No. 10 Red Raiders prepare for opening weekend

Thursday, February 6

Clearwater, Florida

6:00pm

Texas Tech Athletics

Marshall

Tickets

No. 10 Red Raiders prepare for opening weekend

February 04, 2025 | Softball

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Tech travels to Clearwater, Florida for six-game slate

By: Jay Strader

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 10 Texas Tech softball team opens its highly-anticipated season in Clearwater, Florida at the NFCA Leadoff Classic presented by MaxBP with a six-game slate including two top 25 matchups.

This will be the first time in program history that the Red Raiders are competing in this tournament and will open the event against Marshall on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. Tech will then play two games on Friday against No. 25 Mississippi St. (4 p.m. CT) and Penn St. (7 p.m. CT) followed by another two-game day on Saturday against No. 16 Nebraska (3 p.m. CT) that will be featured on MLB Network and Iowa (6 p.m. CT) before rounding out the weekend against Kennesaw St. on Sunday (12 p.m. CT). All games will be free to live stream from the GameChanger app with the exception of the MLB Networks free broadcast of the Red Raiders game against Nebraska.

Although the expectations for the season are high, the weekend's expectations are more managed. The team bolsters a top 15 roster, but also has 20 new players - including nine freshmen - and three returners. Gerry Glasco is making sure his team knows that the season doesn't end in Florida and no matter what they will learn from the tournament.

"The whole tournament is going to be exciting," said Gerry Glasco. "We'll approach that Florida tournament with the mindset that we will learn about ourselves, but it's also not going to tell us everything about ourselves. We will leave Florida needing to get better no matter what the outcomes are."

The marquee matchup of the weekend will be the potential dual between the Cornhusker's Jordy Bahl and Tech's NiJaree Canady in the circle. They are considered the top two pitchers in the country making for an exciting matchup.

GAME INFORMATION:
Thursday v. Marshall – 6 p.m. CT | Watch | Live Stats
Friday v. No. 25 Mississippi St. – 4 p.m. CT | Watch | Live Stats
Friday v. Penn St. – 7 p.m. CT | Watch| Live Stats
Saturday v. No. 16 Nebraska – 3 p.m. CT | MLB Network | Live Stats
Saturday v. Iowa – 6 p.m. CT | Watch | Live Stats
Sunday v. Kennesaw St. – 12 p.m. CT | Watch | Live Stats

ROSTER REPORT:
Tech welcomes in 10 players who have made either All-Conference or NFCA All-Region at one point in their career. The Red Raiders also welcome in nine freshmen that make up the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation according to Extra Innings Softball.

Reigning National Player of the Year, NiJaree Canady and Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Mihyia Davis headline the roster as they were both ranked as top 100 players, with Canady coming in as the consensus No. 1.

Returners Demi Elder, Raegan Jennings and Logan Halleman played a lot of softball last season as Jennings and Halleman were named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.

Along with Davis, five players followed Glasco from Louisiana including Lauren Allred, Victoria Valdez, Alexa Langeliers and Chloe Riassetto. These five were a core part of the Ragin' Cajuns' Super Regional run last season that included wins over the likes of Oklahoma, LSU and Baylor.

Alana Johnson comes from Washington where she racked up 20 career home runs and is a versatile defender.

Katie Lott, a versatile defender in her own right, comes from intraconference rival Oklahoma State where she slashed .370/.485/.537 her freshman year and is one of the most impressive student-athletes in the country as she was given the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest cumulative GPA across all softball athletes.

Makayla Garcia, a Lubbock native, returns to her hometown after spending a season at UT-Tyler where she helped the Patriots win the DII World Series under newly minted NFCA Hall of Famer Mike Reed. Garcia was named the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year and was on the All-Lone Star Conference Second Team.

The freshman class has loads of talent including Samantha Lincoln and Hailey Toney who were named to the D100 Freshman Watch List. Bailey Lindemuth is a two-way player that impressed Glasco and staff all throughout fall ball and was starting at third base for most of the time. Brenlee Gonzales had an excellent fall as well. Gonzales played travel ball under softball legend Cat Osterman, and it shows in the circle as she allowed just one earned run.

Outfielders Sydney Shiller and Kiley Huffman were the 18th and 19th ranked outfielders in the 2024 class and showed flashes during the fall season. The last addition to the roster was Anya German who was a three-year starter at James Bowie High School in Austin, Texas and played her way into the lineup during fall ball. Cassie Johnson, the 10th ranked player in the 2024 class according to Perfect Game also makes up the class but will be redshirting this season.

Briana Jones and Taryn Martin also make up the roster. The two players are walk-ons, Jones was a standout player in Abilene at Tuscola High School while Martin was a standout herself at Prosper High School, but in soccer.