Aberg fires 63, leads by seven at Big 12 tournament
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Last week at Texas Tech athletics' annual Red & Black Gala, Ludvig Aberg was the men's winner of the Red Raider of the year as the top performer across all sports.
He showed why again Tuesday.
The senior from Sweden took a whopping seven-shot lead in the Big 12 tournament, carding a bogey-free 7-under-par 63 at Prairie Dunes. The current No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking birdied five par-4s and two par-5s, moving to 14-under after 54 holes and into record territory.
The 63 tied the lowest score in the tournament's history, though the 63 that Oklahoma's Grant Hirschman shot in 2016 was a 9-under round on a par-72 layout at Whispering Pines. Aberg's 14-under 196 breaks the tournament record for best 54-hole score of 10-under 200 that Oklahoma State's Charles Howell III carded in 2000, also on a Prairie Dunes course playing at par-70.
The 72-hole record for score in relation to par is 9-under set by Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler in 2008 and matched by Texas Tech's Chris Ward in 2010, both at Whispering Pines. The 72-hole record for lowest cumulative score is 276 set by Oklahoma State's Morgan Hoffman in 2009 and tied by Texas' Cole Hammer in 2021. Both, however, were 4-under scores on the par-70 Prairie Dunes.
Aberg leapfrogged Oklahoma State's Jonas Baumgartner, who started the day with a two-stroke lead and shot 72.
Shortly after Tech players teed off at mid-morning, the temperature was 51 degrees with 20-mph southeast wind gusting to 29.
The Red Raiders moved up one spot to second place going into Wednesday's final round. Oklahoma leads at 2-under, followed by Tech at 9-over, Texas at 12-over, Oklahoma State at 16-over and TCU at 18-over.
Tech sophomore Calum Scott (71) and junior Tyran Snyders (73) are in the top 20 at 5-over and 6-over, respectively. Baard Skogen (78) and Matthew Comegys (72) are 18-over and 19-over, respectively.
Tech football
Texas Tech offensive lineman Kaden Weatherby announced Tuesday he's having his name entered into the NCAA transfer portal.
Tech concluded spring practice Saturday with the annual spring game, and Tech coach Joey McGuire said his staff was conducting post-spring exit interviews with players on Monday and Tuesday. During that time frame, five players announced plans to transfer: Offensive linemen Jack Tucker and Weatherby, defensive end L.B. Moore, running back Clazarion Campbell and kicker Gabe Showalter, the latter two being walk-ons.
None of the five were in the Red Raiders' two-deep.
Weatherby was a member of Tech's 2022 signing class and redshirted last season.
Tech women's basketball
Jordyn Merritt, a former Plano High School star who spent the past three seasons playing for Florida, announced Tuesday on social media she plans to transfer to Texas Tech.
Merritt, a 6-foot-3 forward, averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a freshman at Florida, 10.1 points and 5.2 rebounds as a sophomore and 7.1 points and 5.4 rebounds as a junior this past season.
Coming out of high school, she was ranked the No. 4 prospect in Texas and No. 27 in the nation by ESPN.
LCU women's golf
THACKERVILLE, Okla. — Lubbock Christian University, led by Lily Griffin, Alexandra Escamilla and Prestley Hammond shooting final rounds in the 70s, finished 12th out of 14 teams in the Lone Star Conference tournament.
The 54-hole event concluded Tuesday on the WinStar Golf Club's Scissortail Course.
Griffin (74), Escamilla (77) and Hammond (76) finished 11 over par, 12-over and 13-over, respectively. Kyra Schmuhl (84) and Aspen Escamilla (83) finished 34-over and 35-over.
Dallas Baptist shot 23-under as a team and won the tournament by 10 strokes over West Texas A&M. The tournament medalist was DBU's Julia Garcia, who closed with a 5-over 67 to finish 9-under. She won by one over West Texas A&M's Alyssa Campbell (67) and DBU's Faith De La Garza (70).
Tech baseball
ABILENE — Abilene Christian led Texas Tech 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning Tuesday night when the game was suspended because of lightning near Crutcher Scott Field.
The two programs jointly announced the game will be resumed at a date to be determined.
ACU scored six runs in the fourth shortly before the stoppage. Tanner Tweedt doubled home the first run, and Maddox Miesse delivered an RBI single, chasing Tech starter Zane Petty. Miller Ladusau scored on a wild pitch by Dax Dathe, and Holden Rook blew the game open with a three-run double off Jase Lopez.
ACU starter Max Huffling shut out the Red Raiders through four innings. In three appearances against Tech dating to last season, the 6-foot-9 lefthander has thrown 10 scoreless innings with 15 strikeouts.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Tech sports roundup: Aberg fires 63, leads by seven at Big 12 tournament
