2000 Season Review
December 05, 2000 | Softball
The 2000 season at Texas Tech University began with great expectations after the 1999 squad participated in the NCAA Tournament, falling one game from reaching the College World Series. But dreams of repeating the previous season's experiences were quickly dashed, and the sudden departure of coach Renee Luers-Gillespie put the team in a tailspin from which they were never able to recover.
The campaign began with a nine-game losing streak, with losses to top-ranked UCLA, 15th-ranked Long Beach State andNo. 20 Hawaii mixed in that streak. But the Red Raiders picked up their first victory of the season against then 19th-ranked and in-state rival Texas, a 4-0 triumph at the Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
After the final two games in Hawaii and before the team's next tournament in Las Cruces, N.M., Luers-Gillespie resigned and assistant coach Carla Marchetti was named interim head coach.
Marchetti compiled a 17-26 mark through the end of the season, including 7-10 in the Big 12, as the Red Raiders continued to battle throughout the year.
Tech won a pair of games at the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, then went 3-2 at the "Bash by the Bay" hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Amanda Renfro tossed a perfect game and struck out a school-record 15 batters versus TAMU-CC, as she and teammates Lynsey Haij and Sandy Butler made the all-tournament team. Renfro was also named the tournament MVP, as she posted a 3-1 mark with 44 strikeouts in 27.1 innings, and earned Big 12 Player of the Week for her efforts at the tourney.
The Red Raiders finally played their first home game March 15, splitting a doubleheader versus UT-San Antonio. They then split four games in the Red Raider Invitational against New Mexico State and San Diego State before beginning conference play.
Tech split a pair of contests with Oklahoma State to open Big 12 play, and swept a doubleheader at Kansas. Renfro tossed another no-hitter in the second game of the twinbill versus the Jayhawks, striking out eight. She earned Big 12 Player of the Week for the second time during the season after shutting out the Jayhawks in both ends of the doubleheader.
The Red Raiders swept a pair of contests from Missouri, and also took one game from Iowa State and Texas A&M before heading to the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Tech took its tournament opener over Texas, an 8-4 victory and the team's second in three games against the Longhorns in 2000. The Red Raiders then dropped a 4-1 decision to Nebraska, and bowed out of the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Missouri.
Renfro ended the campaign with a 15-21 overall record, but only a 1.35 earned run average. Butler led the Red Raiders in batting for the third straight season, ending the year at .286 overall, but .389 in conference play. Tech's batting average was 50 points higher in Big 12 play than for the overall season, as the Red Raiders batted .272 in league games in 2000.
The nemesis for Tech in 2000 was winning the one- and two-run games, as the Red Raiders were just 6-11 in one-run contests and 3-8 in two-run games.
Butler finished the season with 21 stolen bases, second on the Tech single-season list behind her own mark of 26 set in 1998. Renfro also set a new single-season strikeout record with 283, besting her own mark of 273 set in 1999. Renfro also set another record, picking up three saves on the year.
Senior Paula Workman earned First Team All-Big 12 honors after the season. Shauna Briggs, Butler and Renfro were named Second Team All-Big 12, the third straight season Butler has been recognized all-conference.
Senior Tamara Harrington led three Tech players on the Academic All-Big 12 squad, earning First Team recognition, while Butler and Briggs were named to the Second Team.
Renfro was also named First Team All-Midwest Region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the fourth straight year and the third different Tech player in four seasons to earn the all-region award.
Workman and Harrington ended the year one-two on the career list in at-bats, games played, total plate appearances and walks. Workman also finished at the top of the career list in runs scored, hits, RBIs, doubles, extra-base hits, total bases and assists, and ended tied for the career lead in triples and sacrifice flies.