In the Circle

Good Gals: Texas Tech Red Raiders (52-6)
Bad Gals: Ole Miss Rebels (32-24); Boston University Terriers (46-13); Marist Red Foxes (37-19)
When to Watch: Friday, May 15th thru Sunday, May 17th
Where to Watch: Tracy Sellers Field | Lubbock, TX
Links: Preview & Series Notes

Game #1 Info: Ole Miss vs. Boston U 5/15 @ 1:00 p.m. on ESPNU

Game #2 Info: Texas Tech vs. Marist 5/15 @ 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese predicts the weekend series:

Texas Tech softball gets another regional title, winds up hosting Super Regionals
The Terriers will put a scare into the Red Raiders in the finals, Texas Tech resting a bit on the idea of playing the mid-major instead of the SEC team. Then Jasmyn Burns will launch another home run to ignite the crowd and send Texas Tech to the Super Regionals — where it’ll get to play host after all.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese on Texas Tech beginning their national title pursuit:

All Williams cares about is the team, which still has its sights set on the national championship despite a few bumps in the road over the last month before the national tournament.

“I think we have a team that’s full of dogs,” Williams said, “and we’re all really competitive and we just want to win.”

Head coach Gerry Glasco said the team has spent the last few days preparing for the Lubbock Regional, fine-tuning the little things that led to some of those setbacks late in the year, most recently in the Big 12 Conference championship game against Arizona State.

“We want to play our best ball of the year,” Glasco said, “and we had some moments in the Big 12 tournament where we played really well and we had moments where we could play a lot better. We want to be more consistent and we want to play the best ball of the year.”

The Athletic’s Lindsay Schnell writes that Texas Tech is softball’s new villain and do not care:

As a result, Texas Tech has gone from beloved to bad guy in less than a year — quite the 180-degree turn for the 2026 No. 11 seed, which begins its quest Friday for a second straight WCWS appearance when it hosts Marist in the Lubbock Regional.

“I definitely feel like people think we’re villains,” said Terry, who leads the team with a .471 average and boasts a 1.30 ERA in 118 1/3 innings pitched. “We have a target on our back, for sure. We hear it a lot: ‘Oh, they just bought a team.’ But we know what we’re doing, and what other people say doesn’t matter.”

ESPN’s Bill Connelly previews all of the softball regionals. If you’re into softball, then this is the article for you. You should know that Marist and Boston aren’t going to be easy opponents.

On the Mound

Texas Tech baseball was run-ruled in game 1 against Cincinnati, 13-1. Obviously a rough pitching day for the good guys. Because of expected rough weather on Saturday, they’ll play a double-header today.

GAME TWO:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (26-25, 9-18 Big 12) vs. No. 25 Cincinnati (35-18, 15-12 Big 12)
DATE: Friday, May 15, 2026
TIME: 1 p.m. (CT)
LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
PITCHING MATCHUP: TBA vs. RHP Logan Knight (4-3, 4.77 ERA)

GAME THREE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (26-25, 9-18 Big 12) vs. No. 25 Cincinnati (35-18, 15-12 Big 12)
DATE: Friday, May 15, 2026
TIME: 5 p.m. (CT)
LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
PITCHING MATCHUP: TBA vs. Connor Blue (4-1, 4.64 ERA)