Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseball Plays Host To Missouri
March 28, 2002 | Baseball
March 28, 2002
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NO. 26 TEXAS TECH TO PLAY HOST TO MISSOURI
The 26th-ranked Texas Tech baseball team will play host to the Missouri Tigers in a key Big 12 series this weekend at Dan Law Field. The Red Raiders, who have played three of four conference series on the road, currently stand at 21-12 overall and have a 5-7 mark in the Big 12 Conference. Missouri, a team that finished 31-24-1 last season, comes into the series with some momentum after having defeated the Top 10 ranked Baylor Bears 2-of-3 last weekend in Columbia. The Tigers are 10-13 on the season and 2-7 in the Big 12.
The Red Raiders, coming off a 2-1 series loss to No. 13 Nebraska last weekend in Lincoln, are anxious about a little home cooking that is coming Tech's way as the squad plays 20 of its last 23 games at Dan Law Field. The only remaining road trip for the squad will be a three-game series in Lawrence, Kan. April 12-14 against the Kansas Jayhawks. Texas Tech has posted a record of 11-2 at home this season and is 10-10 on the road.
The Texas Tech Athletic Department will reward those fans who stay in Lubbock for the Easter weekend with some very special promotions. On Friday night, Texas Tech and Missouri will "Turn Back The Clock" and wear replica uniforms from the 1920's and 1950's respectively. Other Friday festivities, include reduced concession stand prices, a barbershop quartet singing the Star Spangled Banner, two mystery guests singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame and various giveaways. The weekend will conclude on Easter Sunday with an Easter Egg hunt on the field following the conclusion of the 1 p.m. game against the Tigers.
TEXAS TECH AT A GLANCE
- Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays is looking to become just the fourth active head baseball coach to win 1,300 career games and the sixth in NCAA history as he is just one win away from the mark. Hays has a career record of 1,299-698-3 in his 32-year career as a college head coach.
- Texas Tech, who has played 20 of its 33 games on the road, returns home to play 20 of its last 23 games at home. The Red Raiders are 11-2 at Dan Law Field so far this season.
- Senior Nick Blankenship has a Big 12 best 12 home runs and 49 RBI. Blankenship's RBI total is third in the nation behind New Mexico State's Gabe Veloz' 59 RBI and Ryan Kenning's 68 RBI.
- Texas Tech's .321 team batting average is fourth in the Big 12 behind Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State. * Senior shortstop Gera Alvarez will put his career-best 14-game hitting streak on the line on Friday night as he will try to tally the longest hit streak by any Big 12 player this season. Missouri's Jayce Tingler holds the current record of 14 games.
Brown Paces No. 23 Texas Tech Past No. 13 Nebraska
Senior Jake Brown gets game winning RBI in the ninth
LINCOLN, Neb. - Senior third baseman Jake Brown got an RBI single in the top of the ninth to give No. 23 Texas Tech a 4-3 win over No. 13 Nebraska in the final game of the series on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Texas Tech improves to 21-12 and 5-7 in the Big 12 while Nebraska falls to 14-7 and 6-3 in the league.
Nebraska took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to two solo home runs by Jeff Leise and Matt Hopper. Leise and Hopper earned their fifth and third home runs of the year respectively.
Texas Tech got is top three hitters in the order on base in the top of the fifth inning and sophomore Brent Fossum plated the first run of the game for the Red Raiders with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Tech tied the game in the top of the sixth when Scooter Jordan singled down the third base line moving Jon Slack from first to third. Slack scored on the play after Nebraska second baseman Jeff Blevins misplayed the throw trying to tag Jordan going to second.
Justin Seely put Nebraska back in the lead with an RBI double down the right field line plating Jeff Blevins from second. Blevins led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a balk by Tech starter Steve Gooch.
Senior third baseman Jake Brown tied the score at 3-3 in the top of the seventh with an RBI single up the middle that plated Bryon Smith who got a one-out single earlier in the inning.
Brown picked up his second RBI of the game in the top of the ninth when he laced a line drive over the Nebraska shortstop plating Bryon Smith from third base and putting Tech ahead 4-3.
Steve Rowe (4-1) picked up the win for Texas Tech while Waylon Byers (1-1) suffered the loss for Nebraska.
NOTE: This was the 2,000th game of Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays' 32-year coaching career. He needs just one more win to pick up the 1,300th win of his career.
BREAKING DOWN THE TIGERS
The Missouri Tigers will bring a 10-13 overall record and 2-7 mark in Big 12 play to Lubbock this weekend where they will face Texas Tech at Dan Law Field. Missouri will come to town after winning its first Big 12 series of the season last weekend when they took 2-of-3 from Top 10 ranked Baylor in Columbia.
Cody Ehlers entered the week not only as Missouri's top hitter but as the top hitter in the Big 12 with a .438 batting average. Thanks to a 3-for-3 night against Harris-Stowe on Tuesday night, Ehlers is now batting .461 with an on-base percentage of .548 and seven home runs.
Leadoff hitter Jayce Tingler, who was named the best baserunner in the Big 12 by Baseball America, has reached base 18 times on 38 attempts as the leadoff hitter and has a team-high six stolen bases.
The Missouri pitching staff has an overall ERA of 7.02 ranking them last in the Big 12 pitching standings. The Tigers, however, boast three very talented freshmen in Abel Newton, James Justin and Garrett Broshuis that will take the hill over the weekend.
THE SERIES BREAKDOWN
Texas Tech leads the all-time series with Missouri 10-9 and has a mark of 10-7 against the Tigers in Big 12 play. Missouri, however, has won the last two series against the Red Raiders by going 2-1 last season in Columbia and 2-1 in Lubbock in 2000. The two teams are tied at 1-1 in games played in the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
ON DECK
Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays announced this past week that he has added a makeup game with Howard Payne University on Tuesday, April 2 at Dan Law Field. Game time has been set for 5 p.m.
The game with Howard Payne was added to the schedule to replace a game lost with New Mexico on Tuesday, March 19 due to heavy rains. Following the Tuesday game with Howard Payne, Texas Tech will face-off against Kansas State in a three-game home Big 12 series beginning on Friday, April 5.
RED RAIDERS GO RETRO
Thanks to the Tech Hecklers, the Texas Tech baseball team will go "retro" this weekend as the squad turns back the clock to the year 1926. Texas Tech and Missouri will both participate in what the Tech Athletic Department is coining "Turn Back The Clock Night" on Friday, March 29. While Texas Tech will wear uniforms that are replicas of the first Tech team in 1926, Missouri will flash back to 1952 to celebrates the school's first-ever College World Series team.
The flashy uniforms won't be the only token of the night as numerous other activities have been scheduled. The Singing Plainsmen of Lubbock will present the National Anthem in barbershop style while two "mystery" guest will sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch. Texas Tech concession stands will feature reduced prices and there will be numerous give away's during the evening by the Tech marketing staff. Commemorative t-shirts will be on sale for one night only on Friday night at the Double T Shoppe located in the concourse of Dan Law Field.
MOVIN' ON UP
The Red Raiders have been doing their George Jefferson imitation over the last three weeks in what is THE most important rankings concerning college baseball---the RPI's. Texas Tech debuted in the RPI's three weeks ago at No. 37 and has since jumped up 18 spots to No. 19. Last week, the Red Raiders were at No. 27 but two wins on the road against No. 21 Oklahoma State and a win over No. 13 Nebraska moved the Red Raider to their current position.
Texas Tech has an ISR (Iterative Strength Ranking) of No. 19. The ISR rankings combine wins/losses and strength of schedule. The RPI and ISR rankings are according to Boyd Nation of the website boydsworld.com.
A LOOK AT TECH'S OPPONENTS
Texas Tech has been getting some help lately from its non-conference opponents which has helped moved Tech up higher in the RPI rankings. The following is a brief update on just a few of Tech non-conference opponents: TCU: Swept No. 20 East Carolina in North Carolina last weekend and then defeated No. 10 Baylor 5-3 on Tuesday. 13-14, 4-2 Seton Hall: Currenty on five-game win streak. 9-11 overall BYU: Currently stand at 9-14-1 overall and 3-2 in Mtn. West Houston: Swept Tulane last weekend and stands at 18-7 overall. Ranked as high as No. 5 by Baseball America. SWT: Beat No. 3 Rice 8-5 on Tuesday. 16-12 overall FOUR AWAY
Senior preseason All-American Nick Blankenship is starting to feel like last year's Texas Ranger pitching staff. He just keeps getting hit.
Blankenship needs just four more hit-by-pitches to tie the Big 12 record of 24 set by Billy Gasparino of Oklahoma State during the 1999 season.
ALL-AMERICAN PACE
Texas Tech sports two legitimate All-America candidates in senior Nick Blankenship and junior Jon Slack. Blankenship currently leads the Big 12 with an amazing 49 RBI and has tallied 12 multiple RBI games this season. Blankenship also leads the Big 12 with 12 home runs which is two more than he had the entire season in 2001. Junior outfielder Jon Slack is also making his case for All-American honors as he is batting a team-best .395 and has hit safely 49 times in 124 at-bats and has drawn a league-high 31 walks. Slack leads the Big 12 in number of hits (49) and runs scored (42).
THIS AND THAT
- The Texas Tech offense has tallied 10-plus hit games in 23 of the team's 33 games. Tech has also gotten 10-plus hits in 18 of its last 22 games.
- Senior third baseman Jake Brown may have the quietest hitting streak of any player on the team. Brown is currently riding an eight-game hit streak that dates back to March 12. Brown got RBI singles to both tie and win the third game for the Red Raiders at Nebraska last Saturday.
- The Red Raiders have the third-best fielding percentage in the Big 12 at .965.
- Texas Tech is ranked No. 26 this week by Collegiate Baseball Magazine and No. 30 by the NCBWA.
- Texas Tech is 5-6 against ranked opponents this season.
RED RAIDERS SIGN 16 FOR 2003
Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays and staff has once again assembled another outstanding recruiting class that includes eight pitchers, six infielders and two outfielders. The class features local pitching standout Jamal Hamilton out of Monterey High School in Lubbock. Hamilton, a 6'4 left-handed pitcher, is listed by Texas Baseball Magazine as one of the Ten Best recruits in the State of Texas.
HONORING AMERICA
The Texas Tech baseball team will pay special tribute to the Spirit of America this season. The team will wear special hats that feature an embroidered American flag on the back of the hat. The team wishes to honor our country's policemen, firemen, military and the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th.
HAYS INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME
On Nov. 15th of 2001, Texas Tech Head Baseball Coach Larry Hays was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. Hays is just the fourth-ever college head coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 2001 class featured Will Clark, Doug Drabek, Ruben Sierra, Jack Lindsay, Durwood Merrill and Curtis Walker. Hays is the all-time winningest head coach at Texas Tech and is the sixth winningest head coach in the history of NCAA baseball.
BLANKENSHIP EARNS PRESEASON HONORS
Texas Tech senior third baseman has been named to two different preseason All-America teams. Blankenship is listed as a second-team pick by the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) and a third team pick by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Collegiate Baseball Magazine also tabbed Blankenship as the preseason Big 12 Player-of-the-Year. He was a first-team All-Big 12 pick last season after hitting .358 with 10 home runs.
PHASE ONE OF RENOVATIONS COMPLETE
Texas Tech's Dan Law Field underwent the first-phase of renovations this summer and the work was completed just prior to the first series against BYU. A state-of-the-art locker room was constructed down the left field line that features a complete training room, equipment room, coaches offices and lockers, indoor batting cages and a spacious dressing room. A new outfield wall was erected that includes new bullpens in left and right field. A brick exterior fence was also constructed around the perimeter of the stadium and a interior brick facade was added.
