Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseball Hosts No. 14 Texas
March 06, 2002 | Baseball
March 6, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
No. 14 Texas Longhorns (15-4, 1-2) at
Texas Tech Red Raiders (15-7, 0-3)
Dan Law Field, Lubbock, Texas
TECH AND TEXAS SET FOR CLASH AT DAN LAW
Texas Tech will open its 15-game Big 12 home schedule this weekend against rival Texas. Texas Tech enters the weekend with a mark of 15-7 while Texas comes into the match-up with a No. 14 national ranking and a 15-7 overall mark. First pitch of the three-day series is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night at Dan Law Field.
The Red Raiders come into the series with an 0-3 mark in the Big 12 after suffering its first sweep by Texas A&M since the 1993 season. Texas A&M dropped the Red Raiders 7-6, 8-6 and 4-1 this past weekend in College Station. Texas Tech, however, rebounded in the midweek by dropping the TCU Horned Frogs 17-11 and 17-4. Texas Tech won the season long series with TCU 6-0.
The Texas Longhorns come to Dan Law Field this weekend after having dropped two games to the Baylor Bears in their conference debut last weekend. Texas dropped the first game to Baylor in Waco 5-4 and then tied the series with a 4-3 win on Saturday in Austin. Baylor clinched the series with a 11-4 win on Sunday afternoon at Disch-Falk Field.
Fans who plan to attend the weekend series are being reminded to arrive early as the ABC Rodeo is also being held this weekend across the street at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. Parking is on a first-come first-served basis.
TEXAS TECH AT A GLANCE
- Texas Tech now stands at 15-7 on the season thanks to two midweek wins over TCU. Texas Tech defeated the Frogs 17-11 on Tuesday night and then 17-4 on Wednesday afternoon. The Red Raiders are 0-3 in the Big 12 after being swept by Texas A&M last weekend in College Station in the league opener.
- Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays is just two wins away from reaching the 600th win of his career at Texas Tech. Hays is currently 598-312-2 in 16 seasons as the Red Raider skipper. He is also just seven wins away from picking up the 1,300th win of his career.
- Senior catcher Willie Durazo is currently on a 11-game hitting streak. Durazo started his streak against Southwest Texas on Feb. 17 and kept it alive thanks to a 2-for-3 day against TCU on Wednesday. The longest hitting streak by any Tech player this season was a 13-game stint by Jon Slack.
- The Red Raiders are 0-3 in the Big 12 for the second straight year and enter the series with Texas at 0-3 for the second straight season. Texas Tech has a combined record of 5-10 in the opening weekend of Big 12 play yet was tied with Baylor at the start of the season for the most number of Big 12 wins (96).
- Texas Tech's team batting average is currently at a season-high as the Red Raiders are hitting .325.
LAST TIME OUT Texas Tech Humbles TCU With 17-4 Win
Red Raiders sweep season series with TCU 6-0
LUBBOCK, Texas - Junior Jon Slack went 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Texas Tech Red Raiders to a 17-4 win over TCU on Wednesday afternoon giving the Red Raiders a season sweep of the Frogs 6-0. The game was called in the seventh inning due to the 10-run rule.
Texas Tech improved to 15-7 on the season with the win and has now won 21-straight games at Dan Law Field. TCU fell to 6-9 on the year having lost six of its games to Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders scored early and often in the contest as the squad put up 15 runs in the first three innings. All nine position players for Texas Tech recorded at least one hit on the afternoon and eight finished with at least two hits in the contest. Willie Durazo picked up a team-high four RBI on the afternoon thanks to a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, which was his fifth of the season.
Dusty Buck picked up his second win of the season and the second against TCU as he pitched 5.0 innings allowing three runs on six hits. Chris Osentowski suffered the loss for TCU as the Red Raiders tagged the right-hander with eight earned runs on nine hits.
Texas Tech will put its home win streak to the test this weekend as the squad welcomes No. 14 Texas for a crucial three-game Big 12 series at Dan Law Field. First pitch of the series is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night.
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS
The No. 14 Texas Longhorns will bring a mark of 15-4 to Lubbock this weekend for a crucial series against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Texas lost its conference opening series to Baylor 2-1 marking the seventh straight time that Baylor has won the regular-season series over Texas. The Longhorns improved their record this week by taking a 2-1 decision over Winthrop on Tuesday evening in Austin.
The Longhorns are being led offensively by Tim Moss who is batting .385 as he is 25-of-65 at the plate. As a team, Texas is hitting .318 and has been successful on 23 of 25 stolen base attempts. The Horns have committed 28 defensive miscues for a fielding percentage of .963.
The Texas pitching staff will bring an overall ERA of 2.68 to town this weekend as they are holding opposing offenses to just .231 hitting. The leader on the hill for Texas has been Justin Simmons who is 2-0 on the year with a 2.00 ERA.
The injury bug has bitten the Longhorns as Ryan France and Ben King are both out for the season and Brandon Fahey is not expected to return to the team until late in the year. OF NOTE: Shortstop Omar Quintanilla will return to action in the Sunday game as he will finish his 21-game NCAA suspension on Saturday.
THE SERIES BREAKDOWN
Texas has a commanding all-time series lead over Texas Tech that currently stands at 77-33 with Friday night being the 110th meeting between the two schools. The Red Raiders have never swept a three-game series from Texas but has swept two-game sets on a few occasions. Tech, however, has won the last five regular season meetings and eight out of the last nine. The Red Raiders are 11-6 against Texas since the inception of the Big 12 back in 1997. The Red Raiders also sport an 8-3 record against Texas at Dan Law Field dating back to the 1993 season.
ON DECK
Texas Tech is currently in the middle of a seven-game home stand that will wrap up on Wednesday, March 13. Following the weekend series with Texas, the Red Raiders will host Sam Houston State in a two-game set beginning on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. and will wrap up at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Texas Tech will hit the road again over the weekend as they travel to Oklahoma State to face the Cowboys March 15-17 in Stillwater, Okla. The Red Raiders play three of their first four Big 12 Conference series on the road.
