Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Baseball Battles San Diego In Weekend Series
February 06, 2003 | Baseball
Opponent: San Diego
Series Location: Lubbock, Texas
Stadium: Dan Law Field
Capacity: 5,050
Dates: Feb. 8-9, 2003
Game Times: Noon DH/1 p.m.
Radio: All Sports Radio Network (1340 KKAM):Mark Finkner (Play-By-Play); Jason Totman (Color)
Internet: www.texastech.com; Game Audio & Live Box Score
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RED RAIDERS TAKE ON 2002 WEST COAST CHAMP SAN DIEGO
The Texas Tech Red Raiders return to the diamond this weekend where they will take on the 2002 West Coast Conference Champion San Diego Toreros. The series will begin with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday.
Texas Tech enters the series with a 3-1 overall mark while San Diego comes to town with a record of 2-4 after being swept at home last weekend by No. 1 Texas. Texas Tech opened the 2003 campaign with a 2-1 series win over New Mexico over the weekend and followed it up with a Tuesday win over West Texas A&M.
Temperatures on Friday are expected to be under the freezing mark which means the series will most likely begin on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon. An announcement will be made on Friday morning.
Red Raider fans are reminded that Friday will be Coca-Cola Friday meaning that all fans who bring an unused Coca-Cola product to the game will receive $2 off the admission price. On Sunday, fans who present their Lady Raiders vs. Iowa State basketball game ticket will be admitted to the baseball game free of charge.
BRIEFLY
- Texas Tech will put its non-conference home series win record to the test again this weekend as the Red Raiders have not lost a home non-conference series in 13 years. The last time Tech lost a home non-conference series was against Hardin Simmons in 1989 and since then Tech has reeled off 80 series wins and 10 splits.
- Head Coach Larry Hays, currently the fourth-winningest active head coach in NCAA history, has a record of 629-326-2 in his 17 seasons at Texas Tech.
- Texas Tech set a school record for runs scored in a single inning this past Tuesday as they rang up 12 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against West Texas A&M. The previous record was 11 runs in a single inning that had been done twice before.
- The last time Texas Tech and San Diego met on the diamond was in 2001 when the Red Raiders defeated the Toreros 6-1 at the San Diego State Classic in San Diego, Calif. San Diego won the previous meeting 13-10 back in 1999.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO
The San Diego Toreros (2002 West Coast Conference Champions) will bring a 2-4 overall record to Lubbock this weekend for a three-game series at Dan Law Field. The Toreros kicked off the 2003 campaign with a three-game set at home against Cal-Poly and won that series 2-1. San Diego took on Tech rival Texas this past weekend in San Diego but was unable to come away with a win as the Longhorns swept the three-game series.
San Diego is being led offensively by centerfielder/relief pitcher Tony Perez who is batting .474 on the year with nine hits in 19 at-bats. As a team, the Toreros are hitting .305.
On the hill, the Toreros are being led by Sean Warlop who is 1-1 on the season with a 7.71 ERA in seven innings of work. San Diego has a team ERA of 8.50.
ON DECK
Texas Tech continues in the midst of an 11-game homestand as they will take on San Francisco out of the West Coast Conference Feb. 14-16 at Dan Law Field. Texas Tech will then wrap up the homestand with a single game against TCU on Tuesday Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. The first road trip of the year for Tech will be the following weekend in Fort Worth as the Red Raiders battle TCU in a three-game series.
HE'S A HIT!
Junior designated hitter Evan Shahak made a big splash in his Red Raider debut as he hit a solo home run in his first at-bat against New Mexico on Feb. 1. Shahak has not let up as he has homered in all three games that he has played including a two-homerun day against New Mexico on Feb. 2
Against West Texas A&M on Tuesday, Shahak delivered one of the most fatal blows in baseball when he sent the team's first grand slam over the left field fence to help pace Tech to a 21-4 win. Shahak is hitting an amazing .667 by going 8-of-12 at the plate with a team-high 11 RBI and five runs scored.
GOOCH SETS THE TONE, BUCK FOLLOWS
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Steve Gooch set the tone for the rest of the year this past weekend in the first game against New Mexico. Gooch fanned a career-high nine batters and got his third career complete game to help lead the Red Raiders to a 4-2 season-opening win. He allowed just six hits in 31 at-bats with one walk.
Senior right-hander Dusty Buck picked right up where Gooch left off as on Saturday he fanned a career-high seven batters through six innings of work allowing just three hits and two walks.
GATTIS OUT INDEFINITELY
Freshman right-handed pitcher Randy Gattis is out indefinitely due to a blood clot in his throwing arm. He is currently being evaluated by team physicians and his status will become clearer in the next few weeks.
THIS AND THAT
- Texas Tech played error-free baseball for 32 1/3 consecutive innings to start off the 2003 season. Texas Tech went errorless through the New Mexico series before outfielder Scooter Jordan committed the team's first error in the sixth inning against West Texas A&M.
- Texas Tech averaged 3,034 fans during last weekend's opening series with New Mexico.
