Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Travel To No. 21 TCU
February 14, 2005 | Baseball
Gameday Central
Feb. 14, 2005
TEXAS TECH at NO. 21 TCU
Tuesday, February 15 - 7 p.m.
Lupton Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas
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RED RAIDERS HIT THE ROAD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2005
The Texas Tech Red Raiders will take to the road for the first time this season as the squad will travel to Fort Worth to take on the No. 21 TCU Horned Frogs. Texas Tech and TCU will play the first of two scheduled regular-season games on Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
The Red Raiders enter the midweek contest fresh off a three-game sweep of the Northern Illinois Huskies. The sweep gave Texas Tech a perfect 4-0 record on the year as the Red Raiders defeated New Mexico 18-6 in the season opener on Tuesday. The Red Raider offense has been red hot in all four games as Tech is averaging 15 runs-per-game and 15.5 hits-per-contest. Junior third baseman Joey Callender leads the team with a .571 batting average while freshman first baseman Chris Richburg paces the squad with nine RBI.
The 21st-ranked TCU Horned Frogs enter Tuesday's game with a 3-0 record after taking a three-game sweep of Utah this past weekend at Lupton Stadium. TCU, under second-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle, has earned its highest ranking in school history and are coming off an NCAA Regional appearance last season. The Frogs went to the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 1994. TCU enters the game with a .343 team batting average while the pitching staff totals an ERA of 3.81.
Tuesday's game between Texas Tech and TCU is the first of two games between the two schools on tap this year. Tech and TCU will meet again in Fort Worth on March 8 for a 7 p.m. contest.
Texas Tech will return to the friendly confines of Dan Law Field for a four-game homestand that begins on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Western Illinois. The Red Raiders and Leathernecks will play a three-game series before Tech battles Dallas Baptist at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
THE COACHES
TEXAS TECH: Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays is now in his 19th season in controls of the Red Raider baseball program. Hays began his collegiate head coaching career at nearby Lubbock Christian University where he remains the all-time winningest coach there and helped lead the Chaps to the 1983 NAIA National Championship. He is also the all-time winningest head coach at Texas Tech where he has a record of 700-371-2. He is the NCAA's fourth winningest active head coach with a record of 1,395-752-3.
TCU: TCU is led by head coach Jim Schlossnagle who is in his second season at the helm of the Horned Frog baseball program. Schlossnagle is 42-26 at TCU and carries a career mark of 119-73 in four seasons as a head coach. Schlossnagle began his head coaching career at UNLV before taking over at TCU in 2003-04.
HAYS WINS 700TH GAME AS RED RAIDER SKIPPER
Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays picked up his 700th win as the skipper of the Red Raiders on Sunday afternoon against Northern Illinois (12-7). Hays came to Texas Tech in 1987 and turned the school into a baseball powerhouse as his Red Raiders have been to nine NCAA Tournaments and won four conference titles. Hays is second in the Big 12 when it comes to owning the most wins at the same school as he falls behind Mark Johnson of Texas A&M who has spent his entire career with the Aggies and is 847-404-2 in 21 seasons.
JUST FIVE MORE
Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays is five wins shy of becoming just the fifth coach in NCAA history to win 1,400 games in a career. Hays is currently the fourth winningest active NCAA head coach (fifth winningest all-time) with 1,395 wins trailing Texas' Augie Garrido, Gene Stephenson of Wichita State, Cliff Gustafson (former head coach at Texas) and Chuck Hartman at Virginia Tech.
Of his 1,395 career wins, 700 have come at Texas Tech where he is the school's all-time winningest head coach. Prior to his arrival at Tech he spent 16 seasons at nearby Lubbock Christian where he won 695 games and an NAIA national championship in 1983.
McCOY PACES TECH PITCHING STAFF
Senior transfer Joe McCoy came to Texas Tech this past fall after spending three seasons at Villanova where he won just one game in limited action for the Wildcats. His action, however, won't be limited his final season with the Red Raiders. McCoy was rock solid this past week as he went 2-0 (doubling his career win total) with a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work.
He picked up his first win of the year against New Mexico in the season opener as he tossed four scoreless innings of relief allowing just three hits and struckout three. In the series finale against Northern Illinois, he made his first start and pitched six innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five.
THREE FRESHMEN CRACK THE STARTING LINEUP
Texas Tech baseball fans probably had to do a double-take this weekend at Dan Law Field. For the first time in over a decade, the Red Raiders had a lineup that featured three freshmen in starting roles - and they didn't disappoint.
Chris Richburg, a local product of Frenship High School, has started all four games at first base and has been Tech's four-hole hitter. Richburg is currently hitting .333 on the season and leads the team with nine RBI. Matt Smith, a catcher from McKinney, got the starting nod behind the plate when an injury to senior Cooper Fouts forced him out in the Friday tilt against Northern Illinois. Smith is hitting .375 and has scored six runs in just eight at-bats. True-freshman Josh Wilson has made three starts at designated hitter while redshirt freshman David Steffey made the other. Wilson is hitting .364 (4-of-11) on the year while Steffey is hitting .500 (3-of-6).
Of Texas Tech's four home runs, the freshmen account for three of them with David Steffey leading team with two. Richburg hit the first home run of the year by a Red Raiders in the season opener against New Mexico.
HAMMERIN' CAMERON
Senior shortstop and Big 12 Player of the Year Candidate Cameron Blair had a career day at the plate on Saturday against Northern Illinois. Blair tallied a career-best five hits on the afternoon as he went 5-for-6 at the dish with four RBI. In 2004, Blair had four hits in a game on three different occasions but was unable to reach five until Saturday. He also launced his fourth career grand slam in the contest and that is believed to be the most by a Red Raider in school history. Last season, Blair set the season record when he blasted three-grand slams while finishing the year with 14 home runs.
HE'S BACK
It's been a long road for sophomore right-hander Randy Gattis. The Mesquite product has been with the Red Raiders for three seasons and his journey has certainly been a memorable one. Gattis was penciled in to be a weekend starter his true freshman season in 2003, but just prior to the opener he developed a blood clot in his throwing arm. He sat out the 2003 season and was given the green light to return in 2004. Gattis got the start in the 2004 opener and logged six innings of work against Campbell with four strikeouts to pick up his first career win. Just hours before his next scheduled start against Houston in the Minute Maid College Classic, the blood clot returned and again ended his season.
And now in 2005, after a successful off-season surgery, Gattis has been given a clean bill of health and it showed this past Saturday as he pitched six innings of relief with five strikeouts to earn the win against Northern Illinois. He is scheduled to start in Friday's game against Western Illinois.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
- Tuesday's game marks the 133rd meeting between the two schools and TCU has a slight advantage in the all-time series as the Frogs lead 66-65-1. TCU won a three-game series at Dan Law Field last season that snapped a streak in which Tech had won 87 consecutive non-conference home series.
- The Texas Tech offense enters the game against TCU averaging 15 runs-per-game and 15.5 hits-per-game.
- Texas Tech is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2002 season. The Red Raiders won four-straight in 2002 before falling to New Mexico in the fifth game of the year.
- Junior southpaw Carleton Hargrove picked up two saves this past week in three appearances. He picked up his first save against New Mexico in the opener as he struckout all three batters he faced in the final inning of that contest. His second save came against Northern Illinois in the series finale as he pitched the final two innings allowing two runs on three hits.
- Senior center fielder Cody Fuller moved into fourth place on the school's all-time stolen bases list as he now totals 59 in his career. Fuller's three stolen bags this season moves him ahead of Ryan Ruiz who stole 57 bases in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
SCOUTING THE HORNED FROGS
TCU enjoyed a perfect season-opening weekend as the Frogs swept Utah 10-0, 6-4, and 14-7. The 3-0 start by TCU is the first since the 1995 season when the Frogs started the year 4-0.
The TCU offense enters the game against Tech with a .343 clip and the squad is averaging 10 runs-per-game. Sophomore second baseman Shelby Ford leads the Horned Frog attack as he posted a .636 average over the weekend going 7-for-11 at the plate with three doubles and four RBI. Freshman outfielder Matt McGuirk is second behind Ford with a .556 average but leads the team with five RBI.
The pitching staff totals an ERA of 3.81 and is led by reliever Chad Underwood (1-0; 0.00 ERA) who pitched six innings allowing just two hits and no earned runs. Brad Furnish will get the start against Texas Tech and enters the game with a 0-0 record and 0.00 ERA after just one inning of relief against Utah.
THANK YOU RED RAIDER FANS
Red Raider fans came out in huge numbers once again in 2004 and it paid off again as Texas Tech finished the season ranked 15th nationally with an average of 2,748 fans per-game. Texas Tech has finished in the nation's Top 10 in each of the last 10 seasons.
BLAIR PICKS UP PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Senior shortstop Cameron Blair has plenty to live up to in 2005 as virtually every collegiate baseball publication has tabbed him as a preseason All-American and a contender for Big 12 Player of the Year honors. Blair was the Big 12's second best hitter a year ago as he finished with a .371 average behind Curtis Thigpen of Texas who batted .378. Along with his .371 average, Blair was second in hits (95), third in doubles (23), second in RBI (81) and punched out 14 home runs.
His success last spring also carried over to the summer leagues as he was named the Alaskan League Player of the Year after batting .360 with 11 home runs for the Fairbanks Goldpanners. Blair is the first Red Raider since Josh Bard to garner preseason All-America honors.
