Cliff Notes for Texas Tech --

[TropicalSooner]

Nothing fancy here--I just don't have the time any more to put together better preview opinions so I will leave the details and charts to OUBeliever and AustinTXSooner--but here's my quick thoughts on Taco Tech and the weather:

Tech is a veteran team with 4 Seniors and 3 Juniors in their starting lineup--not counting their Senior pitching staff. They've been to this dance before, and they know all the steps.
Head Coach Craig Snider is doing amazing things out in Lubbock. Last year--Sniders first season--saw an immediate change in the power the team brought to the plate and now those veterans have continued their rampage against opposing pitching staffs. With 8 starters hitting over .300 and 2 hitting over .400, they have hammered out 53 doubles, 8 triples, and 35 HRs. Their OB% is a solid .396 and SLG% .574. Granted their schedule has not faced off against the Stanfords, LSUs, or Georgias of the world, but they do have wins over the likes of Minnesota, North Texas, and took 2 out of 3 against BYU out in Provo, Utah, while racking up 33 Runs to BYUs 15 last weekend.

While their pitching staff is also veteran, that is probably their weakest link. Although standing at 21-5 over all, their team ERA is a lofty 3.04 with starters Maddy Wright (6-2 2.03era), Maddie Kuehl (7-3 2.27era) and Olivia Rains (6-0 4.34) leading the way.
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Their Defense is ok--20 errors for .972 %.

Probably what will play an unexpected role in how this weekend's series unfolds is the weather. If any opponent needs a little extra to try to take down the Sooners, best bet is probably bring in some inclimate weather. We don't seem to do as well in either wet or cold and it looks like this weekend will bring in both to Lubbock. Both teams have good offenses, and our defense is a better defense (in spite of the implosion against ULL). But pitching is where we separate the two teams and cold and wet weather is not a pitchers friend. Granted, their pitchers will have to perform in the same weather, but if it brings our pitchers down a notch to where they become hittable, then they do have the offense to make a run in keeping up with us.

I think we can come away with 3 wins. But Tech is one of those teams that you just absolutely cannot look past (Baylor next weekend) and if the weather brings our pitching advantage down a notch, then they do have the offense to perhaps steal a game from the Sooners.

[OUBeliever56A]

Great review of Texas Tech. There is not much, if anything, to add.

Simply, if Oklahoma pitches well and if Oklahoma hits well, they will be returning to Norman with three victories.

It will be interesting to see if Deal or Keeney gets a start in the series. It will be interesting to see if all six pitchers get to the circle to pitch this weekend.

It will be interesting to see how the batting order plays out during the 3 games also.

Good luck to the Sooner in Lubbock.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Oklahoma at Texas Tech softball series this weekend in Lubbock, TX.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/3/14 ... eekend-set

The series begins Friday, March 15 with a 6 p.m. CT first pitch at Rocky Johnson Field followed by a 1 p.m. second game on Saturday. Game three is scheduled for a noon Sunday start. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 with each of the first two games also airing on 107.7 FM The Franchise.

A note about the OU-Tech series historically is that Oklahoma holds a 70-7 advantage in the all-time series with Texas Tech and has won each of the last 34 meetings. OU is 28-1 in Lubbock, its lone loss at TTU occurring on April 1, 2011 in a 5-0 shutout.

Good luck to the Sooners this weekend.

Boomer Sooner!

[AustinTXSooner]

I think we're in a stable 3 pitcher rotation right now. Deal, Maxwell, and May. I see Keeney as the long reliever with Geurin and Monticelli as short relievers. There might be a selected series or two that we stick with May and Maxwell, but Deal will get her starts most of the time. Her secondary numbers are all good and slightly better than May and Maxwell. I'm not going to rule her out from having better numbers at the end of the year. Outside of the two games in Puerta Vallarta, she's done really well.

https://stats.ncaa.org/player/index?id= ... y_id=15061

[OUBeliever56A]

I hope your feelings are correct about Deal being in the weekend rotation.

Deal really only had one 'bad game' in PV even with giving up 3 hits in one inning in the other game. She got out of it, which is a positive.

[AustinTXSooner]

Here's the hitting comparison for this weekend.

#	Player	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	RBI	OPS
1	Sanders, Cydney	.395	.565	1.140	43	10	27	1.705
5	Parker, Ella	.453	.565	.849	53	5	22	1.414
33	Brito, Alyssa	.433	.512	.881	67	7	22	1.393
23	Jennings, Tiare	.397	.469	.809	68	7	25	1.278
24	Coleman, Jayda	.413	.500	.683	63	4	18	1.183
7	Pickering, Kasidi	.426	.507	.656	61	3	18	1.163
9	Hansen, Kinzie	.356	.426	.712	59	6	15	1.138
30	Ludlam, Riley	.417	.476	.611	36	2	15	1.087
0	Boone, Rylie	.417	.470	.600	60	1	13	1.070
40	Torres, Alynah	.378	.472	.511	45	1	9	.983
82	Hodge, Avery	.292	.357	.458	24		4	.815
43	Lilio, Quincee	.154	.353	.462	13	1	3	.815
12	Bland, Maya	.167	.375	.333	6		2	.708
27	Coor, Hannah	.176	.250	.353	17	1	4	.603
-	Totals	.390	.481	.714	615	48	197	1.195

Texas Tech had 4 players with less than 5 ABs that I removed.

#	Player	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	RBI	OPS
22	Hamlin, Jacee	.400	.400	1.000	5	1	2	1.400
5	Love, Riley	.351	.429	.932	74	10	36	1.361
0	Villa, Arriana	.378	.472	.689	74	5	15	1.161
24	Barnhart, Aubrey	.358	.500	.623	53	4	17	1.123
13	Wyckoff, Kailey	.410	.460	.590	78	2	16	1.050
14	Jennings, Raegan	.381	.409	.619	42	2	12	1.028
11	Orrick, Abbie	.301	.346	.658	73	6	21	1.004
2	Elder, Demi	.333	.410	.593	54	2	14	1.003
12	Wright, Maddy	.444	.400	.556	9		5	.956
7	Halleman, Logan	.412	.467	.412	51		6	.879
8	Crites, Kennedy	.275	.293	.400	40	1	2	.693
78	Armijo, Carson	.196	.263	.412	51	1	10	.675
20	McClarity, Dee	.233	.294	.333	30		9	.627
21	Mitchell, Makenna	.182	.357	.182	11		3	.539
56	Barraza, Alanna	.135	.214	.270	37	1	4	.484
6	Raines, Chassety	.000	.222	.000	7			.222
-	Totals	.326	.396	.575	697	35	174	.971

[AustinTXSooner]

And the pitching comparison:

#	Player	App	GS	ERA	BB	SO	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
85	Geurin, SJ	5		0.00	3	6		8	6	2			6.7	2.0	0.90	0.60	.167	.048	.214
17	Monticelli, Paytn	9	1	0.60	5	17	1	4	13				11.7	3.4	1.46	1.11	.277	.225	.502
11	Deal, Kierston	7	6	0.85	6	29		18	26	5			24.7	4.8	1.18	1.01	.253	.189	.441
8	Keeney, Karlie	12	2	1.50	7	16	3	40	21	2	1	1	28.0	2.3	0.57	1.18	.289	.327	.616
28	Maxwell, Kelly	13	7	1.50	13	46	4	43	30	7		1	42.0	3.5	1.10	0.93	.245	.281	.526
19	May, Nicole	10	9	1.60	14	43	3	28	31	8			35.0	3.1	1.23	1.17	.285	.291	.576
-	Totals			1.28	48	157	11	141	127			2	148.0	3.3	1.06	1.05	.264	.263	.527

Texas Tech:

#	Player	App	GS	ERA	BB	SO	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
6	Raines, Chassety	1		0.00	2	2		3	1				2.0	1.0	1.00	1.00	.250	.000	.250
12	Wright, Maddy	11	7	2.03	13	30	4	58	30	6	2		41.3	2.3	0.73	1.09	.273	.329	.602
1	Kuehl, Maddie	15	9	2.27	29	56	2	58	59	7	3	2	61.7	1.9	0.91	1.31	.318	.305	.623
3	Blackledge, Mimi	3	1	3.82	5	1		4	4				3.7	0.2	0.27	1.91	.412	.167	.578
25	Rains, Olivia	12	4	4.34	12	23	6	62	34	6			40.3	1.9	0.57	1.44	.326	.456	.781
29	Willis, Ranci	5	5	5.73	11	12	2	20	11	2			14.7	1.1	0.82	1.91	.389	.400	.789
-	Totals			3.04	72	124	14	205	139			2	163.7	1.7	0.76	1.35	.318	.355	.673

[AustinTXSooner]

Here's what jumps out to me when I look at Tech's pitching stats. This is all from looking at the numbers. Except for Rains, I don't remember any of these pitchers.

They depend on Maddie Kuehl a lot. She's started 9 of their games and has 6 more appearances with 2 saves. So even when she doesn't start, they bring her in to shut things down. She has decent control, but is not a strikeout pitcher. She's amazingly neutral in ground ball/fly ball ratio, which means she probably has a drop and a rise ball that she uses a lot. She will almost certainly start the first game. If we don't run rule her, she might start the third game also.

Maddy Wright will probably start game 2. She has good control (less than 1 walk every 3 innings). Also not a power pitcher. I'm not sure who their opponents have been, but Wright's secondary numbers are quite similar to Keeney. She's decidedly a ground ball pitcher, so she works low in the zone. I also think Wright's numbers are better than Kuehl's. I'd be more worried about her if her strikeout numbers were a lot better.

Olivia Rains will probably be the first reliever to be brought in. We know her. I was a little surprised that she's still playing. But then I realized that she was in the same class with Hansen and Boone. She hasn't had anywhere near the success she had here since she's been at Tech. Her first two years at Tech, walks were her downfall. She still doesn't strikeout enough batters. She's a ground ball pitcher. She has plenty of talent. It just hasn't consistently shown up on the field.

None of their other pitchers are anything to write home about. Willis has had 5 starts and 14.2 IP. She might come in as a reliever, but there's no way she goes more than once through the lineup.

[Bricklayer]

I think we all knew how good our outfield defense is….didn’t realize Booney was doing this good though….

[TropicalSooner]

I think we all knew how good our outfield defense is….didn’t realize Booney was doing this good though….

???

[Bricklayer]

I think we all knew how good our outfield defense is….didn’t realize Booney was doing this good though….

???

It looks like they deleted their original post. Here it is now. On the original one, Boone was #4. Not sure the reason for the change

[AustinTXSooner]

Looks like Maddy Wright is starting game 1. So already my analysis is questionable.

Maxwell gets the start for us. Also looks like Hodge is on the bench. Disappointing.

[OUBeliever56A]

Just wondering here. Why is Torres starting disappointing? Torres is hitting and playing pretty well right now at 2B?

[OUBeliever56A]

Saturday morning:

The light rain looks like it will stop here in Lubbock in about an hour. It is mid 40's now with a light NE wind. With the game at 1 PM, the field should be fine if it was tarped and with the turf outfield.

With the game at 1 PM it should make 50 degrees by then.

Dress warm....or think warm thoughts for those that are there.

[AustinTXSooner]

Just wondering here. Why is Torres starting disappointing? Torres is hitting and playing pretty well right now at 2B?

They are not mutually exclusive. There's nothing wrong with Torres starting. I root for her just like most of the team. I'm disappointed that Hodge doesn't get more playing time. She got one plate appearance yesterday and then pulled back out of the game with either a 6 or 8 run lead. I can't make sense out of her substitution pattern.