No. 4 Tech Heads To Globe Life Park To Face UTA

Tuesday, March 14

Arlington, TX

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Arlington

No. 4 Tech Heads To Globe Life Park To Face UTA

March 13, 2017 | Baseball

Texas Tech Notes UTA Notes Live Stream ($)Live Stats

The Red Raiders will square off with UT-Arlington on Tuesday, March 14, at Globe Life Park in Arlington

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 4 Texas Tech baseball team hits the road for spring break, beginning their four-game road swing with a matchup against UT-Arlington on Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at Globe Life Park.

Tuesday's game will broadcast live through UTAMavs.com and can also be heard on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM and the TuneIn app.

The Red Raiders (14-3) and the Mavericks (8-8) will meet for the 28^th time in the two program's histories on Tuesday night. It will be the second-straight year Tech and UTA have played at Globe Life Park, home of the Texas Rangers, as the Red Raiders defeated the Mavericks, 6-4, in last year's meeting. Tech leads the all-time series, 22-5, and is 4-0 when playing UTA at a neutral site. The Red Raiders are 4-1 this season when playing on a neutral field.

Tuesday's contest will also be the fourth game the Red Raiders have played in a Major League Baseball stadium, as Tech played at the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston on March 3-5. At the three-game tournament, the Red Raiders took two of three from top-10 ranked Ole Miss and LSU.

Tech posted another 3-1 stretch last week, notching a 13-1 victory over No. 4 Arizona a week ago on March 7 in Lubbock, the first top-10 matchup at home since 1997. It was the first night game for the Red Raiders and their third-straight win over a top-10 opponent. The victory over the Wildcats was also the first top-five win at Rip Griffin Park since a 5-1 defeat of No. 2 TCU on April 3, 2015.

The Red Raiders followed it by taking the first and third games of the three-game set with UTSA, sandwiching a tough 3-2 loss on Saturday with a 7-6 victory on Friday and an 8-4 win in the Sunday finale. It was the first time since 2011 the two teams have met.

With Tech's win on Friday over the Roadrunners, the Red Raiders matched their best start to a season since 2005 at 13-2 overall through the first 15 games of the year. That year's squad also sat at 14-3 after 17 games into their year.

It's been a strong start to the month of March, sitting at 5-2 after wins over No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 2 LSU, No. 4 Arizona and UTSA (2). It follows after a fantastic February, as the Red Raiders went 9-1 that featured sweeps over California and Western Illinois, as well as midweek wins over New Mexico & New Mexico State, and a weekend split with Mississippi State in Starkville.

With a 14-3 record through 17 games, the Red Raiders sit inside the top-11 of all six polls, moving up in four publication's rankings from last week's spots. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper moved Tech into their top five at No. 4 this week for the first time since the end of last year's season. The Red Raiders also climbed in the USA Today Coaches poll to No. 6, while standing firm in D1 Baseball's rankings in the sixth slot. The National College Baseball Writers Association moved Tech up to No. 8, while Perfect Game kept the Red Raiders in the eighth spot in their newest rankings. Baseball America rounded out the poll by placing Tech at No. 11, which was also an increase from last week's mark.

The Red Raiders have been ranked inside the top six of at least one poll in each of the last two seasons.

On Tuesday in Arlington, the Red Raiders will turn to freshman right-hander John Henry Gonzalez for his fourth start of his career. The Edinburg native tossed 3.2 innings in his third start against the No. 4 Wildcats, giving up only one run on two hits, walking five but striking out four. It was the third-straight start to allow two hits and second time giving up just one run. He has 11 strikeouts and walks this season, while Tech has gone 4-0 in games he's made a start or appearance in 2017.

The weekend staff has been tremendous for the Red Raiders, filled by three sophomores who all posted quality starts against UTSA last weekend. Righty Davis Martin got back in the win column after a 6.0 inning outing against the Roadrunners to open the series on Friday. He allowed just two runs on six hits after three scoreless frames of facing the minimum batters, finishing the day with five strikeouts. Left-hander Steven Gingery came one out away from a complete-game shutout the next afternoon, tossing 8.2 innings, striking out eight. He was charged with two runs after leaving the game with two on and two out and a 2-0 lead. RHP Ryan Shetter put together his fourth-straight quality start after going 5.2 IP, giving up three runs, but striking out eight without issuing a walk. In doing so, he also earned his second win of the season.

Junior outfielder Tanner Gardner was named Big 12 Player of the Week on March 13 after posting an impressive .600/.867/.667 line at the plate over last week's four-game home swing. The Frisco native tallied nine hits in his 15 at-bats, walking three times, while tallying three RBI and six runs scored. His 4-for-4 night against UTSA on March 10 matched a career-high for hits in a game, as he racked up four singles in the contest against the Roadrunners.

Gardner was the second Red Raider to win the award this year, joining senior infielder Hunter Hargrove after the opening weekend of play. Tech has won all three of the conference weekly honors this season.

After Tuesday's game, Tech will travel down to Austin to open Big 12 action against No. 21 Texas on March 17-19 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, as all three contests will air live on the Longhorn Network.