Softball back in action against UCF

LUBBOCK, Texas – Big 12 softball is back at Rocky Johnson this weekend as the Red Raiders will host UCF beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. with game two on Friday at 6 p.m. and the final game on Saturday at 12 p.m.

Texas Tech (21-8, 2-4) has not played a game in 11 days since its series against Iowa State was canceled due to weather last weekend.

The Knights (14-14, 2-7) are in their first season in the Big 12 and despite their 2-7 conference record, they have been competitive in every game they've played. Last time out, UCF faced No. 2 Texas and were swept but in two of the games they fell by only two runs.

STORYLINES:

• NO INTRODUCTION NEEDED - 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 having recorded a hit in 9 of her last 11 games 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 these last 11 games, she is slashing .533/.900/.583 with 16 hits, two doubles, three homers and 10 RBIs.

• MADDY & MADDIE - 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 3.29 ERA and has a solid 6-4 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.

• FEW BETTER THAN NO. 5 - Senior Riley Love has seemed to save the best for last as she has been on an absolute tear this season. She enters the weekend riding an 18-game on-base streak and has recorded 27 hits, nine doubles, 10 home runs, 36 RBIs and 70 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 rank top five in the Big 12.

• IN THE RANKINGS - The Red Raiders currently sit at No. 29 in RPI and No. 29 in KPI. On offense, Tech ranks 18th in the country for doubles (53), 20th in homers (37), 15th in slugging (.547), 17th in runs per game (6.67), and 38th for batting average (.312). On defense, the Red Raiders rank 4th in double plays (19), 3rd in double plays per game (.66) and t-30th in fielding percentage (.973).

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Kuehl

Riley Love

Maddy Wright

Kailey Wyckoff

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