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Tech guard Isaacs says he plans to stay with Red Raiders

staff reports
·5 min read
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Texas Tech guard Pop Isaacs averaged 11.5 points per game this past season as a freshman. He also led the team in 3-point goals made and attempted and in free-throw percentage.
Texas Tech guard Pop Isaacs averaged 11.5 points per game this past season as a freshman. He also led the team in 3-point goals made and attempted and in free-throw percentage.

Texas Tech basketball player Pop Isaacs, the team's third-leading scorer this past season as a freshman, announced Thursday he plans to stay with the program.

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound sophomore guard from Las Vegas (Nevada) Coronado averaged 11.5 points and 2.7 assists per game. He led the team in 3-point goals made (62) and attempted (164) and led Red Raider regulars in free-throw percentage (89.6). His playing time of 28.7 minutes was fourth-highest on the team.

Robert Jennings, a 6-7, 225-pound sophomore who played in 30 games mostly off the bench this past season, announced earlier this week he will stay with the Red Raiders as well. Jennings had explored his options via the NCAA transfer portal.

Softball

Texas Tech softball, swept by powerhouse Oklahoma in a three-game Big 12 series last weekend, hosts No. 18 Baylor in another conference series this weekend.

Tech (28-15, 2-7) and Baylor (31-9, 2-4) are scheduled for games at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at Rocky Johnson Field. Since Baylor last played a Big 12 opponent on April 1, the Bears have won two games against Tennessee and one each against Mercer and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Oklahoma, now 37-1 and on a 29-game win streak, beat Tech 3-0, 6-0 and 7-0. However, the Red Raiders were the first Big 12 team other than Oklahoma State since 2019 not to be run-ruled by the Sooners in a series.

Tech first baseman Ellie Bailey (.342, 13 home runs, 38 runs batted in) leads the Big 12 in homers and is tied for fifth in RBI. Designated player Makinzy Herzog (.390-7-30) is tied for third in the conference in hits with 53, and catcher-outfielder Kailey Wyckoff (.410-8-29) is sixth in that department with 50.

Left fielder Peyton Blythe (.344-8-25), center fielder Arriana Villa (.318-7-25) and second baseman Alanna Barraza (.284-7-22) are other contributors to the Red Raiders' 64 home runs, second in the Big 12 to Oklahoma's 70.

Among pitchers, Tech sophomore righthander Sage Hoover (14-1, 2.19 earned-run average) is the conference victories leader.

Baseball

Texas Tech, after a string of five non-conference games, returns to Big 12 action this weekend when the 20th-ranked Red Raiders face Oklahoma in a three-game road series.

Oklahoma (18-16, 3-6) and Tech (23-11, 4-5) square off at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. The games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Tech took two of three last weekend in a non-conference home series with North Dakota State, then split a two-game series at No. 8 Stanford.

Oklahoma recently hosted Stanford in a four-game series, each team winning twice. The Sooners dropped two of three games last weekend at Baylor and are coming off a non-conference victory Tuesday against Wichita State.

Women's tennis

Texas Tech wraps up the Big 12 regular-season schedule on the road this weekend.

Tech (13-8, 3-4) plays at 4 p.m. CDT Friday at West Virginia (11-8, 1-5) and again at noon Sunday at No. 12 Iowa State (14-4, 4-2). Iowa State is in fourth place in the Big 12 standings, Texas Tech in sixth and West Virginia in ninth.

Iowa State is coached by former Tech assistant Boomer Saia and assisted by former Tech player Kenna Kilgo.

The top six Big 12 teams make the conference tournament scheduled for April 20-23 in Lawrence, Kansas.

In singles, Tech's Kate Dmitrichenko is 12-4 in dual matches and 4-3 in conference play. The Red Raiders' other top singles players include Avelina Sayfetdinova (10-5, 3-2), Arina Oreshchenkova (9-5, 1-4), Metka Komac (9-7, 4-2), Cristina Tiglea (9-6, 2-4) and Olivia Peet (6-9, 2-5).

In doubles, Komac and Sayfetdinova are 11-6 and 5-1 in conference play at the No. 1 position, Peet and Tiglea are 9-5, 2-2 at the No. 2 spot, and Camryn Stepp and Dmitrichenko are 6-5 and 3-2.

Men's tennis

Texas Tech finishes the regular-season Big 12 schedule with road matches this weekend at Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State (12-10, 0-3) hosts Tech (12-9, 0-3) at 6 p.m. Friday in Stillwater. Oklahoma (12-9, 1-2) takes on the Red Raiders at 1 p.m. Sunday in Norman.

Last week, Tech was beaten by No. 1 Texas 5-2 and by No. 2 TCU 4-1, both at home.

All six Big 12 teams will advance to the conference tournament April 20-23 at Lawrence, Kansas.

Tech freshman Lorenzo Esquici, playing at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, has a team-best 14-4 record dual matches and 1-2 in conference play. No. 1 singles player Olle Wallin is 11-5 and 1-2, and Franco Ribero, playing mostly at No. 2 singles, is 10-7 and 0-2. Rounding out the lineup in conference play have been Dimitrios Azoidis (6-10, 1-2), Reed Collier (6-11, 1-2) and Isaac Arevalo (3-3, 0-2).

Ribero and Piotr Pawlak (11-6, 1-1) top the Red Raiders in dual-match doubles victories, followed by the No. 1 pairing of Azoidis and Collier (7-8, 1-2).

Men's golf

Texas Tech, having finished tied for third or better in seven of eight tournaments this school year, is in Phoenix for Arizona State's Thunderbird Collegiate at Papago Golf Course.

The 12 teams will play 36 holes on Friday and the final round on Saturday.

Seven teams in the top 25 of the latest Golfweek ranking are in the field: No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 13 Texas, No. 16 Arizona, No. 20 Oklahoma State and No. 23 Baylor.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Tech sports roundup: Guard Pop Isaacs says he plans to stay with Red Raiders