No. 6 Tech Hosts No. 2 TCU In Weekend Showdown

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 6 Texas Tech baseball team returns home to battle No. 2 TCU on April 28-30 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

This weekend's contests will feature the highest-ranked matchup in Rip Griffin Park history and will be played in front of three sold out crowds. It is the third-straight conference weekend in which all three games have reached sellout status.

Friday night's game is set for a 7 p.m. start on FS1, with Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday's (2 p.m.) contests featured on the ESPN family of networks on ESPNU and ESPN2, respectively. All three games can also be streamed on the platform's respective streaming applications & websites. As always, fans can listen to the game on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM & the TuneIn app, while live stats will be available via TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

This weekend's games will mark the second time this season Tech has hosted a top-five team in Lubbock. The first came on March 7, when the Red Raiders picked up a 13-1 victory over then-No. 4 Arizona. That contest was the first of three matchups between 2016 College World Series teams. The second came against Oklahoma State last weekend, while the third will start Friday night.

The Red Raiders (34-11, 9-6) and the Horned Frogs (30-9, 11-4) enter the weekend separated by two games in the Big 12 standings, with West Virginia (24-15, 9-6) tied with Tech in second. The Red Raiders trail in the all-time series with TCU, but lead in matchups in Lubbock at 37-35. Over the last 10 games, the Horned Frogs hold a slight edge at 6-4.

Last season, Tech traveled down to Fort Worth and picked up a series victory behind Friday night (7-3) and Sunday afternoon (3-1) victories. However, the two teams would meet again in Omaha, with the Horned Frogs earning a 5-3 win in the first round of the tournament.

The road team has recorded the season series win in each of the last four seasons. Over the last three years, the two programs couldn't get enough of each other, meeting beyond the regularly scheduled season series at the Big 12 Championship in 2015 and in the College World Series in 2014 & 2016.

Both teams will hand the ball over to their same starting rotation as the previous weekend. Tech will send out a trio of sophomores in left-handers Erikson Lanning & Steven Gingery, followed by righty Ryan Shetter. The Horned Frogs will trot out lefty Nick Lodolo, followed by right-handers Mitchell Traver and Brian Howard in the final two games of the series.

At the plate, TCU is hitting .275 as a team, with Austen Wade leading the way with a .345 clip. Wade leads the Frogs in hits with 51, while Cam Warner has driven in a TCU-best 36 RBI & Luken Baker has crossed home plate 36 times. The pitching staff has held opponents to a measly .228 average, as this weekend's starters have put together a combined 12-4 record with 122 strikeouts. Each of the three in the rotation have ERA's above 4.00.

On the flip side, Tech has racked up a .306 mark as a unit with six sitting above the team average heading into the weekend. Senior Hunter Hargrove & freshman Grant Little lead the way with .333 averages, as Hargrove has the team-best 61 hits, which includes 18 doubles, both topping the Big 12. Junior Orlando Garcia has driven in another Big 12 best of 49 runs, while Jung has touched home 47 times.

On the mound, Gingery leads the country with eight victories and ranks in the top 15 in the NCAA in ERA at 1.49. Between the three-headed sophomore trio, the weekend rotation has a combined 12-0 record and 137 strikeouts.

The Horned Frogs are coming off a 6-2 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night in Fort Worth. Tech traveled to Albuquerque during the midweek and came away with a 1-1 split after unleashing a 27-run outburst in Wednesday afternoon's contest. The offensive output created a plethora of updates in the "Last Time" section of the notes, setting a Texas Tech record for runs in a road game, which passed the previous-high of 25 at UTEP on Feb. 24, 1984.

With last week's results, the Red Raiders moved a couple spots in a few polls and held firm in a couple others, sitting as high as No. 6 after the dust settled. The USA Today Coaches Poll, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the National College Baseball Writers Association and Perfect Game slotted Tech at sixth this week. Baseball America & D1 Baseball both moved the Red Raiders down three spots to No. 7 & No. 8, respectively.

After the weekend set, the Red Raiders will hit the road for an extended stay, taking on Ohio State in a pair of midweek games before heading to Morgantown to face West Virginia.

No. 6 Tech Hosts No. 2 TCU In Weekend Showdown

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Players Mentioned

Orlando Garcia

Steven Gingery

Hunter Hargrove

Erikson Lanning

Grant Little

Ryan Shetter