No. 4 Tech Travels To Midland To Face NMSU

Tuesday, April 18

Midland, Texas

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

New Mexico State

No. 4 Tech Travels To Midland To Face NMSU

April 17, 2017 | Baseball

Texas Tech Notes New Mexico State Notes Live Stats

The Red Raiders will take on the Aggies on April 18, at 7 p.m., at Security Bank Ballpark

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 4 Texas Tech baseball team returns to the road for the season series finale against New Mexico State on April 18, at 7 p.m., at Security Bank Ballpark.

Tuesday night's game will air live on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM & the TuneIn app. Live stats will also be available via TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

It will be the third and final time the Red Raiders (31-8) and the Aggies (23-14) meet during the 2017 regular season and the first at a neutral site. Tech picked up victories in each of the first two meetings this season, taking a 16-1 victory at the home opener in Lubbock, followed by a 15-4 win in Las Cruces on April 4.

The two programs are no strangers to each other, as Tech holds a 47-18 advantage in the all-time series against New Mexico State, improving to 35-7 after the home win and moved up the road deficit to 8-6 with the win earlier in this month. It is the sixth-straight year the two programs have squared off, with the Red Raiders going 11-3 over that stretch.

In the Feb. 21 matchup, the Aggies scored in the opening frame, but the Red Raiders tallied runs in six of the eight innings they would come to the plate, including back-to-back frames of four & seven runs scored, for the 16-1 win. Four different Red Raiders put down multi-hit performances, including a four-hit day for junior infielder Orlando Garcia and a three-hit bid from freshman outfielder Grant Little.

All in all, Tech racked up 18 hits in the contest, countering with only two hits allowed from the Red Raider pitching staff. Freshman right-hander John Henry Gonzalez got his first collegiate start against the Aggies, tossing 5.1 innings and striking out five. The bullpen put together the final 3.2 frames of shutout baseball that featured four strikeouts and only one walk.

A couple weeks ago in Las Cruces, another freshman, RHP Caleb Kilian picked up his first win of the season in his first collegiate start. Kilian exited after 2.0 innings with a 6-1 lead, as the Red Raiders tallied six in the opening frame. Tech then followed with three frames of two runs each, followed by a three-run eighth to put away the Aggies with a 15-4 victory.

The Red Raiders recorded 21 hits in the win, matching a season-high, as seven different batters had multi-hit performances, with freshmen Michael Berglund & Grant Little each putting down four. Tech has notched double digit hit & run totals in both meetings with the Aggies this season, outscoring New Mexico State by a combined 31-5.

When the two teams meet on Tuesday in Midland, Tech will roll out another freshman for his first career start, handing the ball over to righty Jake McDonald. The Maud native has appeared in eight games this season, throwing shutout performances in five, tossing a total of 10.0 innings. He has eight strikeouts and five walks along with an ERA of 4.50. New Mexico State will start right-hander Andy Frakes.

Since their last matchup, New Mexico State have won six of their last seven games, improving to 8-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Aggies picked up a three-game sweep of UT Rio Grande Valley and a series win on the road at Sacramento State, along with a midweek win over Sul Ross State in between the WAC series victories.

The Aggies are hitting .318 as a team this year, with seven above the .300 mark. Leading the way is Brent Sakurai, who has put together a .372 average with 51 hits and 23 RBI in 37 starts. Joey Ortiz holds the top spot in hits with 54, while Dan Hetzel has been dangerous with runners on base, driving in a team-high 41 RBI in 2017.

The Red Raiders (29-7, 6-3) and the Wildcats (16-16, 1-8) have each played three conference series so far in 2017. Tech began the Big 12 schedule with a three-game sweep over then-No. 21 Texas, while picking up one win at then-No. 15 Oklahoma before a series victory over then-No. 29 Baylor last weekend.

Tech will counter with a .303 team-batting average, as six different Red Raiders have recorded clips above .300 in: Hunter Hargrove (.344), Grant Little (.339), Ryan Long (.327), Michael Berglund (.320) and Josh Jung (.301). Hargrove is not only the team leader in hits (55), but also tops the Big 12, which includes 17 doubles, two triples and four homers. Orlando Garcia leads the team with 41 RBI, which was propelled by 40 hits, including a team-high eight home runs.

On Tuesday, Tech added its second-straight Big 12 Player of the Week winner in Michael Davis. The Lubbock native hit .450 last week, racking up nine hits with three-straight games with a home run. He also had seven RBI and six runs scored, while helping turn a season-high four double plays in the series finale at K-State. It was the second career honor for Davis.

The win on Saturday in Manhattan capped a 3-1 week for the Red Raiders, who won their third conference series of the year after taking a midweek game against New Mexico. The weekend matchup was their third Big 12 series on the road this year, giving the Red Raiders just one more away series and three inside the confines of Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

With last week's results, the Red Raiders moved up in four of the six polls, climbing as high as No. 4 by Baseball America. D1 Baseball, the USA Today Coaches Poll and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) all placed Tech at No. 5, while Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game kept the Red Raiders at sixth in the latest rankings.

After Tuesday's game, Tech will return home for a weekend set against Oklahoma State on April 21-23 at Rip Griffin Park on FOX Sports Southwest Plus.