Texas Tech University Athletics
Opening Day 2005!
February 07, 2005 | Baseball
Meet Your 2005 Red Raiders!
Feb. 7, 2005
TEXAS TECH (0-0) vs. NEW MEXICO (0-3)
2005 Season Opener - 3 p.m.
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - Dan Law Field
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RED RAIDERS OPEN 2005 SEASON AGAINST NEW MEXICO
The Texas Tech Red Raiders officially open the 2005 season on Tuesday as they welcome the New Mexico Lobos to Dan Law Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and tickets are currently on sale through the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office in Jones SBC Stadium.
Texas Tech will open the season against its border rival for the second time in three seasons as the Lobos and Red Raiders played a three-game series to begin the 2003 campaign. Tuesday's game will not be the season-opener for New Mexico as the Lobos played a three-game series at Arizona this past weekend in Tuscon.
Texas Tech is fresh off a 40-21 campaign last season in which the Red Raiders finished second in the NCAA Atlanta Regional held at Georgia Tech. The 2004 Red Raiders went 17-9 through Big 12 play and that was good enough for a third place finish behind Texas and Oklahoma. Senior shortstop Cameron Blair, last year's top hitter, returns for his senior season despite being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 18th-round of last year's MLB Draft. Blair hit a team-best .371 a year ago with 95 hits, 23 doubles, 14 home runs and tallied 81 RBI and is a preseason All-America selection by various baseball magazines. The Red Raiders, however, will have to replace its four-hole hitter as 2004 First-Team All-American Josh Brady left early after being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. Brady led the Big 12 with 20 home runs and was second in the nation with 90 RBI.
Despite a difficult year with the MLB Draft, the Red Raiders got some talented players in the 2005 signing class and the real story could rest in some talented freshmen. Three freshmen infielders are making a strong case for starting jobs and an everyday starting freshman would be a first at Tech since Clint Bryant earned the nod in 1993. Midland native Josh Wilson is batting redshirt freshman David Steffey at first base while Mesquite Poteet product Drew Roberts is trying to land the job at third. Behind the plate, Matt Smith of McKinney will most likely platoon with senior Cooper Fouts. Fouts is the only returning infielder who is a two-year starter.
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 696-371-2. He is the NCAA's fourth winningest active head coach with a record of 1,390-752-3.
NEW MEXICO: The New Mexico Lobos are led by Rich Alday who is in his 16th season at UNM and the 31st of his career. At New Mexico he has compiled a mark of 405-393 while he has a career record of 901-613-2.
BLAIR THE SUBJECT OF MUCH PRESEASON HYPE
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.
LETS GET IT STARTED
The long days and months of preparation are about to be rewarded as the Red Raiders celebrate opening day Tuesday against the Lobos. This season will mark the 56th in school history and the 52nd consecutive year of play. The first official season for Texas Tech came back in 1926 and after the 1929 season, Tech did not field a team again until 1954 and has done so each year since.
Texas Tech has an all-time record of 33-22 on opening day and is 20-8 when opening the season at home. Tech has won its last six season openers with the last loss coming, ironically, to New Mexico (7-6) on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1998.
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, begins his second season of the 2004-05 school year on Tuesday when the Red Raiders take on New Mexico. 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 .320 with 19 doubles, 60 RBI and an impressive 56 stolen bases. Here are some other notable facts on Fuller:
- Only married player on the team. He and his wife Cassie were married on Jan. 8 of this year.
- He and Madison Edwards will be the first four-year letterwinners since Steve Rowe (1999-2002)
- Has a younger brother Lance who also plays football.
SEVERAL FRESHMEN IN THE MIX
The 2004-05 signing class included the most freshmen since Texas Tech went on NCAA probation in the late 1990's and so far this group has proven to be a key ingredient to this year's team. True freshmen Drew Roberts and Matt Smith could both end up with starting jobs in the infield with Roberts battling hard at third and Smith turning heads behind the plate. Mix in redshirt freshman David Steffey into the battle at first base and head coach Larry Hays is all of a sudden looking at some stability in the infield for at least the next three seasons. The last everyday starting freshmen infielder to wear a Red Raider Uniform was Clint Bryant back in 1993. Bryant's successful career at Texas Tech ended with his jersey retirement. Freshman outfielder Chris Richburg has been impressive offensively this spring and could end up as the designated hitter. Richburg also plays football and did not participate in fall baseball.
JUST NINE MORE
Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays enters the 2005 season 9 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 1,391 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 1,391 career wins, 696 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.
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
The New Mexico Lobos will limp into Tuesday's game at Texas Tech after suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of 12th-ranked Arizona in Tuscon over the weekend. The Lobos lost the series opener 9-0 before falling 14-5 on Saturday and 15-6 on Sunday.
As a team, the Lobos managed just a .173 team batting average over the weekend but that was also against a very talented Arizona pitching staff that helped lead the Wildcats to the College World Series last season. Left fielder Garrick Haymore leads the team with a .429 batting average as he went 3-for-7 with two doubles and two runs scored.
The Lobo pitching staff comes into the game with a 11.25 ERA after allowing 30 earned runs on 49 hits. The Lobos sent 11 different pitchers to the mound over the weekend but starters Jason Fernandez and Karsten Gaarder logged the most time with just over five innings.
LAST TIME OUT
The Tech Varsity joined 15 former players (currently on pro rosters) for the Alumni Game. The Varsity prevailed 4-0 behind the bat of outfielder Cody Fuller who was 3-for-3 at the plate.
