Texas Tech University Athletics
Series Preview: Texas Tech vs. Kansas
April 21, 2005 | Baseball
April 21, 2005
Texas Tech (24-13; 6-8) vs. Kansas (24-19; 3-9)April 22-24, 2005 - 6:30 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m.
Dan Law Field - Lubbock, Texas
Texas Tech vs. Kansas - Gameday Central
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KANSAS SERIES LOOMS LARGE FOR TEXAS TECH'S POSTSEASON CHANCES
Texas Tech once again finds itself in another crucial Big 12 Conference tilt as the Red Raiders play host to the Kansas Jayhawks this weekend at Dan Law Field. Texas Tech and Kansas will begin the three-game series with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday night. The series continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday and will wrap up at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Friday night's game will be carried locally on UPN (Cox Cable Channel 6) while all three games can be heard on the Texas Tech Radio Network (KKAM-1340).
The weekend series against Kansas has become extremely important for the Red Raiders if they plan to stay alive in the hunt for an NCAA at-large bid at the end of the season. Texas Tech stands at 24-13 overall on the season and is 6-8 in Big 12 play after dropping a series at Kansas State this past weekend in Manhattan. The Raiders currently sit in sixth place in the Big 12 standings but are just one game ahead of Oklahoma who visits second place Missouri this weekend. Texas Tech has won all but one series in Big 12 play between the two teams and is 18-6 against the Jayhawks in Big 12 play.
Kansas enters the weekend on a five-game losing skid after dropping an 11-9 decision to instate rival Wichita State on Wednesday night. The Jayhawks are 24-19 on the season and sit in last place in the Big 12 standings with a league record of 3-9. Outfielder Gus Milner is KU's leading hitter as he comes into the series with a batting average of .336 along with 12 doubles, eight home runs and 34 RBI. The Jayhawk pitching staff is led by Friday night starter Kodiak Quick who is 8-4 on the season with a 3.43 ERA through 76 innings.
Friday night's game will be "Turn Back The Clock Night" for the Red Raiders as Tech will wear vintage uniforms from its first team back in 1926. The weekend will also feature a reunion for the 1995 team that still holds the school record for wins with 51. Tickets for all three-games can be purchased by calling the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 742-TECH or 1-888-GOBIG12.
THE COACHES
TEXAS TECH: Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays is now in his 19th season in control 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 716-380-2. He is the NCAA's fourth winningest active head coach with a record of 1,414-763-3.
KANSAS: Kansas is led by head coach Ritch Price who is now in his third season with the Jayhawks. Price has a record of 90-78 in his three seasons at KU. He began his Div. I head coaching career at Cal Poly in 1994 and carries a career record of 309-306-1 over a span of 11 seasons.
TECH-OU SET FOR ESPNU
The Big 12 Conference announced today that the three-game series between Texas Tech and Oklahoma has been selected for television and will be carried by ESPNU.
Texas Tech and Oklahoma will wrap up Big 12 Conference play May 20-22 at L. Dale Mitchell Park and all three games will be shown on ESPNU, the newest all-college channel in the ESPN family of networks.
In order to accommodate television, Saturday's game time has been moved to 1 p.m. while Friday and Sunday's games will remain at the regularly scheduled time. The series will mark the first ever appearance for Texas Tech on any of the ESPN networks.
BULLPEN SEARCHES FOR ANSWERS
Tech pitching coach Lance Brown will be looking for some answers from the bullpen this weekend as Red Raiders host Kansas. Last weekend in Manhattan, the Tech bullpen was unable to hold leads generated from starters Adam Lawford and Carleton Hargrove and it resulted in a 2-1 series loss to last place Kansas State.
Senior right-hander Tanner McElroy, Tech's ace reliever all season, gave up a three-run homer in the eighth on Saturday that gave the Wildcats a 7-5 win. On Sunday, he gave up another three-run homer to the same player and that helped key a seven run rally for KSU in the sixth. McElroy entered the series with a 0.72 ERA (1-1 overall record) and had given up just two earned runs all season. Seven earned runs against Kansas State has given McElroy an ERA of 2.96 and a 1-2 overall record. His blown save on Saturday was the first by the Tech bullpen this season.
Tech's bullpen problems certainly did not rest on just one person's shoulders as the group gave up 18 earned runs over the weekend along with 13 walks and had an ERA of 16.76.
 Senior second baseman Carey Avants has been Tech's hottest hitter in the last eight games. | |
AVANTS HAS THE HOT BAT
Senior second baseman Carey Avants is helping key Tech's recent offensive surge and he is up to a season high average of .358. Avants, a senior transfer from Texas-Arlington, has been Tech hottest hitter over the last eight games as he has put up a .514 average (18-of-35) along with 11 RBI. He leads the squad with an eight game hitting streak that began in an 11-6 win over Angelo State back on April 6. This past weekend against Kansas State, Avants led the squad with a .500 average as he went 7-for-14 at the plate with three RBI and seven runs scored.
POSTSEASON UPDATE
If Texas Tech hopes to make its second-straight and 10th NCAA postseason appearance, the Red Raiders are going to have to make up some ground over the final weeks of the 2005 regular season. Tech is holding on at sixth place in the Big 12 standings but has a league record of 6-8. In order to be considered for an NCAA berth, Tech must at least finish at .500 or above in Big 12 play.
According to the latest RPI released by the website boydsworld.com, Texas Tech dropped from No. 38 to No. 44 after a series loss to Kansas State over the weekend. The RPI is used by the NCAA selection committee when determining at-large candidates to the tournament field.
Tech is also still projected in the NCAA Regional field this week by the website sebaseball.com. That website lists Tech as a No. 3 seed at Long Beach State.
BLAIR ENJOYING SUCCESSFUL SENIOR YEAR
The decision to return to college for his senior year has turned out to be a good one for shortstop Cameron Blair. Blair is one of the top senior shortstops in the nation this season and will be a candidate for more postseason awards to match those he earned in 2004.
Blair comes into the weekend against Kansas with an overall batting average of .391 and that ranks fifth in the Big 12 Conference. His 12 home runs on the season ranks second in the Big 12 and 14th nationally. Of Blair's 12 home runs this season, seven have come in the rugged Big 12 and that is the best mark in the league. He leads the team with 44 RBI and he now totals 125 in his career.
DEFENSE SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
The Texas Tech defense showed some much needed improvement over the weekend at Kansas State. Prior to the KSU series, Tech had committed seven errors in every weekend Big 12 series with the exception of the two game set at Texas in which the Raiders had four. Against the Wildcats, Tech committed just two errors and its fielding percentage improved to .959 and that was good enough to move the squad from last place in the league to eighth (ahead of Kansas and Kansas State).
The two error weekend was the best for Tech since escaping the three-game series against Northern Iowa with only two defensive miscues.
FULLER MOVES INTO THIRD PLACE
Senior center fielder Cody Fuller moved into third place on the school's all-time stolen base list on April 13 in the 10-6 win over Hardin-Simmons. Fuller stole two bags against the Cowboys and that was enough to give him 74 in his four year career. He surpasses Kent Blassingame (1991-92) and Clint Bryant (1993-96) who had 73 in their Red Raider career's.
The move to third place was not an easy one for Fuller as he went through a stretch of 15 games without a stolen bag. During that 15 game stretch, Fuller was 0-for-7 on the base paths and slipped from first in the Big 12 to third. He needs 12 stolen bases to move into second place all-time and 24 to take over first.
RAIDERS ON THE PROWL
Opposing pitchers and catchers--BEWARE--Tech is on the prowl again in 2005. After sporting the quickest team in the Big 12 in 2004, the Red Raiders are looking for a repeat. Texas Tech leads the league with 88 stolen bases and that is 28 more than second place Nebraska who has 60 on the year.
Tech has three players who rank in the conference's Top 8 in Chris Williams, Cody Fuller and Cameron Blair. Williams and Fuller are tied for second with 18 stolen bags while Blair is fifth with 15. The Red Raiders have averaged 110 stolen bases in each of the last four seasons.
TECH vs. KANSAS
Texas Tech and Kansas will be meeting for the 28th, 29th and 30th times this weekend as the two teams play a three-game series at Dan Law Field. The Red Raiders lead the all-time series 20-7 and have only dropped one Big 12 series to the Jayhawks since the league began in 1997. The lone series loss to KU came in 2003 when the Jayhawks won 2-of-3 from Tech at Dan Law Field and that ultimately helped earn them their only Big 12 Tournament appearance.
The first-ever meeting between the two schools came back in 1981 when Tech defeated Kansas 6-1 on March 17 and went on to take that three-game series 2-1. The Red Raiders are 9-3 all-time against the Jayhawks at Dan Law Field and have won three straight in the series as Tech swept last season in Lawrence.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
- Junior first baseman Trey Stewart is being listed as "day-to-day" after re-injuring his hamstring in the Friday game at Kansas State. Stewart did not play at all on Saturday but did DH in the Sunday game where he went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
- The Red Raiders have won six-straight games on two different occasions this year. The longest losing streak was a three games stretch between March 20 and March 25. Tech's longest losing streak in Big 12 play was a five-game stretch that began on March 20 against Texas A&M.
- After falling to fourth place in overall team batting average, the Tech offense is starting to come back to life. Tech hit just .235 in a seven-game stretch following the Texas A&M series and watched its batting average drop from .339 to .316. However, in the last five games Tech has been hitting at a .323 clip and has moved into second place in the league with a .318 average.
- Senior shortstop Cameron Blair is on pace to tie or even surpass his home run total (14) from last season. His 12 home runs ranks second behind Oklahoma State's Adam Carr who has 16.
- Senior Cody Fuller enjoyed a 3-for-5 day at the plate on Sunday in the series finale against Kansas State. Through the first 25 games of the season, Fuller was Tech's top hitter with a batting average of .429. However, over the last 12 games he has hit just .233 and that has lowered his overall average to .366.
- Friday night's game will be "Turn Back The Clock Night" as Tech will wear vintage uniforms from its first season in 1926. Texas Tech has been celebrating "Turn Back The Clock Night" since 2002 and is 3-0 all-time on this night.
FROM THE HILL
- Junior right-hander Billy Carnline and senior right-hander Adam Fry are expected to return to the Tech lineup this weekend. Carnline did not make the trip to Manhattan due to illness and Fry has not pitched since dislocating his shoulder in the final game of the Oklahoma State series.
- Tech's staff ERA of 5.39 is just over one point higher than it was after 37 games in 2004. After 37 games in 2004, Tech had an ERA of 4.32 and had allowed 158 earned runs compared to 196 by this year's group.
- Walked batters have been Tech's Achilles' heal all season long as the Red Raiders have issued 151 free passes so far. Of the 151 walks and 41 hit batters, 60 have turned into opponent runs.
