No. 3 Tech Hosts UNLV In Midweek Series

Tuesday, March 21

Lubbock, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

UNLV

No. 3 Tech Hosts UNLV In Midweek Series

March 20, 2017 | Baseball

Texas Tech Notes UNLV Notes Live Stream (Game 1)Live Stream (Game 2)Live Stats

The Red Raiders will take on the Rebels on March 21-22 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 3 Texas Tech baseball team returns home for a pair of midweek games against UNLV on March 21-22 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

Tuesday's game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start, while Wednesday's getaway day is slated for a noon first pitch. All three games will be available on TexasTech.TV with a paid subscription, as well as on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM and the TuneIn app. Live Stats will also be available via TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

The Red Raiders (17-4, 3-0) will square off with the Rebels (10-11, 5-4) for only the 17^th time on Tuesday night, with Tech claiming seven wins in the all-time series. When playing Lubbock, both teams have four wins, last playing in West Texas in 2011. Last year, Tech and UNLV split the two-game set, as the Rebels took game one, 8-5, before the Red Raiders posted a 14-6 victory in the second contest. This season, UNLV is 2-5 away from home.

The first meeting between the two programs came in 1986 with two games played in Lubbock. Twenty years later, the two teams faced off again, meeting each year for five consecutive seasons before taking a four-year hiatus. Every series has been a two-gamer, with eight matchups being held in both Lubbock and Las Vegas.

The Rebels will turn to sophomore right-handed pitchers Paul Richy and Chase Maddux on Tuesday & Wednesday, respectively. Richy is 0-1 this season with a 6.23 ERA, striking out seven and walking 12, while Maddux has only tossed 4.2 innings in three appearances, taking a 3.86 ERA into the week with two strikeouts and a walk.

On the flip side, UNLV has put together a strong year at the plate, hitting .310 as a team, with seven Rebels hitting .300 or better. Bryson Stott & Justin Jones have near identical batting averages at .385 & .384, respectively, as Stott leads the team with 35 hits and 18 runs, while Jones has tallied 24 RBI with four homers.

Out of the first base dugout, the Red Raiders will hand the ball to freshman righty John Henry Gonzalez in Tuesday's series opener. The Edinburg, Texas, native is 1-1 this season with a 4.11 ERA, striking out 12 & walking 12 over 15.1 innings of work. Wednesday's starter has yet to be determined.

The Red Raider bats have out-scored opponents 137-66 this season, racking up a .277 average in the process. Senior infielder Hunter Hargrove leads the squad with a .329 average, tallying 28 hits, 20 RBI and 20 runs scored. Three different Red Raiders have 20 or more hits this season in Hargrove (28), Tanner Gardner (25) and Josh Jung (20). That trio also leads the team in multi-hit performances, as Gardner sits atop with eight, followed by Jung, Hargrove and Grant Little with seven each.

Tech notched 28 hits against the Longhorns last weekend, including 15 in the series finale, while holding UT to just 10 over the three-game series. It was the ninth time this season Tech has recorded 10 or more hits in a game. In doing so, the Red Raiders pieced together a sweep of Texas for the first time in program history, taking games one & two, 2-1, followed by an 8-5 victory on Sunday.

With the wins, Tech improved to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 1999. It also improved Tech's win streak against nationally-ranked opponents to six, previously taking down No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 2 LSU and No. 4 Arizona.

Speaking of rankings, after going 3-1 last week and improving to 17-4, the Red Raiders have become a consensus top-10 team as of March 20, climbing in all but one publication's poll from last week's spots. D1 Baseball and the USA Today Coaches Poll gave Tech its highest ranking of the year at No. 3 this week. The National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) also moved the Red Raiders up to fourth, while Collegiate Baseball Newspaper held Tech in the same spot. The Red Raiders climbed three spots in both Perfect Game and Baseball America's latest rankings, moving to No. 5 and No. 8, respectively.

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

Tech will hit the road for the second of three road weekends after the UNLV series, heading to Wichita, Kansas, to take on Wichita State on March 24-26 at Eck Stadium.