Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Travel To Lincoln
March 23, 2000 | Baseball
March 23, 2000
LUBBOCK, Tex. - The Texas Tech Red Raiders travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for a three-game set with the Cornhuskers. Tech's game on Wednesday with TCU was rained out. The Red Raiders have won seven straight games at Dan Law Field and are 8-5 over their last 13 games. On the road, Texas Tech has lost nine of 11 games.
Last weekend, Tech registered the first conference series sweep of the season as they defeated Baylor in Lubbock. Texas Tech won 3-2 on Friday, 16-11 on Saturday and 10-6 on Sunday to move into a five-team tie for third place in the Big 12. Prior to the sweep, the Red Raiders had dropped a season-high five straight games. Baylor entered the series with a team ERA of 2.78 and left Lubbock carrying a 3.53 staff ERA.
After the Nebraska series, TCU will come back to Lubbock to play a 2:30 p.m. game on Tuesday. The Red Raiders will host Kansas State next weekend in a three-game series. First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday's game will start at 2 p.m. and the Sunday finale will be a 1 p.m. game.
Texas Tech (16-13, 5-4) at Nebraska (15-7, 5-4)
Friday, March 24 - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 25 - 1:00 p.m. (DH)
Buck Beltzer Stadium - Lincoln, Nebraska
AT THE PLATE
Through 29 games, the Red Raiders have outscored opponents 272-213. Tech is averaging 9.4 runs and 11.2 hits per game. They have reached the double-figure mark in runs 15 times this season. As a team, Texas Tech is hitting .321 with 73 doubles, 11 triples, 28 home runs and 232 RBI. Tech hitters have walked 178 times while opponents have walked 99 times. With runners in scoring position, they are hitting .316 (118-373) and are averaging 8.8 runners left on base per game (255 in 29 games). The Red Raiders are hitting .333 (58-174) against lefties while going 267-840 (.318) against right-handers. Tech pinch hitters are 11-32 (.344). The lineup has notched 27 sacrifice flys in 2000. The 1988 team set the school record with 34.
Texas Tech has hit three grand slams and 12 Red Raiders have at least one home run. Chaz Eiguren leads the team in average (.446), hits (50), home runs (7), RBI (43), slugging percentage (.723) and on-base percentage (.500). Since starting in rightfield on 3/14, Chad Landry is hitting .500 (9-18) with three home runs, a triple, double, four runs and 10 RBI.
ON THE MOUND
The Tech pitching staff owns a 6.49 ERA (179 ER/248.1 IP) in 29 games this year. Red Raider pitchers are averaging 6.9 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (191 SO/248.1 IP) and own a 1.9:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (191 SO/99 BB). Starting pitchers have walked 49 batters in 135.0 IP (3.3 BB per 9.0 IP) and the bullpen is averaging 7.1 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (89 SO/99.1 IP). Opponents are hitting .318 (328-1,031) and have hit 71 doubles against Texas Tech pitchers. Tech pitchers have hit at least one batter in 21 games this year and at one point, hit a batter in 10 straight games (2/18-3/4).
The pitching staff posted a 5.67 ERA (17 ER/27.0 IP) in the Baylor series. Kevin Tracey, penciled in as Sunday's starter, added two more saves on Friday and Saturday and pitched the ninth inning on Sunday. Left-hander Matt Harbin made his first appearance since 2/18 with 0.2 innings of relief on Sunday. Blake McGinley, also a left-hander, earned his first win of the season with 7.0 innings of relief Sunday afternoon.
In his last five starts, Tracey has tossed four complete games. He went 8.0 innings on 2/19 at Long Beach State and tossed 9.0 innings on 2/27 vs. Missouri. He earned his first complete game victory on 3/5 against San Diego State with two runs on seven hits, a walk and nine strikeouts. Tracey's best outing was on 3/11 at Texas A&M, but he suffered his fourth loss of the season. Tracey allowed just two runs on six hits, one walk and eight strikeouts over 8.1 innings after earning his first career save in the afternoon game.
ROBERSON TO SIT OUT REMAINDER OF SEASON
Texas Tech opening day starter Brandon Roberson will sit out the rest of the 2000 season. Roberson injured his right elbow in his first start of the season on February 2 against West Texas A&M. He was slated to be Texas Tech's number one starter after being named first team All-Big 12 and setting the single-season school save record last season.
Texas Tech will appeal to the NCAA for a medical redshirt on Roberson's behalf. According to the NCAA, a student-athlete may be granted an additional year of competition for reasons of "hardship." Hardship is defined as an incapacity resulting from an injury that has occurred under the following conditions: (1) The injury occurs prior to the completion of the first half of the playing season that concludes with the NCAA championship in that sport. (2) The injury occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than two contests or dates of competition or 20 percent of the institution's completed contests or dates of competition in his sport.
HAYS NOTCHES NO. 1,200
Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays became the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to tally 1,200 career wins on Feb. 2 with a 14-3 victory over West Texas A&M. In his 30th season, Hays is one of only four active NCAA Division I skippers to reach the 1,200-victory plateau. Entering the 2000 season, Coach Hays ranks fourth among active coaches and ninth among all-time coaches in career victories.
Coach Hays is Texas Tech's all-time winningest coach. He has led the Red Raiders to three conference championships and posted winning seasons in 12 of his 13 years. The Red Raiders have put together a streak of seven straight 40-plus win seasons and five NCAA Regional appearances under Hays. In 1998, he guided Tech to the Big 12 Tournament Championship with just seven pitchers.
He was named 1997 Big 12 Coach of the Year after the Red Raiders won the conference title with a 23-7 Big 12 mark. Texas Tech also claimed the No. 1 ranking in collegiate baseball for several weeks, the first time a Red Raider sport was ranked No. 1 in school history. In the summer of 1997, he was an assistant coach for the USA National Team. In 1995, Texas Tech set a school record with 51 wins and advanced to the Midwest I NCAA Region championship game.
In 29 seasons at the collegiate level, Coach Hays has led teams to 12 league titles and guided his 1983 Lubbock Christian University team to the NAIA national championship.
TEXAS TECH ON THE AIR
For the eighth consecutive season, the entire Texas Tech baseball schedule will be broadcasted live on the Red Raider Baseball Network. A number of Big 12 games will be available on statewide affiliates. Voice of Texas Tech Baseball Sam Stephens will handle the play-by-play duties. Stephens has a 20-minute pregame show and interviews players and coaches following each game. Games will be carried on Texas Tech's hometown station, KXTQ-950 AM as well as Texas Tech's official website www.texastech.com.
COACH HAYS ON THE AIR
Coach Hays' morning radio show will run on Thursday mornings on KKAM-1340 AM. Coach Hays will talk with Tech football/basketball broadcaster Jack Dale from 8-9 a.m.
The 1998 season marked the debut of The Larry Hays' Show, coach Hays' weekly television show. In its third season, the show will air on Sunday nights beginning March 19 and run through May 14. It will be broadcasted on ABC-affiliate KAMC at 11:00 p.m. and CBS-affilate KLBK at 11:30 p.m. Hays is one of just seven collegiate coaches to have a weekly television show.
INJURY REPORT
Outfielder Miles Durham re-injured his left hamstring in the first game of the Texas A&M series and will be out at least a month. The injury first occurred on 2/15 at TCU.
Starting pitcher Chaz Ackerman has been throwing in the bullpen after injuring his right arm on 2/13 against USC. The junior was warming up for the fourth inning when he suffered the injury. He is not expected to throw against TCU or in the Nebraska series.
EIGUREN NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Texas Tech senior Chaz Eiguren was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week by a select panel of media covering Big 12 baseball for games played Feb. 21-27. The designated hitter blasted five home runs and 16 RBI in Tech's four games that week. He was 13-21 (.619) at the plate and owned a 1.381 slugging percentage with 29 bases in 21 official trips. Eiguren tied an NCAA record last Tuesday with two home runs in the same inning. Against New Mexico, he hit a two-run homer and a grand slam in the Red Raiders' 10-run fifth inning. In his next at bat, the Broomfield, Colorado native sent a solo shot over the right-center field wall. For the game, he went 4-6 with three home runs and seven RBI.
In three games against Missouri, Eiguren hit .600 (9-15) with two home runs, a double and nine RBI. In Friday night's extra-inning loss, he tied the game with at three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. His final home run of the week came in the first inning on Sunday when he hit a two-run homer to put Tech up 2-0. Eiguren tallied three hits in all three games as he went 3-6 on Friday with five RBI, 3-4 on Saturday and 3-5 with four RBI on Sunday. Eiguren is the first Texas Tech Big 12 Player of the Week since Jon Weber was honored for the week of Feb. 1 last year. Shane Wright and Kevin Tracey were named conference Pitchers of the Week on Feb. 22 and Mar. 8, respectively.
BIG 12 ON THE TUBE
On Feb. 29, Regional Sports Networks, LLC., announced the debut of the COLLEGE SPORTS Southwest network beginning April 1, 2000. The network will cater to the members of the Big 12 Conference and will be on Cox Cable affiliates throughout Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. It will provide coverage of more than 31 live conference baseball and softball games in addition to live and replay coverage of the 2000 Big 12 Phillips 66 baseball tournament from Oklahoma City.
The first live telecast will be March 31 at 6:30 p.m. when Texas plays at Oklahoma. Texas Tech will be featured April 21-23 when they play at Kansas.
In addition to the COLLEGE SPORTS package, FOX Sports Net will broadcast a number of Big 12 baseball games for the four consecutive season. Texas Tech will open the FOX Sports broadcast season on March 19 in Lubbock. It will be a regional broadcast on FOX Sport Southwest, Midwest and Rocky Mountain. The Big 12 Tournament Championship game will be nationally broadcasted on May 12 at 1 p.m.
NEW ADDITIONS
Texas Tech baseball welcomes 18 new players and two new assistant coaches to the program this season. In July, Larry Hays hired Daren Hays and Britt Smith.
Daren Hays returns to Texas Tech after serving as the head coach at Lubbock Christian the past eight seasons. He spent the 1991 season as a Tech assistant where he was the hitting coach. While at LCU, Coach Hays compiled a 356-163 record and became the first LCU coach to win 300 games in just seven seasons. He will work with Red Raider outfielders and hitters.
Britt Smith also comes to Texas Tech from Lubbock Christian where he was the pitching coach last year. Prior to LCU, Smith played and coached at West Texas A&M. He played all nine positions for the Buffalos. Coach Smith has assisted three other former assistants of Larry Hays - Jimmy Shankle (former LCU head coach), Todd Howey (Tech grad and current West Texas A&M head coach) and Daren Hays. He will work with the Texas Tech pitching staff.
Coach Hays will look to replace All-Americans Josh Bard and Shane Wright with 18 newcomers (eight pitchers). Of those 17 new faces, there are 13 transfers and four true freshman.
PRESEASON HONORS
RHP Brandon Roberson was named preseason third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The senior right-hander was Texas Tech's opening day starter. Roberson was named first team All-Big 12 last year after setting the single season school save record (10) in 1999.
The Dallas Morning News picked the Red Raiders third in a preseason Big 12 poll and named outfielder Marco Cunningham and designated hitter Chaz Eiguren to the all-conference team.
Outfielder Miles Durham was cited by Baseball America as one of the top 100 in the college class of 2000. Durham was ranked 58th by the magazine's writers and major league scouting directors. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1997 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
THE SCHEDULE
The 2000 baseball schedule features a number of teams ranked up and down the preseason top 25 polls. Tech plays six teams in the preseason Collegiate Baseball poll, three in Baseball America and six in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll.
Red Raider opponents in the preseason polls posted a 255-131 (.661) overall record in 1999. Texas Tech will host Southern California (2/11-13), Baylor (3/17-19) and Texas (4/14-16) at Dan Law Field. The Red Raiders go on the road to visit Long Beach State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
Red Raiders vs. Cornhuskers
The Series
Tech leads the all-time series 8-4. The two schools played each other for the first time in 1990 and eight of the 12 games have been played in Lubbock. They were only able to play five innings at Dan Law Field last year because of heavy rain. Tech won the only meeting 10-2.
| Overall | Tech leads 8-4 |
| 1st meeting | 3/26/90 |
| in Lubbock | Tech leads 6-2 |
| in Lincoln | Nebraska leads 2-1 |
| at a Neutral site | Tech leads 1-0 |
| Last 5 meetings vs. Nebraska | 3-2 |
| Last Tech win | 10-2 (5 inn.), 4/30/99 |
| Last Nebraska win | 8-3, 4/22/98 |
| Biggest Tech win | 10-2 (5 inn.), 4/30/99 |
| Biggest Tech loss | 8-3, 4/22/98 |
| 10-5, 3/25/91 | |
| 8-3, 3/26/90 |
A Quick Look at Nebraska
The Cornhuskers enter the series at 15-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12. Nebraska defeated No. 18 Creighton 9-5 on Tuesday. They are locked in the five-way tie with Texas Tech in conference play.
Head Coach Dave Van Horn is in his third season at Nebraska and owns an 81-45 record. Prior to coaching in Lincoln, Van Horn won the NCAA Divsion II National Championship with Central Missouri State in 1994.
As a team, the Cornhuskers are hitting .302 with 48 stolen bases in 62 attempts. On the mound, the pitching staff holds a 2.86 ERA and are holding opponents to a .230 average.
Catcher Justin Cowan leads the team with a .382 average, 11 doubles and 30 RBI. First baseman Dan Johnson has hit five home runs in 13 games this year.
Left-handed pitcher Jamie Rodrigue is tops on the pitching staff with a 4-1 record and 1.56 ERA in six games. Shane Komine has a 2.30 ERA and is averaging 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. R.D. Spiehs leads the pitching staff with eight appearances and a pair of saves in 18.0 innings pitched.
