Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Baseball Hosts Oklahoma For Three-Game Series
April 27, 2000 | Baseball
April 27, 2000
A QUICK LOOK AT TEXAS TECH
The Texas Tech Red Raiders host the Oklahoma Sooners in the final Big 12 series at Dan Law Field. Texas Tech has won six of their last seven games and 14 of the last 16 at home. Since losing a seaon-high five straight from 3/11-14, the Red Raiders have won 15 of 21 games. Last weekend, Tech won two of three games against Kansas in Lawrence. The Red Raiders won the series opener on Friday night 9-4, lost game two 4-0 on Saturday and won the finale 12-4 on Sunday. Texas Tech defeated Wayland Baptist, 7-3, on Tuesday night. During that game, the Red Raiders broke the single-season record for sacrifice flys when David O'Keeffe recorded the team's 35th of the 2000 season.
Going into the final weekend of April, the Red Raiders are 11-3 in the month after going 9-8 in February and 8-8 in March. The Tech pitching staff has lowered their ERA each month. In February, the staff's ERA was 7.01 (116 ER/149.0 IP) followed by a 5.99 (91 ER/136.2 IP) mark in March. In 14 games this month, the ERA is 4.13 (56 ER/122.0 IP). In addition to the lowered ERA, Tech pitchers have walked 29 batters in April (2.1 per 9.0 IP). Over the last 13 games, the Tech pitching staff has posted a 3.83 ERA (49 ER/115.0 IP) and have walked just 25 batters (2.0 BB per 9.0 IP).
Texas Tech's 10 seniors will be honored prior to the Tuesday night game. The final two home games of the year will be May 2-3 against UT-San Antonio. Tuesday's game with Roadrunners will be at 7 p.m. followed by a 3 p.m. start on Wednesday. The Red Raiders will be on the road for their final three games at Oklahoma State, May 12-14.
AT THE PLATE
Through 47 games, the Red Raiders have outscored opponents 406-303 ... Tech is averaging 8.6 runs and 10.7 hits per game ... they have reached the double-figure mark in runs 19 times this season, but just four times in the last 18 games ... as a team, Texas Tech is hitting .306 with 107 doubles, 17 triples, 45 home runs and 354 RBI ... Tech hitters have walked 270 times (5.7 BB per game) while opponents have walked 150 times ... with runners in scoring position, they are hitting .323 (186-575) and are averaging 8.6 runners left on base per game (404 in 47 games) ... when runners are on base, the team is batting .332 (292-880) and when the bases are empty the average drops to .277 (210-758) ... with the bases loaded, Tech is 31-83 (.373) ... the Red Raiders are hitting .308 (96-312) against lefties and .306 (406-1,326) against right-handers ... Tech pinch hitters are 18-45 (.400) ... the lineup broke the single-season school record with their 35th sacrifice fly on 4/25 vs. Wayland Baptist... the record had stood since 1988 ... Texas Tech has hit five grand slams and 10 Red Raiders have at least two home runs ... in the Kansas series: hit .315 (35-111) in the three games ... defensively, committed just one error in 117 chances (.991 FLD%) and turned two double plays ... was outhit 36-35, but outscored the Jayhawks 21-12 ... left 33 men on base ... walked 14 times compared to just twice for Kansas ... successful in six of seven stolen base attempts ... Eiguren and Rainey's back-to-back home runs were the fourth time this season (Eiguren-Rainey, 2/22, Eiguren-Holzhauer, 2/8 and Landry-Rainey, 4/15) ... it was the second time the Eiguren and Rainey combined for back-to-back bombs.
ON THE MOUND
The Tech pitching staff owns a 5.81 ERA (263 ER/407.2 IP) in 47 games this year ... the ERA is at its lowest point since the second game of the season (2.00 ERA) ... Tech pitchers have walked just five batters over the last 53.0 IP (6 games) ... an average of 0.85 per 9.0 IP ... in Big 12 games, the staff holds a 1.5:1 (127 SO/86 BB) strikeout-to-walk ratio while in non-conference games, the rate is 2.3:1 (147 SO/64 BB) ... Red Raider pitchers are averaging 6.0 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (274 SO/407.2 IP) and own a 1.8:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (274 SO/150 BB) ... starting pitchers have walked 85 batters in 247.1 IP (3.1 BB per 9.0 IP) and the bullpen is averaging 6.7 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (120 SO/160.1 IP) ... opponents are hitting .311 (516-1,659) with 107 doubles, 17 triples and 36 home runs ... right-handers are hitting .326 (350-1,075) while lefties are batting .284 (166-584) ... Tech pitchers have hit at least one batter in 30 games this year and at one point, hit a batter in 10 straight games (2/18-3/4) ... the Red Raiders are 17-13 in those 30 games ... in the Kansas series: used just four pitchers ... posted a 3.81 ERA (11 ER/26.0 IP) on 36 hits ... struck out 18 while walking just two ... held Kansas to four runs in all three games.
A TALE OF TWO TEAMS
At the friendly confines of Dan Law Field, Texas Tech posts a record of 21-6, but on the road the Red Raiders are 7-13 ... however, Tech's fielding percentage on the road is .975 (18 E/723 TC) compared to a .967 mark (36 E/1,082 TC) at home ... in Lubbock, the pitching staff is averaging 6.4 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (173 SO/242.0 IP) ... away from home, the staff averages 5.5 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (101 SO/165.2 IP) ... designated hitter Chaz Eiguren is hitting .396 (42-106) at Dan Law Field and is 26-80 (.325) on the road, but has hit six of his 10 home runs away from home ... Marco Cunningham owns a .349 (38-109) average at Dan Law Field compared to a .253 (19-75) mark on the road ... pitcher J.J. Newman's ERA at home is 5.03 (27 ER/48.1 IP) and on the road it is 8.69 (19 ER/19.2 IP).
MOVING UP THE CHARTS
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. Against Kansas State, Coach Hays moved into eighth place among all-time coaches in career victories ahead of Al Olgetree.
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 full 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.
FOR THE RECORD
. Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays moved into eighth place among all-time winningest coaches with his 1,219th victory on 4/2 vs. Kansas State ... he is also fourth in victories among active coaches ... ahead of Hays on both lists is Wichita State's Gene Stephenson ... Hays has 1,227 career wins.
. The 2000 Texas Tech team set the single-season sacrifice fly record with 35 ... thier current fielding percentage of .970 is ranked third all-time ... the Red Raiders have been hit by a pitch 48 times in 2000 which ranks third all-time.
. Mark Austry has moved into a tie for ninth place on the career games played list at 158 ... he is tied with Ronnie Mattson (1973-76) and Larry Selby (1977-80) at 158 ... ahead of Austry is Bobby Kohler (1979-82) at 161 games.
. Brennan Burns needs just one double to move into a tie for 17th place with 29.
. Marco Cunningham has moved into a tie for seventh on the stolen base list with 52 in his career ... he needs four more to tie Keith Ginter (1997-98) ... Cunningham is 14th in doubles with 32 and is 14th with 119 runs.
. Miles Durham is tied for 16th all-time in stolen bases with 35.
. Chaz Eiguren's career batting average of .357 (100-280) puts him in 14th place all-time and his .607 (170 TB/280 AB) slugging percentage is ranked 16th.
. Jason Rainey's eight triples tie the single-season mark held by three others ... Jon Weber (1999), Stubby Clapp (1996) and Ronnie Mattson (1975) are the others ... he is also tied for fifth on the single-season chart with 49 strikeouts.
. Brandon Roberson is fifth all-time with a 2.34 ERA and second all-time with 10 saves.
. Kevin Tracey moved into eighth place with his 11th complete game ... is also sixth with five career saves ... Tracey is 15th with 54 walks and 13th with 79 earned runs ... in the single-season records, Tracey is tied for 13th with 20 appearanes and tied for ninth with seven complete games.
GIVE ME THE BALL
Throughout the season, Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays has called upon right-hander Kevin Tracey in every situation a pitcher can face. Tracey is the only pitcher in Big 12 history to record at least seven complete games and five saves in a single season. In six of the eight conference series, Tracey has appeared in at least two games. At Texas A&M and Nebraska, he pitched in two games on the same day. In two consecutive weekends against Iowa State and Texas, he saved the Saturday game and tossed a complete game victory on Sunday.
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. 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 basketball broadcaster Jack Dale from 8-9 a.m. each week. 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 through May 14. It will be broadcasted on CBS-affilate KLBK at 11:30 p.m. Hays is one of just seven collegiate coaches to have a weekly television show.
ROBERSON AND ACKERMAN TO SIT OUT REMAINDER OF SEASON
Right-handed starting pitchers Brandon Roberson and Chaz Ackerman have decided to sit out the remainder of the 2000 season.
Roberson, Texas Tech's opening day starter, 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.
Ackerman, a junior-college transfer from Connor J.C., has been diagnosed with a microfracture in his right elbow. He injured the arm in his third start on 2/13 vs. USC.
Texas Tech will appeal to the Big 12 Conference for a medical redshirt on both player'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.
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.
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 opened the FOX Sports broadcast season on March 19 in Lubbock. The games will be a regional broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest, Midwest and Rocky Mountain. The Big 12 Tournament Championship game will be nationally broadcasted on May 12.
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.
Red Raiders vs. Sooners
The Series
Texas Tech leads the all-time series 12-10. Tech and Oklahoma played each other for the first time in 1976. Prior to the Big 12, the Sooners won six of the nine meetings. Since then, the Red Raiders are 9-4 against Oklahoma including seven straight victories.
| Overall | Tech leads 12-10 |
| 1st meeting | 3/23/76 |
| in Lubbock | Tech leads 3-2 |
| in Norman | Tech leads 6-5 |
| at a Neutral site | Series tied at 3-3 |
| Last 5 meetings vs. OU | 5-0 |
| Last Tech win | 3-1, 4/11/99 |
| Last OU win | 15-1, 4/24/98 |
| Biggest Tech win | 18-6, 4/27/97 |
| Biggest Tech loss | 15-1, 4/24/98 |
A Quick Look at Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Sooners enter the weekend series at 31-16 overall and 14-7 in the Big 12. They are tied for third in the conference with Nebraska. Last weekend, the Sooners swept Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series.
Head coach Larry Cochell is in his 10th season as the head coach at Oklahoma with a record of 380-214. Overall, Cochell is among winningest active coaches with a 1,176-671-3 career record in his 34th season.
At the plate, the Sooners are hitting .305 with 89 doubles, eight triples and 38 home runs in 47 games. Infielder Tommy Whiteman leads the team with a .370 average and 13 doubles. Senior Rick Park has hit 12 home runs and 10 doubles while batting .330.
Reliever Jeff Bajenaru leads the pitching staff with 15 saves and a 2.11 ERA in 26 games. Overall, the Sooners own a 4.70 staff ERA and are holding opponents to a .250 average. Right-hander Austin Mix is 9-1 while striking out 74 batters in 76.0 innings.
