 season. Love has recorded 26 hits, nine doubles, 10 home runs, 36 RBIs and 69 total bases - all of which mark career highs. Her glove has been just as solid, having several stellar plays at the hot corner to save runs and base hits. For her impressive start she was recognized as the No. 6 ranked third baseman in the country by Softball America for the month of March. Her doubles and home runs are tied for most in the Big 12.

• The Red Raiders currently sit at No. 26 in RPI and No. 25 in KPI while receiving votes in the ESPN/Softball.com Top 25 Poll. On offense, Tech ranks 2nd in the country for doubles (53), 10th in homers (35), 12th in slugging (.575), 12th in runs per game (7.09), and 30th for batting average (.326). On defense, the Red Raiders rank t-1st in double plays (17), 5th in double plays per game (.65) and 41st in fielding percentage (.972).

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Tech hosts No. 1 Oklahoma in Big 12 battle

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Kuehl

Riley Love

Maddy Wright

Kailey Wyckoff