Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseball Preview: Texas Tech At No. 10 Kansas State
May 07, 2009 | Baseball
May 7, 2009
TECH HEADS NORTH FOR SERIES AT K-STATE
Texas Tech continues its four-game road trip this weekend as the Red Raiders head north for a three-game series at No. 10 Kansas State. The weekend series could hold huge Big 12 Tournament implications for the Red Raiders as they are currently eighth in the conference standings. The series gets underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium and continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tech and K-State will wrap things up at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.k-statesports.com.
UP NEXT
After a two-week hiatus from Dan Law Field, the Red Raiders return home to close out the regular-season portion of the 2009 schedule. Texas Tech will face Mississippi Valley State in a two-game midweek series beginning on Tuesday, May 12. Following the series finale against the Delta Devils (Wed, May 12 at noon), Tech will face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a three-game series May 15-17. Several promotions are scheduled for the weekend series against OSU, including the At-Bat For The Cure game on Saturday.
THE TEXAS TECH - KANSAS STATE SERIES
Texas Tech will face a ranked Kansas State team for the first time this weekend as the Red Raiders travel to Manhattan for a crucial three-game series. Texas Tech owns a 23-14-1 lead in the all-time series but the Wildcats have had the upper hand over the last 10 games, posting a 6-3-1 record. Texas Tech is 9-8 all-time against KSU in Manhattan but the last series win for the Red Raiders there came back in 2001. The last series win for the Red Raiders was in 2004 when Tech swept a three-game set at Dan Law Field.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The Kansas State Wildcats enter the weekend series against Texas Tech as one of the hottest teams in the league and the nation. The Wildcats have won nine of their last 10 contests including series wins at No. 2 Texas and Oklahoma State. KSU owns a 12-7-1 record in Big 12 play and currently sits behind Texas in second place in the league standings.
The K-State offense may be one of the biggest storylines of the season as they enter the series against the Red Raiders with a team average of .326. Carter Junica has led the way with a .384 clip while Jason King is the RBI leader with 53. The Wildcats have hit 47 home runs as a team and are led by Jordan Cruz' 10.
On the mound, the Wildcats boast the top pitcher in the Big 12 Conference and an all but certain All-American in AJ Morris. Morris is 11-0 on the year with a 1.29 ERA over 83 2/3 innings and has just one no-decision. He owns three complete games and owns 78 strikeouts compared to 21 walks. James Allen leads the staff with fives saves but Thomas Rooke is close behind with four and leads the team in appearances with 25.
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 Daren Hays. 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.
