Texas Tech news: Aberg shines at Masters, baseball struggles at TCU, more

Here is your Texas Tech Red Raiders news roundup for April 15, 2024.

Texas Tech golf alum Ludvig Aberg has sterling Masters debut

This weekend, former Texas Tech golf star Ludvig Aberg played in his first career major tournament and was one of the stars of the event. Playing in The Masters, Aberg shot -7 to finish as the runner-up to champion Scottie Scheffler.

The 24-year-old was a three-time All-American and Haskins Award recipient during his Red Raider career. He turned pro only one year ago after the college golf season ended and now he's one of the rising stars of the sport having already competed for Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup.

“This being my first major championship, you never really know what it’s going to be like until you’re there and experience it,” he said. “I think this week has given me a lot of experiences and a lot of lessons learned in terms of those things. It makes me really hungry, and it makes me want to do it again and again.”

Aberg shot 73-69-70-69–281 for the weekend. However, on Sunday, a double-bogie on hole 11 likely ended his hopes of winning the green jacket. Still, he rebounded to shoot two under over the final seven holes to secure second place and win over $2.6 million in prize money. What's more, with a top-12 finish, he has secured a spot in the 2025 Masters.

Texas Tech baseball drops weekend series in Fort Worth

This weekend in Fort Worth, the Texas Tech baseball team dropped two of three games at TCU. It was a disappointing result after a strong start to the series on Friday night.

In the opener, pitchers Ryan Free, Jacob Rogers, and Josh Sanders combined to hold the Frogs to just one run in a 7-1 win. TCU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third but Tech answered with three runs in the fourth thanks to RBIs from Drew Woodcox, Owen Washburn, and TJ Pompey who also homered in the sixth.

On Saturday, TCU responded with a 4-2 win. The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Red Raiders. Single runs by TCU in the sixth and eighth innings provided the final margin after the game was tied at 2-2.

Sunday, the Red Raiders came close to knotting a 4-3 game in the ninth inning. Gavin Kash doubled to lead off the top of the frame but the Red Raiders were unable to get him home with a line-out, a fly-out, and a strikeout ending the inning with two men on base. Life gets no easier for Tim Tadlock's team now as the Red Raiders head to The Natural State to face an Arkansas team that came into this weekend ranked No. 1 in the nation but which dropped two of three games to Alabama over the weekend.

Texas Tech softball takes series from Kansas

The Texas Tech softball team had a successful weekend in Lubbock. Taking two of three games from Kansas, the Red Raiders moved to 26-13 overall and 6-9 in Big 12 action.

Friday, Tech walked off with a 6-5 win when Demi Elder singled home Riley Love for the third of three Red Raider runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a two-run deficit in the home team's final at-bat.

Saturday, Kansas fought back with a 15-12 win in eight innings. In the loss, Abbie Orrick had four hits including her seventh homer of the year, a new career-high.

In Sunday's 4-2 Red Raider win, Ranci Willis pitched a complete game to move to 3-0 on the season. At the plate, Elder launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to put her team ahead for good.

This was just the second Big 12 series win of the season for Tech. The Red Raiders return to action on Friday to begin a 3-game series at Oklahoma State.