Texas Tech University Athletics
Up In Arms
February 05, 2003 | Baseball
by Adam Quisenberry
Baseball is essentially made of three simple parts. Hitting, pitching and defense. Joe Garagiola once said "It takes pitching, hitting and defense. Any two can win. All three makes you unbeatable." Bearing this in mind, Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays has always based his team on the principles of playing solid defense while relying on great pitching. This season is no exception, as the Red Raiders will be relying heavily on strong pitching to continue the program's winning ways. After graduation claimed last season's entire infield, the team's starting catcher, and a good portion of the bullpen in addition to the loss of junior center fielder and leadoff hitter Jon Slack, who was drafted in the 5th round of the Major League draft by the New York Mets, Tech will fall back on the old baseball principle that a team is only as good as the starter who takes the hill that day.
First-year pitching coach Brian Strickland knows the importance of this philosophy, citing it as the biggest key to a successful 2003 campaign.
"No matter what part of the season you're in, pitching is important," said Strickland, who has arrived in Lubbock after four years as the pitching coach at Abilene Christian University. "If you can pitch and play defense, you're going to be pretty successful. The junior college (position players) we've brought in have proven they can play, but for us pitching is still the key. Whether it's early or late in our season, pitching will be the key to our success."
The pieces appear to be in place to achieve such success as the Red Raiders enter the 2003 season with one of the most talented and experienced starting staffs in the entire Big 12 Conference. Seniors Nathan Fouts and Dusty Buck along with junior Steve Gooch are back for the Red and Black this season and are the reason that many around the college baseball world are expecting the Red Raiders to again ascend to the top the Big 12 standings. The trio led Tech to a 42-20 overall record last season and the program's eighth consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament, the longest such streak in the Big 12.
Waco product Steve Gooch pitched his way to the front of the Red Raider rotation a year ago and looks to continue his dependability as the Red Raiders' Friday-night starter in 2003. Gooch finished the '02 campaign with a 7-2 record and a 3.86 ERA and a team leading 112 innings pitched. On April 4th, Gooch took the hill a day after Tech suffered one of its most disappointing losses, a 15-inning heartbreaker 7-5 at the hands of Kansas State, and responded by propelling the Red Raiders to a 15-0 shutout while stifling the Wildcats in a six-hit complete game. When the Red Raiders ended regular season play and headed for the post season, it was Gooch who took the hill for the opening games of both the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Regional Tournament. Though he received a no-decision in each of the post-season starts, Gooch's solid innings helped to propel Tech to victories in both games.
Senior Nathan Fouts of Las Vegas, Nev., enters the season having what some consider to be the best stuff on the staff. In 2002 he led the team with 76 strikeouts in 101.1 innings of work and compiled an 8-7 record. A fixture in the rotation all of last season, Fouts used his power to fan a season and team high 11 batters in a 5-1 complete game win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 20. He also flirted with baseball record books as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a 6-2 win over Southwest Texas State.
Lubbock native Dusty Buck figures to be the third part of the Red Raiders pitching equation this season as he turned heads after making the switch from the midweek starter to a mainstay in the weekend rotation in his first season at Tech last year. The newcomer from Howard College posted an impressive 8-2 record with a 4.30 ERA. The 1999 graduate of Lubbock Monterey found immediate success in his first start for the Red Raiders as he surrendered only two earned runs in five innings and earned the win in a 10-9 victory at TCU in late February.
With the experience of nearly 300 innings of pitching at the Division IA level, all three players feel confident heading into the season.
"Having experience is very important for us," Fouts noted. "All three of us starters have been through this before- we've been in the battles. Looking at the conference, we know who is good, who can run and who's got power. We know how to pitch through the winning and the losing."
"We have a solid staff and a lot of confidence with the three of us coming back," added Buck, who is one of only four seniors on the team. "It's nice to have guys that have pitched a lot of innings and that everybody knows can get the job done. Everybody feels confident with whoever we have on the mound."
However impressive the numbers that trio puts up for Coach Larry Hays this season, one of their most important contributions to the team will not be measured in wins, ERA, or strikeouts. On a team that lost 28 letterwinners from a year ago, the value of leadership in integrating the 25 newcomers into the Texas Tech system will be an integral part of the team's performance. All three players know how important it is for them to be leaders on the field and look forward to the challenge.
"Leadership is a big goal of all the returnees." Gooch said. "So what we want to do is go out and influence everybody. It is important for us to set the example and get everybody on the same page."
"It is going to be really important for us to out and pitch well, especially early," Buck stated. "It's important for us to go out there and to be able to throw well and allow everyone else to relax and play and not to have to try to win the game for us."
With a bullpen filled mostly with newcomers, the importance of nerve-calming performances from the starters will be high, especially early in the year. If the triumvirate of starting hurlers can carry the weight as the new bullpen and infield become acquainted with Division I baseball, 2003 could be the year that Coach Larry Hays and his Red Raider program find themselves enjoying mid-June afternoons in Omaha.
