Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseball Host St. John's In Weekend Series
February 16, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 16, 2006
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (4-3; 0-0)
vs.
ST. JOHN'S RED STORM (0-0; 0-0)
Date(s): February 17-19, 2006 (Friday-Sunday)
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Stadium: Dan Law Field (5,050)
Texas Tech - St. John's Gameday Central
Complete Texas Tech Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
RED RAIDERS HOST ST. JOHN'S
The Texas Tech Red Raiders can only hope that Mother Nature will be kind to the South Plains this weekend as the St. John's Red Storm come to Lubbock for a three-game series. The series is set to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and tickets for all three days are on sale through the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 742-TECH.
The weekend weather forecast does not look promising thus far as high temperatures over the weekend are not expected to climb out of the low 40's. The entire state of Texas has seen unseasonably warm temperatures all winter long and the Lubbock area has yet to have a measurable snowfall. Any changes to the weekend schedule will first be announced online at www.texastech.com and then distributed to the local news media.
The Red Raiders enter the weekend with an overall record of 4-3 after earning an extra-inning midweek win (8-7) against the New Mexico Lobos on Tuesday in Albuquerque. The win over New Mexico snapped a three-game losing skid as Tech dropped all three games at the Houston College Classic this past weekend against No. 4 Rice, No. 10 Tulane and Houston. St. John's will open up their 2006 season at Dan Law Field and Friday's game will mark the third different opponent that has opened its season against the Red Raiders (Louisiana-Monroe, Tulane and St. John's).
Redshirt freshman Miles Morgan will draw the start in the series opener on Friday afternoon due to the fact that Josh Tomlin will be out the next three weeks resting a sprained UCL in his right elbow. Morgan has been the second starter thus far in Tech's weekend rotation and will be followed on Saturday by Aaron Odom.
MR. FEBRUARY
Randy Gattis' career at Texas Tech has certainly been a rocky one and entering the 2006 campaign, the junior right-hander's struggles continued. A year after posting an 8.71 ERA over 31 innings, Gattis didn't seem to be in the mix and his playing time in jeopardy. However, just before last weekend's trip to Houston he turned in one of his best practice days of the season and things have certainly been looking up since then.
Gattis made his first appearance of the year on Sunday against Houston and returned to the mound in Tuesday's game against New Mexico. Against the Lobos, he turned in the best relief appearance of his career as he logged 3 2/3 shutout innings and retired 11 of the 12 batters he faced. His win over New Mexico was his first since Feb. 12, 2005 against Northern Illinois.
Over the course of his three-year career, February has been a good month for the Mesquite native as all four of his career wins have come in the "month of love." In February, Gattis is 4-0 with a 2.75 ERA and has posted 21 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings of work.
MORGAN HAS IMPRESSIVE OUTING IN HOUSTON
Redshirt freshman Miles Morgan followed up his successful start to the 2006 season with another impressive outing against Tulane. Although Morgan earned a no-decision in the 6-4 loss to the 12th-ranked Green Wave, he logged 6 1/3 innings (longest by a Tech starter over the weekend) and struckout a career-high nine batters. Morgan's nine strikeouts against Tulane along with his seven against Louisiana-Monroe gives him a team-high 16 on the season.
REVES HAS THE HOT BAT
Junior designate hitter Tyler Reves has had the hot bat for the Red Raiders in the last couple of games as he has gone a combined 5-for-10 at the plate (.500) with one home run and two RBI. Reves ended Houston's shutout hopes on Sunday afternoon when he hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth that made the score 5-1. The home run was his second of the Houston College Classic and he was named to the designated hitter position on the all-tournament team.
Against New Mexico on Tuesday, Reves posted a career-high four hits (4-of-6) and one RBI. Reves is now the third leading hitter on the team with a .394 average and is tied with Roger Kieschnick for the team lead in home runs (three).
TECH FACES TOUGH SCHEDULE IN `06
Larry Hays and his squad face a difficult task in 2006 when it comes to scheduling. The Red Raiders will face 11 teams that earned spots in the NCAA Tournament in 2005, six that went to the NCAA Super Regionals and five that advanced to the College World Series in Omaha.
Of the five teams that advanced to Omaha in `05, three will make appearances at Dan Law Field this year and that includes defending NCAA champion Texas. Tech will host the Longhorns in a three-game series to kick off Big 12 play March 17-19. Tech will then face the Baylor Bears two weeks later in a three-game set March 31 - April 1. Arizona State will come to Dan Law for a midweek game on Monday, April 17th.
NOTING THE RED RAIDERS
- Sophomore catcher Matt Smith had his career-long six game hitting streak snapped in Tuesday's game against New Mexico. Smith went 0-for-1 at the plate with one RBI, one walk and one sacrifice bunt.
- Freshman right-hander AJ Ramos turned in his best performance of the season on Tuesday against New Mexico. Ramos pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief (season-high) and allowed just one run on three hits. Ramos could get the starting nod in the third game of the series this weekend against St. John's.
- A season-high five true freshmen graced the Texas Tech starting lineup in Tuesday's game against the Lobos. Roger Kieschnick (LF), Drew Evans (RF), James Leverton (1B), Willie Rueda (2B) and Cory Large (Starting pitcher) all got starting nods in the game.
- True freshman James Leverton made his first career start at first base on Tuesday and may have found a new position there. Leverton was solid defensively and had a good day at the plate going 1-for-4 with two key RBI. Leverton has made four other starts this season but all were in right field.
- Brian Capps now has two game-winning hits this season thanks to an RBI single in the top of the 10th that lifted Tech to an 8-7 win over the Lobos. Capps picked up his first game winner on Feb. 5 against Louisiana-Monroe with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.
- Brian Capps leads the Big 12 Conference with a .548 batting average (17-of-31).
- The Red Raiders are 15-of-17 in stolen bases this season and were caught for the first time on Tuesday against New Mexico.
- The weekend series against St. John's will mark the first time Tech has played a current member of the Big East Conference since a three-game series against Seton Hall in 2002. Tech swept all three-games of that series (7-4, 10-9 and 14-0 - Feb. 22-24).
CALLENDER ON WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
Senior infielder Joey Callender was one of 120 baseball student-athletes named to the 2006 Brooks Wallace Watch list. Callender was also on the Wallace Watch during his junior season with the Red Raiders.
Callender returns to the squad of his senior season and is the Big 12's top returning hitter (by average) as he finished the 2005 season with a .362 clip. Callender was a unanimous First-Team All-Big 12 selection last season and has garnered the same recognition again in 2006 on the preseason lists. He made 57 starts last season (24 at second and 33 at third) and finished with 15 doubles, one triple and 48 RBI.
The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually by the College Baseball Foundation and honors the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace.
