Can Texas Tech softball secure another Big 12 title in conference tournament?

Now that the regular season is complete, the Texas Tech softball team can fully turn its attention to the postseason.

The hope for the Red Raiders is that they've already done enough to host a regional in the NCAA tournament next week. Gerry Glasco feels the outright Big 12 Conference title in the regular season should bring top-tier teams to Lubbock, but said Tuesday his team could stand to add another win or two in Oklahoma City to make the case for the selection committee much easier.

"I'm gonna leave it to the committee," Glasco said. "They've got a hard job. You gotta pick out 16 teams to host, but I think we've done a really good job. ... Do we need to do more? Yeah, probably."

The Big 12 Championship softball tournament will provide Texas Tech with a few chances to add quality wins to its résumé. The top overall seed in the tournament — the prize for winning the regular-season crown — gives Texas Tech an extra day to prepare for what's head.

How Texas Tech can win the Big 12 softball tournament championship

The Red Raiders will see either Baylor or Kansas in Thursday's quarterfinals after sweeping both teams on the road during the regular season. That should provide Tech a chance to hold off pitching NiJaree Canady until Friday's semifinals, though Glasco said as of Tuesday that decision hadn't been made.

Texas Tech's path to the Big 12 tournament title is obvious. Either Arizona State or Oklahoma State would await the Red Raiders in the semifinals, and a probable matchup with Arizona would be in place for Saturday's championship in the single-elimination tournament.

The Red Raiders have seen all three of those teams already, winning each of those series two games to one, besting ASU and OSU at home and Arizona on the road.

Having already seen those three teams, and their top pitchers Kenzie Brown (ASU), Ruby Meylan (OSU) and Devyn Netz (Arizona), plus holding wins over each of them, Texas Tech should feel good about its chances of bringing home another championship.

"That's a great thing about being in the Big 12," Glasco said, "being in the number three-ranked conference in the country is the pitching's gonna have you ready for a regional."

Why Texas Tech might fail to win the Big 12 softball tournament title

Having Canady in their back pocket is Texas Tech's ultimate trump card, but there is one area the Red Raiders have struggled this season.

Sustaining offense throughout a three-game series is something Texas Tech has failed to do. In the team's nine three-game series played during the regular season — eight Big 12 series plus the three-game series at South Carolina — the Red Raiders have seen their offense plummet in the final game.

Here's a look at the average scoring by game in a series for Texas Tech this season:

• Game 1: Texas Tech 6.1, Opponents 1.6
• Game 2: Texas Tech 5.8, Opponents 1
• Game 3: Texas Tech 3.7, Opponents 3.3

The Game 1 numbers can be attributed to Canady, who started the first game in each of the eight Big 12 series with opponents opting not to use their ace to counter in the series opener. Texas Tech saw the opponent's ace — either as a starter or in relief — seven of those nine Game 3s.

While the Big 12 tournament is not a three-game series in and of itself, it is situated similarly with Texas Tech needing to play three games in three days to win the title. Glasco is aware of this phenomenon and hopes the team will find some answers for it in the postseason.

"We need to learn how to be more consistent throughout the weekend series and keep our scores up there," Glasco said. "... There's some reasons for all that, but spot on, we need to try to score more runs late in the series.

Big 12 Conference softball tournament

Wednesday-Saturday

at Devon Park, Oklahoma City

All times are Central

First Round — Wednesday (all games on ESPN+)

Game 1: No. 8 Baylor (26-26, 11-13) vs. No. 9 Kansas (22-27, 6-18) — 2:30 p.m.

Game 2: No. 7 UCF (32-21-1, 12-12) vs. No. 10 Utah (13-39, 5-19) — 5 p.m.

Game 3: No. 6 BYU (31-16, 13-11) vs. No. 11 Houston (22-24, 4-18) — 7:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Thursday (all games on ESPN+)

Game 4: No. 4 Oklahoma State (33-17, 13-9) vs. No. 5 Arizona State (34-18, 14-10) — 11 a.m.

Game 5: No. 1 Texas Tech (42-12, 20-4) vs. Game 1 winner — 1:30 p.m.

Game 6: No. 2 Arizona (43-10, 17-7) vs. Game 2 winner — 5 p.m.

Game 7: No. 3 Iowa State (30-22, 15-9) vs. Game 3 winner — 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday (all games on ESPN+)

Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner — 3 p.m.

Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner — 5:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday (ESPN)

Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner — 11 a.m.