Tech tennis, softball teams face top-ranked rivals
The Texas Tech men's tennis team gets to play the top-ranked team in the nation this week. Then the Red Raiders get to play the second-ranked team two days later.
Tech (12-7, 0-1 in the Big 12) hosts No. 1 Texas at 5 p.m. Thursday and No. 2 TCU at 1 p.m. Saturday in Big 12 matches at the McLeod Tennis Center. They are the last two home matches of the season for the Red Raiders.
Before the TCU match, Tech will recognize its seniors: Isaac Arevalo from Mexico, Dimitrios Azoidis from Cyprus and Franco Ribero from Argentina.
Texas (18-2, 2-0) has won eight matches in a row. TCU (18-1, 2-0) has won three in a row, including a 7-0 shutout of No. 10 Southern California two weeks ago. TCU and Texas have faced each other twice this season in non-conference matches, each winning once.
Brazilian freshman Lorenzo Esquici leads the Red Raiders in singles victories with 13. Olle Wallin has 12 and Ribero 11. In doubles, Piotr Pawlak and Ribero lead the team with 12 victories and are 9-4 at the No. 2 position.
Tech is 4-0 at home this season. The Red Raiders opened Big 12 play with a 5-2 loss Saturday at Baylor.
Softball
Craig Snider won his first series as Texas Tech coach last weekend when the Red Raiders took two of three games against Iowa State, and now Tech faces what's likely its toughest challenge of the season.
Tech (28-12, 2-4) takes on No. 1 Oklahoma (33-1, 6-0) in a Big 12 series at 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners won the Women's College World Series in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022.
OU is on a 25-game win streak this season. The Sooners have outscored their opponents 300-33 with 63 home runs and lead NCAA Division I with a .390 team batting average. Their pitchers have allowed 29 earned runs in 34 games and are holding opponents to a .153 batting average.
Tech is three away from the program's single-season records for home runs. The Red Raiders' most productive batters have been catcher Kailey Wyckoff (.435, eight home runs, 29 runs batted in), designated player Makinzy Herzog (.402-7-30), first baseman Ellie Bailey (.357-13-38), left fielder Peyton Blythe (.355-8-25), center fielder Arriana Villa (.333-7-25) and second baseman Alanna Barraza (.301-7-22).
The Red Raiders' top pitchers are Sage Hoover (14-0, 2.24 earned-run average) and Kendall Fritz (8-3, 3.10).
Men's basketball
Texas Tech basketball player Daniel Batcho is having his name entered into the NCAA transfer portal, a Tech athletics spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
The 6-foot-11, 235-pound forward from France averaged 7.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season as a sophomore. He led the team with 35 blocked shots. He missed nine games because of injury.
Batcho redshirted during his freshman year at Arizona before he transferred to Tech. He played in 33 games off the bench for the Red Raiders during the 2021-22 season and averaged 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Also on Wednesday, national college basketball writer Jon Rothstein reported that next season's Big East-Big 12 Battle includes a Texas Tech road game against Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Butler finished 14-18 this season, its fourth sub-.500 record in five years. Before that stretch, the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament 15 times in 22 seasons and reached the championship game in 2010 and 2011.
The other Big East-Big 12 Battle matchups, according to Rothstein's report, include Connecticut at Kansas, Texas at Marquette, Houston at Xavier, Villanova at Kansas State and St. John's at West Virginia. Also, Creighton at Oklahoma State, Providence at Oklahoma, Iowa State at DePaul, TCU at Georgetown and Seton Hall at Baylor.
Track & field
Texas Tech sprinter Terrence Jones and Texas multi-events specialist Leo Neugebauer were named the Big 12 men's athletes of the week for their performances in the Texas Relays.
Jones ran the 200 meters in 20.05 seconds, breaking the meet record of 20.11 run by Houston's Elijah Hall in 2018. Neugebauer scored 8,478 points in the decathlon, breaking the meet record of 8,465 set by Texas' Trey Hardee in 2006.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Tech sports roundup: Tennis, softball teams face top-ranked rivals
