Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Face First-Place Baylor In Waco
April 27, 2005 | Baseball
April 29 - May 1, 2005 - 7 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m.
Baylor Ballpark - Waco, Texas
Texas Tech vs. Baylor Gameday Central
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RED RAIDERS FACE DIFFICULT TEST IN WACO THIS WEEKEND
Texas Tech heads to Central Texas for a crucial three-game series against the 11th-ranked Baylor Bears. Tech and Baylor will open the series at 7 p.m. on Friday night and will continue with a 2 p.m. game on Saturday afternoon. Saturday's game will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net with Greg Lucas and Jack Lazorko calling the action. The series will conclude on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Post-season implications are on the line for the Red Raiders this weekend and it will be no easy task as the Bears currenlty sit alone on top of the Big 12 standings. Texas Tech comes into the weekend with a 27-14 overall record after taking two midweek games against New Mexico (10-2) and College of the Southwest (11-4). Mother Nature played havoc on Tech's series with Kansas over the weekend as the Sunday game was cancelled due to heavy rains. The series ended in a 1-1 tie and thus keeps the Red Raiders two games below .500 in league play. Tech has just two Big 12 series' wins this season (Texas A&M and Oklahoma State) and will be looking for its first road series win beginning on Friday night against Baylor.
The Baylor Bears (28-16; 13-5) come into the weekend after suffering only their second Big 12 series loss of the season this past week at Nebraska. The Huskers won the series 2-1 by claiming a 4-3 win in the Sunday rubber match. Baylor features one of the top pitching staff's in the nation with a combined ERA of 3.07 and the unit is holding opposing offenses to just a .228 average. Offensively, the Bears have struggled at the plate and have an overall batting average of just .269. The leading hitter for Baylor is Josh Ford who is batting .317 with five home runs and 26 RBI.
Following the weekend series at Baylor, Texas Tech will wrap up the home portion of its 2005 schedule as Tech will play eight straight games at Dan Law Field. The Raiders will kick off their homestand on Tuesday night with a 6:30 p.m. game against New Mexico before hosting Nebraska over the weekend.
PITCHING STAFF NEEDS TO COME UP BIG
The key for Texas Tech over the remainder of this 2005 regular season is its pitching staff. The Red Raiders boast the Big 12's second best offense with an average of .315 but the pitching staff is statistically the worst in the league with a 5.38 ERA.
The Tech bullpen had been the strength of the staff for most of the season but over the course of the last nine games, the relievers have totaled an ERA of 6.58. Through the first 30 games of the season, the Tech bullpen had a 4.34 combined ERA and was 12-1 with seven saves.
The weekend series at Baylor will also require some solid starting pitching from the Red Raiders. Friday night starter Brian Wyatt has been the most consistent starter for Tech although Billy Carnline has been impressive in his last couple of outings. Saturday starter Adam Lawford will be looking for his first win since March 1 when he tossed a complete game shutout against Texas-Arlington.
Texas Tech is averaging eight runs per game but is also allowing six runs per contest. The Red Raiders have committed 63 errors on the season and that has led to 46 unearned runs. Texas Tech has shown that when it pitches and plays defense, the Red Raiders are pretty hard to beat:
Record When:
Walks 4 or less: 13-4
Walks 2 or less: 11-3
With NO fielding errors: 10-1
With One fielding error: 9-3
AVANTS HAS HIS HIT STREAK SNAPPED
Senior second baseman Carey Avants is helping key Tech's recent offensive surge and is currently the third best hitter on the team with a .351 average. Avants, a senior transfer from Texas-Arlington, has been Tech hottest hitter over the last eight games as he has put up a .449 average (22-of-49) along with 13 RBI. His 11-game hit streak was snapped in Wednesday's 11-4 win over College of the Southwest as he went 0-for-2 at the plate. In that game, Avants was walked four times and that was the most in a single game since Chaz Eiguren was walked three times in a game against College of the Southwest back on April 19, 1999.
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT UPDATE
Texas Tech is currently in sixth place in the Big 12 standings and is a half game ahead of seventh place Oklahoma. The Red Raiders need to finish in the top eight to secure a spot in the upcoming Big 12 Conference Tournament at Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark May 25-28. Texas A&M and Kansas are currently in the ninth and 10th spots respectively. The only time Tech has failed to make the Big 12 Tournament was in 2003 when the tourney was last played in Oklahoma City.
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 Post-season awards to match those he earned in 2004.
Blair comes into the week with an overall batting average of .383 and that ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference. His 12 home runs on the season ranks third in the league and is tied for fifth 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 47 RBI and he now totals 128 in his career.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Texas Tech has been getting some key contributions offensively from its senior class. Seniors account for four of the top six hitters in the Tech lineup, including Cameron Blair who is second on the team with a .383 average. Third baseman Carey Avants is third with a .351 clip while Cody Fuller and Madison Edwards are fourth and sixth respectively with .345 and .283 averages. These four seniors account for 131 of the team's 319 RBI and 15 of the 30 total home runs.
FULLER EARNS ATHLETICS DEPT. HONOR
Senior center fielder Cody Fuller was named Texas Tech's Male Student-Athlete of the Year at the Academic Awards banquet held last week. Fuller, a dual sport athlete from Smithson Valley, is currently hitting .345 as Tech's lead off hitter and totals 21 stolen bases. In the classroom, he has maintained a 3.48 cumulative GPA and will graduate in May with a degree in Communications/Political Science. He is the first baseball player to be earn this honor.
2006 RECRUITING UPDATE
Entering the first week of April, Angelina College sophomores Aaron Odom, Matt Paradoski and Clay Buchholz were ranked 1-3, respectively, among Region XIV Conference pitchers. Odom leads the conference with a minuscule 0.96 ERA to go with a 10-1 record. He has allowed just seven earned runs and struck out 78 in 651/3 innings. Paradoski is 5-2 with a 2.03 ERA, striking out 62 in 482/3 innings. Third is Buchholz, who is undefeated with an 11-0 mark and a 1.16 ERA. He has allowed just nine earned runs and struck out 105 in 692/3 innings. All three are striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings. Texarkana's David Welch is seventh in the conference, compiling a 6-3 record and 1.99 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 631/3 innings.
Two position players are also tearing up the conference. Infielder Tyler Reeves of Wharton is third in the league with a .458 average to go with seven home runs and 26 RBIs. Outfielder Christian McCray of Angelina is tied at No. 23, hitting .366 with 45 hits, 37 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
A little further north, a pair of North Central Texas College Lions are having solid years. Shortstop Roberto Mena is hitting .360 with seven home runs, 35 RBIs, 31 runs scored and a .600 slugging percentage. Left-hander Colt Hynes is 5-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 622/3 innings.
Tech has signed a total of 20 players for the upcoming season, 14 of which are coming from the junior college ranks. Credit: George Watson, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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 103 stolen bases and that is 39 more than second place Nebraska who has 64 on the year. Tech stole nine bags in the two games against New Mexico and College of the Southwest to reach the 100 mark for the third straight season.
Tech has three players with 17-plus stolen bags in Cody Fuller (21), Chris Williams (20) and Cameron Blair (17). The Red Raiders have averaged 110 stolen bases over the last four seasons.
TECH vs. BAYLOR
Texas Tech and Baylor will be meeting for the 123rd, 124th and 125th times this weekend as the two teams play a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark in Waco. Texas Tech leads the all-time series 66-57 and is 16-11 against the Bears since the Big 12 began back in 1997. The Red Raiders have also won five of the eight regular-season series' in Big 12 play.
The first meeting between these two instate rivals came back in 1928 when the Bears took a 15-1 win over Tech in Lubbock. The home team has been the favorite over the course of this rivalry as Tech is just 23-37 in Waco while Baylor is just 17-42 in Lubbock. The last series win for the Red Raiders in Waco came back in 2001 when Tech concluded the regular-season with a 2-1 win and secured a second place finish in the Big 12.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
- Texas Tech currently has three former players on Major League rosters...RHP Travis Smith was called up this week to the Florida Marlins while Keith Ginter is with the Oakland A's and Josh Bard with the Cleveland Indians.
- Junior first baseman Trey Stewart is being listed as "day-to-day" after re-injuring his left hamstring in the Friday game at Kansas State. Stewart has played in the designated hitter role but has not been in the field defensively since the injury.
- The Red Raiders have won six-straight games on two different occasions this year. The longest losing streak was a three-game 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.
- Senior shortstop Cameron Blair extended his current hit streak to 11 games with an RBI single in the Wednesday game against College of the Southwest. Blair needs to hit safely in nine more games in order to tie the 20-game streak he had in 2004.
- Blair is also on pace to tie or even surpass his home run total (14) from last season. His 12 home runs is tied for third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma State's Adam Carr and Nebraska's Alex Gordon.
- Walked batters have been Tech's Achilles' heal all season long as the Red Raiders have issued 164 free passes so far. Of the 164 walks and 52 hit batters, 65 have turned into opponent runs.
- Tech gave up just two runs against a hot hitting New Mexico offense on Tuesday night and that marks the first time Tech has allowed fewer than three runs in a game since a 1-0 shutout of Texas A&M back on March 19.
- On Tuesday night, Tech garnered just its fourth win of the season (4-11) when being out-hit in a game...The Lobos finished with 10 hits compared to eight by the Red Raiders.
