Texas Tech University Athletics
No. 23 Red Raiders Continue Road Swing At Missouri
April 03, 2003 | Baseball
April 3, 2003
NO. 23 TEXAS TECH (20-11; 4-5) at MISSOURI (21-8; 6-3)
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Opponent: Missouri
Series Location: Columbia, Mo.
Stadium: Simmons Field/Taylor Stadium
Capacity: 2,200
Dates: April 4-6
Game Times: 6:30 p.m./2 p.m./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
The Coaches
Tim Jamieson (Missouri)
Overall Record: 271-202 (9 Seasons)
Record at Missouri: Same
Larry Hays (Texas Tech)
Overall Record: 1,341-717-3 (33 Seasons)
Record at Tech: 646-336-2 (17 Seasons)
The Series: Texas Tech leads 11-8
Pitching Rotations
Friday
Steve Gooch (TT), RHP (4-2; 3.08 ERA)
vs. Justin James (MU), RHP (4-3; 3.23 ERA)
Saturday
Juan Razo (TT), RHP (2-3; 5.52 ERA)
vs. Garrett Broshuis (MU), RHP (4-2; 5.98 ERA)
Sunday
Corey Gerstner (TT), RHP (2-1; 6.91 ERA)
vs. Derek Roper (MU), RHP (3-1; 4.32 ERA)
NO. 23 RED RAIDERS CONTINUE SIX-GAME ROAD SWING
The 23rd-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders will wrap up a six-game road swing this weekend as they travel to Columbia, Mo. for a three-game set against the Missouri Tigers. Texas Tech will get a taste of northern flair for the first time this season as Tech has played all three instate rivals in the first three weekends of Big 12 baseball. The Red Raiders enter the weekend with a 20-11 overall record and a 4-5 mark in Big 12 action while Missouri stands at 21-8 on the year with a 6-3 record in league play.
Texas Tech suffered its first regular-season loss to Texas in six years this past weekend as the Longhorns won the series 2-1 at Disch-Falk Field in Austin. The Red Raiders fell to Baylor 2-1 to open Big 12 play and then defeated Texas A&M 2-1 the next weekend. Missouri comes into the weekend off consecutive sweeps of border rivals Kansas and Kansas State. The Tigers opened up the Big 12 campaign by getting swept in three games by Texas in Austin earlier this year.
The Red Raiders will be looking to improve upon their 3-6 road record this weekend as they take on a Missouri squad that is currently riding a nine-game win streak. The Tigers are 11-1 at home this season with their only loss coming against Creighton (6-4) back on March 8.
As was the case in last year's Missouri series, the two teams will "Turn Back The Clock" as the two teams will wear retro uniforms during Saturday's game.
BRIEFLY
- Texas Tech has now been ranked in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll for seven consecutive weeks as the Red Raiders are No. 23 in the March 31 poll. Texas Tech is ranked No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball Magazine this week and No. 28 in the NCBWA Top 25 poll.
- Texas Tech leads the all-time series with Missouri 11-8 with the first meeting between the two schools dating back to a 6-3 Missouri win on March 25, 1965 in Lubbock. The Red Raiders have won four of the six series in Big 12 regular-season play and have lost just one series in Columbia (2001).
- Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays announced this past week that Tech will play Eastern New Mexico in a makeup game on Tuesday, April 8 at Dan Law Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and season ticket holders can use any game ticket of the Texas-Pan American series for entry to the game.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
The Missouri Tigers enter the weekend series against Texas Tech on quite a roll as the Tigers have now won nine straight including six-straight Big 12 wins. Missouri stands at 21-8 overall and has a 6-3 mark in the Big 12 placing them in a three-way tie for second.
After opening up the 2003 Big 12 season with a three-game sweep at the hands of Texas, the Tigers have rebounded with series sweeps over border rivals Kansas and Kansas State. Missouri scored a 12-6 non-conference win over St. Louis on Tuesday night at the Billiken Sports Center in St. Louis to extend the streak.
Offensively, the Tigers are being led by Brad Flaunders who is hitting a team-high .398 in 28 games this season. He is second on the team with 25 RBI and is tied for first with four home runs. Jayce Tingler is the RBI leader with 31 and has an on-base percentage of .489.
On the hill, the Tigers sport a 3.91 staff ERA through 251 innings of work. Justin James (Friday's starter) leads the team with a 3.23 ERA and a 4-3 record. The closer is Travis Wendte who has six saves and a 2.14 ERA through 21 innings.
Defensively, Missouri has committed 51 errors on the year and is fielding at .953.
TECH VS. MISSOURI (BIG 12 REGULAR-SEASON BREAKDOWN)
1997: Texas Tech won 3-0 in Columbia
1998: Texas Tech won 2-1 in Lubbock
1999: Texas Tech won 2-1 in Columbia
2000: Missouri won 2-1 in Lubbock
2001: Missouri won 2-1 in Columbia
2002: Texas Tech won 2-1 in Lubbock
NEXT FOR THE RED RAIDERS
Texas Tech Red Raiders will kickoff a short four-game homestand on Tuesday, April 8 with a 7 p.m. game against Eastern New Mexico at Dan Law Field. Texas Tech will then play host to Kansas over the weekend beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
GERSTNER COMES UP BIG
For most of the season, Sundays have been nothing short of a nightmare for Texas Tech. Junior right-hander Corey Gerstner, however, is trying to turn those nightmares around as he has been very productive in back-to-back Sunday starts. The Burkburnett, Texas, native earned his first Sunday start against Texas A&M two weeks ago and pitched four solid innings with five strikeouts to help lead Tech to its first Sunday win in four tries. He got the nod again this last weekend against Texas and threw a career-high 5 2/3 innings (90 pitches) and earned his second win of the year in the process. Gerstner has 4.66 ERA through 9 2/3 innings in his last two starts along with eight strikeouts.
LIGHTING UP THE BASE PATHS
The Texas Tech offense has shown its speed so far this year as the team leads the Big 12 with 62 stolen bases. Tech stole 15 bases against Texas A&M two weeks ago and went 5-for-5 against Texas this past weekend in Austin. The Red Raiders have stolen 24 bases against Big 12 opponents and Tech catcher Cooper Fouts has allowed just nine stolen bases on 15 attempts.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- Just one week after posting a three-game series season-high 39 hits against Texas A&M, the Texas Tech offense hit a season-low against Texas. The Red Raiders managed just 21 hits on the weekend as the Longhorn pitching staff totaled a combined 1.80 ERA against Tech.
- Texas Tech's .306 team batting average is the lowest of the season so far and the team currently ranks fifth in the Big 12 behind Missouri, Kansas, Baylor and Nebraska.
- Tech is batting .318 with runners in scoring position.
- Seven different players have totaled multiple hit games five or more times this year. Tech has four players with multiple RBI games three or more times this year.
- Texas Tech batted a season-low .186 in the three-game series with Texas.
- Sophomore outfielder Cody Fuller and junior second baseman Josh Haney have hit safely in 24 of Tech's 31 games this season.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
- Texas Tech is fielding at a Big 12 best .976 as the Red Raiders have committed 29 errors on 1,184 chances.
- Out of 31 games this season, Texas Tech has totaled multiple error games nine times. Tech has gone errorless 14 times this year.
- Tech has rattled off two 30+ errorless inning stretches this year and one 27+ stretch.
- Texas Tech has turned 31 double plays this season and hit into 16.
PITCHING NOTES
- Junior Jeff Karstens suffered his first loss of the season in relief on Friday night against Texas. Karstens gave up three consecutive singles in the bottom of the 12th inning including the game winner by Omar Quintanilla. Karstens is tied with Kansas' Ryan Knippschild for the most wins by a Big 12 pitcher this season with six. Karstens, however, has the best winning percentage at .857 as he is 6-1 on the year with five saves.
- Junior right-handed pitcher Steve Gooch leads the Big 12 in innings pitched as he has worked 64 1/3 innings thus far. He averages 7 1/3 innings per game and has pitched three complete games.
- The Texas Tech pitching staff has shown improvement in Big 12 play as the squad has a combined ERA of 4.80 which is down exactly one point from 5.80 through the non-conference slate.
