RED RAIDERS RETURN TO BIG 12 PLAY IN WACO
The Texas Tech Red Raiders step back into Big 12 Conference action on Friday night as they open up a three-game series against the ninth-ranked Baylor Bears. All three games will be played at Baylor Ballpark with first pitch on Friday night scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The series continues with another evening game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Red Raiders will be looking to snap a two-game losing skid as they suffered a midweek sweep at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Baylor Bears slugged past Texas State on Wednesday night in San Marcos for a 22-17 win over the Bobcats. THE TEXAS TECH-BAYLOR SERIES
This weekend's series between the Red Raiders and the Bears, on the banks of the Brazos River, will mark the 137th, 138th and 139th all-time meetings between the two in-state rivals. The series against Baylor is the second-most played for the Red Raider Baseball program, trailing just two games behind the Tech-A&M series. The Red Raiders hold a 72-64 edge in the series against Baylor but the Bears own a 39-24 advantage in games played in Waco. The Bears have had the upper hand over the last decade at Baylor Ballpark as Tech's last three-game series win came in 2001. Over the last 10 games, the series has been even as the two teams have split 5-5. A LOOK AT BAYLOR
The Baylor Bears enter the weekend series against the Red Raiders with an overall record of 12-4 after taking a 22-17 win over Texas State on Wednesday evening. In Big 12 Conference play, the Bears are 1-2 after dropping their conference opener last weekend against Texas A&M. Baylor is ranked nationally in all four major college baseball polls coming in at No. 9 in Baseball America, No. 17 in the USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Poll, No. 15 in Collegiate Baseball Magazine and No. 15 by the NCWBA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association). Baylor comes into Friday night's opener with a .308 team batting average after pounding out a season-high 26 hits against Texas State. As a team, the Bears have collected 152 hits, drawn 75 walks, and been hit 15 times for an on-base percentage of .402. Shortstop Joey Hainsfurther is the team's leading hitter with a .455 average and has driven in 15 runs. Adam Hornung is the team leader in home runs with six while Aaron Miller is the RBI leader with 16. On the mound, the Bears own a 4.75 team earned run average and are holding opponents to just a .264 batting average. Closer turned Saturday starter Logan Verrett, leads the team with a 5-0 record (with one save) and a 2.37 ERA. For more information on the Bears, contact Larry Little in the Baylor Media Relations Office. He will soon be president of USA Baseball and a CoSIDA Hall of Famer (plus he's a good guy). RED RAIDERS ON THE AIR
Texas Tech's entire schedule in 2009 including both regular-season and post-season action will be carried live on the flagship station of the Texas Tech Sports Network, KKAM-1340. The Texas Tech Sports Network begins its 16th season of full coverage of Red Raider Baseball. Robert Giovannetti will handle the play-by-play duties for the second year in a row and will be assisted by Matt Miller and Blayne Beal. Network pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to first pitch and concludes with a postgame show. Live audio streams will be available for all road games through RaiderVision All-Access while live video/audio will be available for all home games. SHORT HOPS
- Freshman third baseman Justin Berry has been Tech's most consistent hitter as he has hit safely in 18 of 20 games this year. Berry has also hit home runs in each of the last two games and posted a season-high three base knocks in Tech's 16-8 win over the Huskers on Saturday, March 14.
- Berry and senior first baseman Chris Richburg are the only Red Raiders with a current hit streak. Berry is currently riding a five-game streak while Richburg has hit in each of the last seven.
- Senior RHP AJ Ramos allowed his first runs of the season in the series finale against the Huskers ... Ramos entered Sunday's game having tossed 13 shutout innings but gave up solo runs in the first, third and fifth innings ... on the year he owns a 2-0 record with a 1.53 ERA over 17 2/3 innings pitched.
- Senior RHP Miles Morgan leads the team with 21 2/3 innings pitched and is second behind Ramos with 21 strikeouts. Morgan has allowed just seven walks this season and is holding opponents to a .284 batting average.
- Freshman RHP Louis Head made his first career start in the second game of the doubleheader against Nebraska on March 14. He logged a season-high 4 1/3 innings but suffered the loss after giving up three runs on one hit and five walks.
- Junior Logan Leslie came up big for the Red Raiders off the bench on Sunday as he dropped a pinch-hit, RBI double into right field to jump-start a five-run, fourth inning against Nebraska. Leslie now has nine hits in his career as a pinch hitter, including three this season (3-of-7).
- All 10 of Texas Tech's runs on Sunday (against Nebraska) came with two outs. The Red Raiders scored five in the fourth, two in the fifth and sixth and one in the seventh to post a 10-3 win.
- Texas Tech's Big 12 series win over Nebraska marked its first since taking down Baylor at the end of last season.
- Texas Tech was officially the first team in the Big 12 Conference to begin play in 2009. The Red Raiders threw the first pitch against Southern Utah at 1:01 p.m. on Feb. 20 while the Kansas Jayhawks started just four minutes later (1:05 p.m.) against Air Force.
NO. 27 SET TO BE RETIRED
Texas Tech University will formally retire Larry Hays' No. 27 jersey on Monday evening when the Red Raiders host the LCU Chaparrals at Dan Law Field. Hays is the all-time winningest head coach at both Texas Tech and LCU and the jersey retirement ceremony will be held prior to first pitch. The game is set for 6:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online or by calling the athletics ticket office at (806) 742-TECH. CLOUD EARNS DISTINCTION FROM LOWE'S
Senior right-handed reliever Brian Cloud is one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award that is given annually to a deserving student-athlete that has found success on the playing field, in the classroom and in the community. Cloud, a senior from Lubbock, is in his fourth season on the Texas Tech Baseball team and is a model student-athlete. Not only has he been successful on the diamond, but he has maintained an impressive GPA and has been active in the Lubbock community. Cloud is one of four student-athletes (Nick Faunce, Kansas; Nick Sullivan, Nebraska; Kyle Thebeau, Texas A&M) from the Big 12 Conference that will be vying for one of the 10 finalists spots that will be revealed midway through the season. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition. | 
