March 26, 2009
TEXAS TECH at NO. 8 TEXAS
Friday, March 27 - Sunday, March 29
UFCU-Disch Falk Field - Austin, Texas
6 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m. - Central Time
| Media Coverage |
Television - None
Network Radio - Texas Tech Sports Network
Streaming Video/Audio - RaiderVision All-Access
Texas Tech Game Notes | Texas Game Notes | Big 12 Game Notes |
| Noting The Red Raiders |
TECH SET FOR THREE-GAME SERIES AT NO. 8 TEXAS
Texas Tech must rebound quickly from another disappointing road effort on Wednesday night in San Marcos as the Red Raiders are faced with a three-game series at No. 8 Texas. The Red Raiders and Longhorns open up their three-game Big 12 set at 6 p.m. on Friday night at UFCU-Disch Falk Field. The series continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday and will conclude at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Tech enters the weekend with a 3-3 record in Big 12 Conference play while Texas stands at 2-4 in the league. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online at www.texassports.com. THE TEXAS TECH-TEXAS SERIES
Texas Tech and Texas renew their annual rivalry this weekend with a three-game series at the recently renovated UFCU-Disch Falk Field. The series between the two rivals is the third-most played in Texas Tech history as Friday night's game will mark the 129th meeting. Texas Tech and Texas first met on the diamond on March 22, 1968, in Lubbock with the Longhorns taking a 7-5 win. The Longhorns hold a commanding 95-33 lead in the all-time series and that includes a 48-12 record at home. Texas has won the last two series, including a three-game sweep the last time these two teams met in Austin (2007). Tech's last series win in the capitol city was in 2001. A LOOK AT THE NO. 8 LONGHORNS
The Texas Longhorns enter the weekend series with national rankings in all four major college baseball polls and rank as high as eighth in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and Baseball America. The Longhorns were the nation's top ranked team a week ago but suffered a three-game sweep at Kansas which prompted their fall in the polls. Texas comes into the weekend with a 15-6 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Big 12 Conference. The Longhorns snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over Dallas Baptist on Tuesday night. Texas began the year with an 11-game win streak but has dropped six of their last 10 contests. Offensively, the Longhorns have had their struggles much like the Red Raiders. Texas comes into the weekend with a .270 team batting average and has just one player (shortstop David Hernandez) hitting over .300 on the season. Hernandez has a .333 average along with eight RBIs and a .371 on-base percentage. Kevin Keyes is the leading home run and RBI leader with three and 13 respectively. The strength of this Texas team lies on the mound as the Longhorns lead the nation with an impressive 1.94 team earned run average. The Texas pitching staff has logged five shutouts and utilized just 10 total pitchers all season long. Saturday's scheduled starter, Brandon Workman, leads the staff with a 3-1 record and a 1.34 ERA over five starts and 33 2/3 innings pitched. Austin Wood is the staff closer as he owns three saves and a 0.45 ERA in 12 appearances. 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
- Senior second baseman Willie Rueda is without question the team's offensive catapult. Since his return to the lineup following a hamstring injury, he has posted a .333 average and a .455 on-base percentage.
- Freshman third baseman Justin Berry has been Tech's most consistent hitter as he has hit safely in 22 of 25 games this year. He has posted hit streaks of six and 11 games (team best) and is currently riding a three-game streak.
- Of Tech's 25 games this season, six those have been decided by one run. The Red Raiders are just 2-4 in those contests with perhaps the most disappointing one coming against Baylor in the second and decisive game of that series. The Red Raiders had the bases loaded in the eighth with nobody out but could not muster a run. Tech plated three runs in the top of the ninth before Baylor recorded the final out to take a 5-4 series-clinching win.
- The Tech offense has struggled with runners in scoring position all season long as the Red Raiders own just a .289 average (83-of-287). Things haven't been much better with a runner on third base and less than two outs - Tech is just .558 (43-of-77) on the year in that situation.
- Junior shortstop Joey Kenworthy and junior outfielder Taylor Ashby lead the team with 10 multiple-hit games while senior first baseman Chris Richburg leads the squad with eight multiple-RBI games.
- Taylor Ashby took over the team lead in batting average on Wednesday night after going 3-for-4 against the Bobcats to boost his season clip to .351. Ashby is riding a five-game hit streak and has posted three multiple-hit games in the last week.
- Texas Tech allowed a season-high six unearned runs on Wednesday night in a 10-4 loss at Texas State. The Red Raiders matched their season-high with four errors which caused the season fielding percentage to fall to .954. Texas Tech led the Big 12 in fielding percentage last year but has ranked last in the league for much of the 2009 season.
- The Tech defense has committed three or more errors in eight different games this season. The season high is four errors set against UC-Riverside (twice), Nebraska and Texas State.
- Freshman Garrett Totten belted his first career home run on Sunday in the series finale against Baylor. Totten's first home run will be a memorable one as he launched a grand slam in the top of the fourth to help lead Tech to a 13-8 win over the ninth-ranked Bears. The last Red Raider to hit a grand slam was Roger Kieschnick against the Bears at the end of the 2008 season.
|
