Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Dallas Baptist On Tuesday
February 21, 2005 | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2005
TEXAS TECH vs. DALLAS BAPTIST
Tuesday, Feb. 22 - 3 p.m.
Dan Law Field, Lubbock, Texas
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TECH WRAPS UP HOMESTAND WITH DALLAS BAPTIST
Texas Tech will wrap up a short four-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon as the Red Raiders will host the Dallas Baptist Patriots at Dan Law Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be webcasted (audio only) live on the College Sports Pass at www.texastech.com. The game can also be heard locally on the flagship station for Red Raider Baseball, KKAM-1340.
The Red Raiders enter the midweek game against Dallas Baptist with a 7-1 record after stumbling for the first time this season on Saturday against Western Illinois. Tech and Western Illinois were forced to play a doubleheader on Saturday as heavy rain and cool temperatures forced the postponement of Friday's series opener. Tech scored a 9-5 win in the first game against Western Illinois but the Leathernecks rebounded behind a stellar performance from right-handed pitcher Pat Kohorst to even the series with a 6-1 win. Tech improved its season record to 7-1 on Sunday with a dominating 22-7 win to give the Red Raiders the series 2-1.
Dallas Baptist enters Tuesday's game with a 6-2 record and fresh off a three-game sweep of Texas-San Antonio over the weekend. The Patriots are making their first of two trips to the Hub City in 2005 as the two teams will meet again at Dan Law Field for a three-game series May 5-7.
Following Tuesday's game against Dallas Baptist, the Red Raiders will make the short trip south to Midland to take part in the First Annual Rockhounds College Classic. The round robin tournament schedule has been changed due to projected inclement weather in the Permian Basin over the weekend. Tech will now play New Mexico State at 7 p.m. on Friday night before facing Lamar at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Red Raiders will wrap up the tournament with a 1 p.m. game against Texas-San Antonio on Sunday. For ticket information, please contact the Rockhounds Ticket Office at (432) 520-2255.
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 703-371-2. He is the NCAA's fourth winningest active head coach with a record of 1,398-753-3.
DALLAS BAPTIST: Dallas Baptist is led by first-year head coach Eric Newman. Newman is 6-2 this season and is in his first year as a collegiate head coach. Tech fans will remember Newman as he lettered for the Red Raiders in 1994 and is a 1997 Texas Tech graduate.
HAYS NEEDS TWO MORE TO REACH 1,400
Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays is two 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 1,398 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 1,398 career wins, 703 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.
WINNINGEST NCAA DIVISION I HEAD COACHES
1. Augie Garrido, Texas (1,494-701-6) - 37 seasons
2. Gene Stephenson, Wichita State (1,458-465-3) - 28 seasons
3. Cliff Gustafson, Texas (1,427-373-2) - 29 seasons (retired)
4. Chuck Hartman, Virginia Tech (1,401-755-3) - 34 seasons
5. Larry Hays, Texas Tech (1,398-753-3) - 35 seasons
2005 RED RAIDERS MAKE MARK IN THE HISTORY BOOK
Texas Tech's 22-7 win over Western Illinois made a mark in the history book for the 2005 Red Raiders. Tech set a new school record on Sunday as the Red Raiders scored 13 runs in the third inning. The 13 runs surpassed the previous record of 12 runs scored against West Texas A&M in the fifth inning on Feb. 4, 2003.
A total of 13 Tech hitters went to the plate before Western Illinois ever recorded an out in the frame. All nine Tech hitters hit twice in the frame as Tech pounded out eight hits, including a grand slam by senior shortstop Cameron Blair.
FRESHMEN HITTING THE LONG BALL
Freshmen Chris Richburg (true frosh) and David Steffey (redshirt) have been Tech's leading home run hitters so far this season as the duo accounts for six of the team's nine long balls. Richburg and Steffey are both local products with Richburg coming to Tech from Frenship High School while Steffey is a Monterey High graduate.
Richburg has not only been hitting the long ball but he has also had one of the most productive bats on the team. He is currently batting .355 but leads the team with 15 RBI.
BLAIR SETS CAREER GRAND SLAM RECORD
Senior shortstop and Preseason All-American Cameron Blair added yet another record to his collection during Sunday's game against Western Illinois. In the third inning, Blair launched his fifth career grand slam and that sets a new school and Big 12 Conference record.
Last week against Northern Illinois, Blair tied former Red Raider Nick Blankenship (2001-02) and Oklahoma's Jose Montenegro (1997-98) with his fourth career grand slam. Blair and Montenegro are tied for the Big 12 record of grand slams in a single season as Blair hit three in 2004 while Montenegro hit three in 1998.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
- Tuesday's game against Dallas Baptist will mark just the second meeting between the two schools. Dallas Baptist leads the all-time series 1-0 after picking up a 4-3 win on May 12, 2004 at Dan Law Field.
- Sophomore right-handed pitcher Randy Gattis made his first start of the season against Western Illinois and earned the win as he tossed 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs on one hit. Gattis is now 2-0 on the young season and is second on the staff with a 3.55 ERA.
- Junior southpaw Carleton Hargrove picked up third save of the season against Western Illinois in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. His third save maintains his lead in the Big 12 Conference.
- Senior center fielder Cody Fuller, who moved into fourth place on the school's all-time stolen bases list last week, now totals 64 stolen bases in his four year career. Fuller needs just 10 more stolen bases to move into third place all-time.
- Senior catcher Cooper Fouts returned to action this weekend after an injury forced him out of the final two games of the NIU series and last Tuesday's game at TCU. Fouts was sidelined by a strained oblique muscle but was able to play in all three games against Western Illinois. He finished the weekend with a .500 batting average along with two RBI and two runs scored.
- Senior right fielder Madison Edwards had a big weekend at the plate for Texas Tech as he led all hitters with a .571 average over three games. Edwards was 4-for-7 at the dish with three doubles and three RBI.
- Texas Tech entered the national rankings for the first time this season as Tech came in at No. 28 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Magazine's Top 30 Poll.
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
The Dallas Baptist Patriots come into Tuesday's game against Texas Tech with a 6-2 overall record after sweeping a three-game series over the weekend against Texas-San Antonio.
The Patriots will bring some familiar faces to Dan Law Field in first-year head coach Eric Newman and senior left-handed pitcher Barrett Pliler. Newman transferred to Tech from Fresno State in 1994 and played one season for the Red Raiders before being drafted in the fifth round by the San Diego Padres. He earned his bachelor's degree from the university in 1997. Senior left-handed pitcher Barrett Pliler played his junior season last year at Tech before transferring to Dallas Baptist in January. Pliler went 5-1 last season with a 4.85 ERA.
Last Tuesday, DBU posted its most impressive win of the season when they dealt the Oklahoma State Cowboys a 10-2 loss at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater. The win over Oklahoma State was DBU's seventh win over a Big 12 team in the last two seasons.
Offensively, Dallas Baptist has a team batting average of .382 and four players are currently batting over .400 on the year. Shortstop Jeremy Goldschmeding leads the squad with a .424 average and is third with seven RBI. Third baseman Cody Montgomery has shown the most power this year as he totals two home runs along with two doubles and six RBI.
On the hill, the Patriots have a staff ERA of 4.80 with opponents hitting .281 against them. Right-hander Stuart Sutherland, who was the winning pitcher in last year's NCCAA National Championship game, leads the team with a 1-0 record and a 0.96 ERA. Tuesday starter Brice Wells has a 99.00 ERA in just one appearance this season.
After making the transition to Division I status last season, Dallas Baptist is eligible for NCAA postseason competition this year.
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.
TECH BASEBALL TEAMS UP WITH RED CROSS
Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays and the 2005 Red Raiders have teamed up with the Lubbock Chapter of the American Red Cross for a special fund raising opportunity.
Through TeamMates for Red Cross, Red Raider Baseball fans can pledge a set contribution to the local Red Cross chapter for the number of home-runs hit by Texas Tech during this season. All proceeds from TeamMates for Red Cross will remain with the South Plains Chapter of the American Red Cross, and will assist in their life saving mission of preventing, preparing, and responding to emergencies. Pledge forms will be available at Dan Law Field and more information can be obtained by calling the Red Cross at (806) 765-8534.
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.
Blair is the first Red Raider since Josh Bard to garner preseason All-America honors.
DUAL THREAT
Possibly one of the best athletes at Texas Tech makes his home in center field for the Red Raiders. Cody Fuller, a senior from Smithson Valley, began his second season of the 2004-05 school year on when the Red Raiders defeated New Mexico 18-6. Fuller just wrapped up a successful year on the gridiron where he is a three-year letterwinner as a wide receiver. He finished the 2004 season as the fifth best receiver on the team with 43 catches for 505 yards for an average of 11.7 yards-per-catch.
On the diamond, Fuller is equally impressive as he has established himself as one of the best defensive outfielders in the nation. He has a career batting average of .321 with 19 doubles, 81 RBI and an impressive 57 stolen bases.
