RED RAIDERS CLOSE HOMESTAND WITH UNLV
Texas Tech will put a wrap on a five-game homestand with a two-game midweek series against the UNLV Rebels at Dan Law Field. The series gets underway at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night and concludes at noon on Wednesday. Tuesday's game will start 30 minutes later than usual to accommodate UNLV's travel plans into Lubbock and the finale on Wednesday will start at noon for the same reason. Advance tickets for the series can be purchased online at www.texastech.com or by calling the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 742-TECH (4412). UP NEXT
Texas Tech will hit the road again this weekend for another key Big 12 Conference series as the Red Raiders head to Columbia, Mo. It will be a battle of the seventh and eighth place teams in the Big 12 standings this weekend as the Red Raiders face the Missouri Tigers. The series gets underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at Taylor Stadium. Following the weekend series with Missouri, Tech will take an eight-day break from competition due to the university's final exam period. LUNCH AT THE LAW
Texas Tech is encouraging fans to take a midweek break from work on Wednesday afternoon as the Red Raiders host UNLV for a noon first pitch. Fans that bring their business card to the game will be entered to win a tour of the baseball facilities and the chance to throw out the first pitch. The concession stands will also take your business card where you will get a soft drink and a hot dog for just $4 (savings of $3). THE TEXAS TECH-UNLV SERIES
Tuesday's game between Texas Tech and UNLV will mark the ninth all-time meeting between the two programs. UNLV holds a 6-2 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 5-4 Rebel win on March 2, 1986. The Rebels have won three-straight in the series, including a two-game sweep of the Red Raiders last season in Las Vegas. SCOUTING THE REBELS
The UNLV Rebels will bring a 20-18 overall record to Dan Law Field this week for a two-game series against the Red Raiders. The Rebels have won seven of their last nine contests and own a 5-7 record in the Mountain West. Offensively, the Rebels are as potent as always with a team batting average of .332 along with 79 doubles, 24 triples and 24 home runs. J.J. Sferra leads the team with a .437 average while Scott Berke is the RBI leader with 27. On the mound, the Rebels have posted a team ERA of 5.71 with an opposing batting average of .295. Closer Marc Baca leads the staff with a 2.49 ERA in 15 relief appearances and is 2-0 with two saves. 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
- The current five-game homestand is the second longest of the year for the Red Raiders after playing their first six games of the season at Dan Law Field (Feb. 20-25).
- Tech's series against UNLV this week will be the first midweek home games for the Red Raiders in just under a month. Tech's last midweek home game was a March 23 contest against LCU.
- Junior shortstop Joey Kenworthy added a pair of multiple-hit games this weekend to increase his team leading total to 18 ... he went 2-for-5 on Friday and 2-for-2 on Sunday in the series win over the Jayhawks.
- Freshman designated hitter Scott LeJeune took over the team lead in batting average this weekend after going 6-for-12 against the Jayhawks ... LeJeune now has a .348 average along with 26 RBIs and is tied for second with eight doubles.
- Senior first baseman Chris Richburg is the team leader in both home runs (11) and RBIs (40) ... he has hit safely in 33 of Tech's 42 games this season ... posted a 15-game hit streak earlier this year and is now riding a four-game streak.
- Junior center fielder Taylor Ashby is currently leading the team with a five-game hit streak and needs to hit in two more games to match his season-high of seven.
- Texas Tech has loaded the bases on four different occasions and has been unable to drive in a single run. The latest was on April 1 in Albuquerque when Tech loaded them up in the fourth only to allow UNM reliever Ryan Escarcega to retire three straight batters without allowing a run.
- Tech's series win over Kansas has given the Red Raiders an unofficial RPI of No. 92.
- Texas Tech has surpassed its sacrifice hit total from last season as the Red Raiders now have 41 in 2009. Tech managed just 36 sacrifice bunts in all of 2008.
OFFENSE GETS BACK ON TRACK
After suffering three shutouts two weeks ago and a .235 team batting average over the course of six games prior to the Kansas series, the Red Raiders finally got back on track against the Jayhawks. In the series opener against Kansas, the Red Raiders rocked the Jayhawk pitching staff for 15 runs and a season-high 21 hits. The last time Tech had 20-plus hits in a game was last season in the series finale at Oklahoma State. On Friday night, seven different players tallied multiple hit games while four added multiple-RBIs. Tech generated seven runs on nine hits on Saturday to earn the series win and notched 14 hits in the Sunday loss to the Jayhawks. The weekend series improved Tech's team batting average over 10 points to .295. In conference play, the Red Raiders lead the Big 12 with a .320 average. TURNING THINGS AROUND
Despite Tech's 18-24 overall record, the turnaround of the Texas Tech Baseball program is underway. In his first season, Dan Spencer has the Red Raiders right in the thick of the Big 12 Conference race with nine league games left to go. Tech currently stands in seventh place in the league with a 9-9 record.
- Despite standing in seventh place, Tech is just 88 percentage points from third.
- With nine conference wins, Tech has matched or beaten its entire total from each of the last three years. Tech finished the 2008 season with a 9-18 record and tied Kansas for ninth place.
- Tech's series opening win against Kansas gave the Red Raiders their third Big 12 series opening win at Dan Law Field this season - the last time that happened was in 2002.
- The series win over Kansas gave Tech its third Big 12 series victory - a first for the program since 2004.
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