Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Set For 2008 Season Opener
February 21, 2008 | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2008
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS
(0-0; 0-0 Big 12)
Larry Hays (1,484-830-4)
THE OPPONENT
UTSA Baseball Classic
vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, Army, Oral Roberts and UTSA
GAME/SERIES LOCATION
San Antonio, Texas
Wolff Stadium
(Home of San Antonio Missions)
DATES/TIMES
Saturday, Feb. 23: 10 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 24: 10 a.m./2 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 25: 2 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisiana-Lafayette leads 1-0
First meeting between Tech and Army
Series with Oral Roberts is tied 7-7
Texas Tech leads UTSA 3-0
LAST MEETING
ULL 4, Texas Tech 3 - Feb. 8, 2002
Texas Tech 7, ORU 6 - Feb. 25, 2006
Texas Tech 22, UTSA 7 - Feb. 22, 2005
TELEVISION
None
RADIO
Texas Tech Sports Network
KKAM-1340 AM in Lubbock
Robert Giovannetti (Play-by-Play)
Matt Miller (Color)
Steve Pitz (Engineer)
LIVE STATS
www.texastech.com
LIVE AUDIO/VIDEO
RaiderVision All-Access at
www.texastech.com
(live video at home games only)
Complete Texas Tech Release in PDF Format 
SETTING THE SCENE
After a 278-day wait from the season finale last year at Oklahoma, the Red Raiders return to the diamond for the 2008 season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday morning at the UTSA Baseball Classic. Saturday's game will signal the start of the 59th season of Red Raider Baseball and the 22nd under head coach Larry Hays.
The Red Raiders enter the 2008 season with a host of returning players but at the same time a completely new look as the program underwent drastic changes in the offseason. In the dugout this year, will be new associate head coach Dan Spencer and assistant coach Trent Petrie who were hired in July to help rejuvenate a program that had missed the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons. Along with the new coaches, came 17 newcomers who will help put the Red Raiders back into contention in the Big 12 Conference and help earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Texas Tech is under the guidance of Larry Hays who begins his 22nd season with the Red Raiders and will be looking to guide his team back to prominence. Hays, the third winningest coach in NCAA history, is one of the best skipper's in the game and his decisions in the offseason should have the Red Raider faithful excited about the future of Tech Baseball.
Tech was originally scheduled to face the Northern Illinois Huskies this weekend at Dan Law Field but that series was cancelled due to the tragic shooting that occurred on that campus late last week. Texas Tech will now play its first eight games of the season on the road before playing the Central Arkansas Bears in Lubbock on March 4.
All four games this weekend will be carried live on the Texas Tech Sports Network with Robert Giovannetti and Matt Miller calling the action live from Wolff Stadium.
OPENING DAY 2008
Saturday's game against Louisiana-Lafayette will signal the start of the 59th season of Red Raider Baseball and opening weekend across the nation for college baseball. Baseball is the third oldest sport on the Texas Tech campus following football and men's basketball. Since 1926, Texas Tech is 36-22 on opening day and 13-18 when opening the season on the road. The last time that Texas Tech played its season opener on the road was in 1998 when Tech fell at New Mexico, 7-6. Last season, Texas Tech defeated Stephen F. Austin 4-3 in the season opener on Feb. 3 at Dan Law Field.
RED RAIDERS FORCED TO SCRAMBLE ON OPENING WEEKEND
The Red Raiders were dealt their first curve ball of the season without ever taking the field as Tech found itself searching for a new opening weekend opponent just days before the season began. Texas Tech was scheduled to face the Northern Illinois Huskies in a four-game series at Dan Law Field over the weekend but the tragic shooting on that campus on Feb. 14 forced the cancellation of the series. Northern Illinois suspended all athletic events until Feb. 25 and the two schools could not make a Monday-Tuesday series work. UTSA came to the rescue for the Red Raiders on Monday afternoon and Tech will now take part the UTSA Baseball Classic at Wolff Stadium.
KIESCHNICK NEARS TOP FIVE IN CAREER DOUBLES
Junior right fielder Roger Kieschnick, who led the Big 12 with 25 doubles last season, will look to move into the top five of the school's career doubles list this season. He is four doubles short of surpassing Bobby Kohler (42 between 1979-82) for fifth place and 10 away from moving past Keith Ginter into second place.
QUICK HITS
- A total of 17 new players will put on the Red Raider uniform this weekend for the very first time. Texas Tech placed a special emphasis on the pitching staff as nine of the 17 newcomers are pitchers.
- Two of Tech's new hurlers were drafted in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft coming out of high school. Nate Karns was taken in the 10th round in 2006 by Houston while Chad Bettis was taken in the eighth round this past summer by the Astros.
- The 2007-08 academic year will be the last in the sport of baseball in which transfer students from four-year institutions will be allowed to compete immediately. Starting in 2008-09, transfers from four-year schools will have to sit out a year just like football and basketball. Texas Tech took full advantage of the last year as Tech pulled in four transfers - Nate Karns, Russ Fornea, Monk Kreder, and Owen Brolsma.
- Texas Tech returns four of its top five hitters from last season (Thennis, Ashby, Kieschnick and Hall).
- Chris Richburg, who was Tech's hottest hitter at the end of last season, returns to the outfield for the Red Raiders in 2008. He was named the Texas Collegiate League's Player of the Year this past summer after a successful season with the Wichita Falls Roughnecks.
- Roger Kieschnick is listed in Baseball America's Top 25 most draft worthy college players.
THE LONG WAIT IS OVER
For the first time in NCAA history, the college baseball season was given a uniform date to begin spring practice and competition. With the date of competition being set as Feb. 22, Texas Tech was forced to start its season more than a month later than usual. Last year at this time, the Red Raiders already had 10 games under their belt and had been on the practice field since the start of the spring semester. The start of the 2008 season is the latest for the Red Raiders since dropping a 5-0 decision at Arizona in the season opener back on Feb. 26, 1973.
A LOOK AT THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Texas Tech will make its first-ever appearance in the UTSA Baseball Classic this weekend. The round-robin tournament is being held at Wolff Stadium, which is home to the San Antonio Missions (Double-A Affiliate of the San Diego Padres and member of the Texas League). The Red Raiders will face 19th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday before a doubleheader on Sunday with Army and Oral Roberts. Tech will conclude tournament play with a 2 p.m. game against host UTSA on Monday.
Louisiana-Lafayette - Ranked No. 19 in the Baseball America preseason poll after finishing the 2007 season with a 40-17 overall record and the Sun Belt Conference Championship. ULL advanced to the NCAA Regionals where they fell to Texas A&M in the championship game. They are led by Tony Robichaux who is in his 14th season as the head coach.
Army - Will mark the first-ever meeting between Texas Tech and the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights finished the season with a 25-23-1 overall record and a 12-7 mark in the Patriot League. They are led by Midland, Texas, product Cole White (2007 Patriot League Player of the Year) who is a preseason All-American in 2008 after leading Army last season with a .408 average and a 7-3 record on the mound. Army is led by Joe Sottolano who has guided the Black Knights to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Oral Roberts - The Golden Eagles have been dominating in the Mid-Continent Conference for several years now as they completed their 10th-straight conference title in 2007 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Oral Roberts ended the season with a 40-17 overall record after going 0-2 in the NCAA Wichita Regional. The Golden Eagles won 25 of their last 26 games to close out the regular season and are led by Rob Walton who is in his fifth season.
UTSA - The Roadrunners are coming off one of the best seasons in school history as UTSA captured the 2007 Southland Conference Championship and are picked to repeat in 2008. UTSA ended the year with a 36-22 record and a 24-6 mark in SLC play. Infielder Trent Lockwood returns as the offensive catalyst as he posted a team-leading .378 average last season with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs. UTSA is coached by Sherman Corbett who begins his eighth season.
BETTIS/KIESCHNICK GET CLASS MARKS IN BASEBALL AMERICA
Junior outfielder Roger Kieschnick and freshman right-hander Chad Bettis each picked up recognition from Baseball America as they both rank in the Top 50 of their respective classes. Kieschnick is listed as the 38th best junior while Bettis is listed as the 29th best freshman. Bettis was drafted in the eighth round by the Houston Astros following his senior year at Lubbock Monterey High School.
