Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseball Heads To Houston College Classic
March 03, 2010 | Baseball
March 3, 2010
2010 HOUSTON COLLEGE CLASSIC
Texas Tech, Rice, TCU, Houston, Texas, Missouri
Friday, March 5 - Sunday, March 7
Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Noon/7 p.m./2:30 p.m. (CT)
Houston College Classic Preview | Classic Schedule
 | MEDIA COVERAGE |
Television - None
Network Radio - Texas Tech Sports Network
Live Audio/Video - RaiderVision All-Access
Gameday Information - Gameday Central
Texas Tech Notes | TCU Notes | Rice Notes | Houston Notes | Big 12 Notes
| | NOTING THE RED RAIDERS |
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Texas Tech hits the road for the first time this season as the Red Raiders travel to Houston for the 2010 Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park. The Houston College Classic is arguably the most prestigous preseason college baseball tournament each year and will feature three teams ranked in the top 10. This year's tournament field is comprised of Texas Tech, No. 3 Texas, Missouri, No. 7 TCU, No. 9 Rice and Houston. The Red Raiders and the No. 7 Horned Frogs will get the three-day tournament started with a noon first pitch on Friday. Tech will then face No. 9 Rice at 7 p.m. on Saturday and will close out the tournament against Houston at 2:30 on Sunday. Advance tickets for the Houston College Classic can be purchased online at www.astros.com. The Minute Maid Park Box Office is located on Texas Ave and all-touranment passes can be purchased for $30.
RANKINGS
TCU is ranked in all four major polls with a high ranking of No. 7. The Rice Owls are ranked in three of the major collegiate polls and as high as No. 9 by Baseball America. Houston and Texas Tech are unranked.
TEXAS TECH SPORTS NETWORK
All 56 regular-season games will be carried live by Learfield Sports on the Texas Tech Sports Network. Red Raiders fans can listen to all the action on Double T 104.3 (the flagship station of the Texas Tech Sports Network) in Lubbock or KHOB 1390 AM in Hobbs, N.M. Fans outside of the above listening areas can tune in via the world wide web at texastech.com and purchase a monthly subscription to RaiderVision All-Access. Robert Giovannetti returns to the broadcast booth for his third season as the play-by-play voice while Daren Hays joins the network as the full-time color analyst.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Red Raider fans unable to make it out to the ballpark can follow Texas Tech baseball games anywhere in the world through Gameday Central at texastech.com. Live scoring, audio and video (video only available for home games and select road games), a live game blog and twitter updates can all be found at Gameday Central. Comprehensive parking, weather, tailgating, security and ticket information can also be found in this convenient location.
HOUSTON COLLEGE CLASSIC NOTES
- Texas Tech will be making its sixth appearance in the annual Houston College Classic this weekend at Minute Maid Park. Texas Tech was part of the inaugural college classic back in 2001 and coincidentally played TCU in the first game of that tournament (a 5-4 win over the Frogs). The Red Raiders returned to the classic again in 2002 but then began alternating every other year with Texas.
- Texas Tech is 5-10 all-time in the Houston College Classic with its best showing coming in 2004 when the Red Raiders went 2-1 (wins over Houston and Ohio State).
- Texas Tech and TCU will meet for the 138th time and is the third most played series in school history. The series is tied at 68-68-1 with the Horned Frogs winning the last meeting between the two squads 12-5 last season in Fort Worth. Tech and TCU are playing the first of four games this season as the two teams meet in Fort Worth next weekend for a three-game series at Lupton Stadium.
- Texas Tech and Rice will meet for the 110th time on Saturday evening and the first time since meeting in the Houston College Classic on March 2, 2008. Tech leads the all-time series 56-53 but the Owls have won the last 12 meetings in the series. Tech's last win over the Owls dates all the way back to April 6, 1996, when the Red Raiders salvaged the final game of a three-game series (8-1) at Rice. Texas Tech has faced Rice six different times in the Houston College Classic.
- Texas Tech and Houston will meet for the 80th time on Sunday afternoon with the Cougars holding a 42-37 lead in the all-time series. Houston has won each of the last two meetings and both have come in the Houston College Classic (2006 & 2008).
SCOUTING TCU
The TCU Horned Frogs bring a No. 7 national ranking and a 6-1 record into Friday's game against Texas Tech. The Frogs held off UTSA 17-12 on Tuesday night in Fort Worth just two days after claiming a three-game series win at No. 6 Cal-State Fullerton. Offensively, TCU boasts an impressive .365 team batting average alongside a 3.60 staff earned run average. The Horned Frogs are led by right fielder Josh Elander's .556 average while Jason Coats leads the team with three home runs and 11 RBIs. Steven Maxwell (Friday's starter against the Red Raiders) is the top pitcher on the staff with a 0.82 ERA and a 2-0 record through 11 innings of work. TCU is coached by Jim Schlossnagle who is in his 7th season.
SCOUTING RICE
The No. 9 Rice Owls got off to a slow start to the 2010 season but have rebounded by winning their last five games and stand at 5-4 on the year. The Owls won a pair of midweek games against crosstown rival Houston (8-2) on Tuesday and a 5-0 shutout at Texas State on Wednesday night. Rice is coached by Wayne Graham who is in his 19th season.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
The Houston Cougars bring a 2-5 overall record into this weekend's Houston College Classic. The Cougars suffered an 8-2 setback against crosstown rival Rice on Tuesday evening at Reckling Park and have now dropped their last two games. Centerfielder Joel Ansley is the leading hitter on the team with a .435 average while Matt Creel is the RBI leader with nine. On the mound, Chase Dempsay is the leading pitcher on the staff with a 2.00 ERA in three relief appearances. As a staff, the Cougars hold a 5.81 ERA. Raynor Noble is in his 17th season as the head coach of the Cougars.
MAYO NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Junior catcher Jeremy Mayo has been named one of 53 preseason candidates for the 2010 Johnny Bench Award which honors the nation's top collegiate catcher and is presented annually by The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. He is one of four catchers from the Big 12 Conference named to the list as he joins Oklahoma State's Kevin David, Texas' Cameron Rupp and Oklahoma's Tyler Ogle.
DEFENSE IS SOLID THROUGH NINE GAMES
Texas Tech's youth in 2009 led the way to defensive struggles all season long but that experience has paid off so far for the Red Raiders in 2010. Over nine games, Tech has committed just six defensive miscues for a .984 team fielding percentage. Tech has been error-free in 5-of-9 games this season after being error free only 13 times in 2009. Tech's team fielding percentage in 2009 was .959 and ranked last in the Big 12 Conference.
The college classic will mark the first time this season that Tech has played on a grass/dirt surface and the Red Raiders took some time at nearby Coronado High School on Thursday afternoon to take infield practice. The Red Raiders play on a FieldTurf surface that covers both the infield and outfield with the only dirt being on the pitcher's mound.
Senior shortstop Joey Kenworthy has been the team's defensive leader in 2010 as he has posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage through 51 chances.
LEJUNE IS AN RBI MACHINE
Sophomore designated hitter Scott LeJeune has become an RBI machine for the Red Raiders, driving in a Big 12-best 16 runs while posting a .405 batting average. In Tuesday's win over Dallas Baptist, the Austin native drove in three runs on three hits to help pace Texas Tech to an 8-5 win over the Patriots. LeJeune is second in the league in hits (15) and doubles (5).
HOUSTON HOMECOMING
This weekend will provide a homecoming of sorts for five Red Raiders that hail from the Houston area. Freshman right fielder Barrett Barnes (Sugarland/Fort Bend Austin), redshirt freshman LHP Scott Erzinger (Houston/Lamar), sophomore RHP Louis Head (Katy/Cinco Ranch), junior RHP John Neely (Sugarland/Clements) and senior shortstop Joey Kenworthy (Houston/Cypress Falls) will get the chance to play in front of a hometown crowd this weekend.
