Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Host Oklahoma State In Weekend Big 12 Series
April 07, 2005 | Baseball
April 7, 2005
Texas Tech (20-10; 3-5) vs. Oklahoma State (23-11; 4-5)April 8-10, 2005 - 6:30 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m.
Dan Law Field, Lubbock, Texas
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Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State - Gameday Central
TEXAS TECH HOSTS OKLAHOMA STATE AT DAN LAW FIELD
Texas Tech returns for a much needed home series this weekend as the Red Raiders battle the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State will begin this Big 12 series with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday night and it will continue with a 2 p.m. game on Saturday. The third and final game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday. Red Raider fans in the Lubbock area can catch all three games locally on the AM dial at KKAM-1340 and also on the web at www.texastech.com. Friday's game will be televised locally on the Texas Tech Television Network (Cox Cable - UPN Channel 6).
The Red Raiders are coming off a six-game road trip and will be looking for some home cooking as Tech went just 2-4 during that stretch. Texas Tech has a 13-3 record at Dan Law this season and is 2-1 in home Big 12 contests. Tech snapped a five-game Big 12 losing skid on Saturday as the Red Raiders rallied to take the series finale against Missouri 5-3. The win over the Tigers also snapped a five-game losing streak in Columbia as Tech had not won a game there since March 31, 2001. Tech's 3-5 mark in Big 12 play is the exact same record the Red Raiders had after three conference series in 2004. The 2004 squad went on to post a 13-4 record through the remainder of league play and finished third in the final standings.
The Oklahoma State series will be a reunion of sorts for both coaching staffs. Oklahoma State Head Coach Frank Anderson was a longtime assistant coach under Larry Hays at Texas Tech before leaving to become an assistant at Texas. Greg Evans, an assistant under Anderson, left Texas Tech at the end of the 2003 season to join the new Cowboy coaching staff. Trent Petrie, the OSU Director of Baseball Operations, played under Hays for one season in 1992.
Tickets for the three-game series can be purchased by calling the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 742-TECH or 1-800-GOBIG12. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.texastech.com or at any area United Supermarkets/Select-A-Seat location.
REUNION TIME
The weekend series with Oklahoma State will be a reunion for pretty much everyone involved. The series at Dan Law will mark the first for Frank Anderson since he took over the head coaching job at Oklahoma State. Anderson spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Tech under Larry Hays and coached the pitching staff and was in charge of recruiting. He left Texas Tech to join the coaching staff at Texas where he helped lead the Longhorns to the 2002 NCAA Championship.
Greg Evans, an assistant coach under Anderson, spent nine seasons on the Tech coaching staff where he was in charge of the Tech infield. Evans made Tech one of the top defensive teams in the nation during his tenure and he also earned a master's degree from the university in 1987.
Trent Petrie, OSU Director of Baseball Operations, played one season at Texas Tech in 1992 before completing his collegiate career at nearby Lubbock Christian.
TECH vs. OKLAHOMA STATE
Texas Tech and Oklahoma State will be meeting for the 34th, 35th and 36th times this weekend as the two teams play a three-game series at Dan Law Field. The all-time series between the two schools is tied at 17-17 thanks to a 2-1 series win by Texas Tech last year in Stillwater.
Texas Tech and OSU first met back on March 4, 1983, in Lubbock and the Red Raiders came away with a 6-4 win as part of a doubleheader sweep of the Cowboys. Since the two teams joined the Big 12 Conference in 1997, Texas Tech owns a 14-11 advantage and is 1-0 in Big 12 Tournament games against the Pokes. The Red Raiders are 8-7 all-time against OSU at Dan Law Field and the longest Tech win streak in the series was a five-game stretch between 1997 and 1998. Oklahoma State claimed the last series played at Dan Law Field (2-1 in 2003) but the Red Raiders have won three of the last four series dating back to 2001.
THOMAS COMING ON STRONG
Junior outfielder Brent Thomas has been living up to his high draft status lately and that has propelled him to four starts in the last five games. Thomas, a 15th-round pick by the Seattle Mariners in 2004, was one of the most highly touted newcomers this season but has struggled at times to make the jump to the Div. I level.
After little to no playing time through the first half of the season, Thomas has quickly turned things around and that has secured him a spot in the starting lineup. Batting primarily in the lower half of the lineup, he has been Tech's top hitter over the last five games with a .438 average along with six runs scored and one home run. His recent offensive surge has raised his overall batting average 85 points from .300 to .385.
ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM
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 73 stolen bases and that is 21 more than second place Texas A&M who has 52 on the year.
Tech has three players who rank in the conference's Top 8 in Chris Williams, Cody Fuller and Cameron Blair. Williams leads the league with 17 stolen bases while Fuller is third with 16. The Red Raiders have averaged 110 stolen bases in each of the last four seasons.
WALDEN RESIGNS
Texas Tech Director of Athletics Gerald Myers announced the immediate resignation of pitching coach Travis Walden on Thursday afternoon. Tech Head Coach Larry Hays and volunteer assistant Brandon Roberson will take over the pitching staff.
STELLAR SENIOR SEASON
Senior right-hander Tanner McElroy is enjoying his most successful season in a Red Raider uniform. McElroy is one of the top relievers in the Big 12 Conference this season with a 0.89 ERA along with three saves. McElroy has worked 20 1/3 innings for Tech this year and allowed just two earned runs.
McElroy's sub 1.00 ERA is the lowest by a Tech hurler since Steve Rowe in 2002. In 2002, Rowe had a 0.36 ERA after 30 games and was 3-1 with three saves.
McElroy has continued the recent trend of stellar senior pitching: Steve Rowe entered the 2002 season with a career ERA of 6.39 over 90 innings of work and had just two saves. Corey Gerstner, who posted an 8-1 record with three saves and a 2.64 ERA as the team closer in 2004, entered his senior year with a 8.38 ERA and a 3-2 record.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
- Texas Tech fell out of all the national baseball polls this week after dropping two games to Missouri. Texas Tech is unranked for the first time since the last week of February.
- Senior center fielder Cody Fuller, who recently moved into fourth place on the school's all-time stolen bases list, now totals 72 stolen bases in his four year career. Fuller needs just two more stolen bases to move into third place all-time. His 16 stolen bases this year is third in the Big 12 Conference.
- The Red Raiders have won six-straight games on two different occasions this year. The longest losing streak was a three games 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.
- Texas Tech tied its worst loss in school history this past Friday night against Missouri. The Tigers handed Tech a 25-0 defeat and that tied a 27-2 loss to Texas A&M in 1989.
- Missouri pitchers Max Sherzer and Michael Cole combined for the first no-hitter thrown against Tech in 27 years. Baylor's Andy Beene was the last to throw a no-hitter against the Red Raiders when he did it back on March 10, 1979.
- Since the series against Texas A&M, Tech's team batting average has fallen from .339 to its current clip of .316. Tech has fallen from the top hitting team in the Big 12 to fourth place behind Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Nebraska. Tech has hit just .235 in the last seven games.
- Texas Tech's team fielding percentage of .959 ranks eighth in the Big 12. The .959 fielding percentage is the lowest by a Tech team since 1998 when Tech finished the year with a .959 clip after committing 112 errors.
- Senior shortstop Cameron Blair is on pace to tie or even surpass his home run total (14) from last season. Blair hit two home runs against Texas A&M and one against Texas to give him eight on the season. His eight home runs ranks fifth in the Big 12.
- Senior right-fielder Madison Edwards is just three games away from moving into second place on the career games played list at Texas Tech. Edwards has played in 193 games in his four year career and can move past Randy DuRoss who played in 1995 games between 1992 and 1995.
- Cameron Blair needs just one more home run to move him into a tie for ninth place on the career home runs list at Tech. Blair has 22 home runs in his two seasons as a Red Raider. Blair is also 15 RBI short of moving past Bobby Kohler into ninth place on the all-time RBI list.
FROM THE HILL
- Junior right-hander Billy Carnline leads the team with five victories after picking up a relief win against Angelo State on Wednesday. Carnline saw his first action since the Texas series and pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing just one hit and tied his season-high strikeout mark of six.
- The Tech pitching staff set some pretty unflattering Big 12 records in the 25-0 loss to Missouri last Friday: Tech now holds Big 12 records for the most walks in an inning (8), the most hit-batters (3) and the most runs allowed (17). All of these records were set in the second inning as the Tigers scored 17 runs to take a 21-0 lead.
- Brian Wyatt made two starts in the weekend series against Missouri. Wyatt was pulled after the first inning against the Tigers after Tech Head Coach Larry Hays saw how well Max Sherzer was throwing. Hays opted to save Wyatt for Sunday and it ended up being a good decision. Wyatt earned a no-decision in the series finale but allowed just six hits and two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. He has been Tech's most consistent starter this season and is 3-3 with a 2.86 ERA through 34 2/3 innings.
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
The Oklahoma State Cowboys come to Dan Law Field with an overall record of 23-11 after a posting a doubleheader sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday afternoon. The Cowboys are just a half-game ahead of Tech in the Big 12 standings with a record of 4-5. OSU was swept by Nebraska this past weekend in Lincoln after posting back-to-back Big 12 series' wins over Kansas State and Baylor.
The Cowboys have some impressive numbers coming into the series as they have a .329 team batting average and a 3.38 ERA. First baseman Adam Carr leads the squad in virtually every offensive category with an average of .381, eight doubles, four triples, 15 home runs and 59 RBI. The leading pitcher for OSU is Friday night's starter Thomas Cowley. Cowley is 6-2 on the season with a 2.32 ERA and has struckout 52 and walked only 10 in 62 innings of work. Scott Richmond has been the closer on the team but recently was put into the starting rotation after an injury to Brae Wright. Richmond has three saves and a 2.20 ERA in 49 innings on the hill.
Like Texas Tech, the OSU numbers drop off in Big 12 play as the Cowboys have a .236 team batting average and a 4.93 staff ERA.
