No. 4 Tech Wraps Regular Season At Home Against KU

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 4 Texas Tech baseball team returns to action for its final home series of the 2017 regular season against Kansas on May 18-20 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

Thursday & Friday's contests are set for 6:30 p.m. start times, while Saturday's finale is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch. All three games will be televised, as Thursday will air on FOX Sports Southwest, followed by FOX College Sports on Friday and FOX Sports Southwest Plus on Saturday. As always, fans can listen to the series on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM and the TuneIn app, while live stats will be available via TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

On Saturday, Tech will recognize its 2017 senior class, comprised of four student-athletes and two student-managers in a pregame presentation. This year's group includes Hunter Hargrove, Ryan Long, Anthony Lyons, Kholeton Sanchez and managers Brody Allen and Brooks Gustafson.

The Red Raiders (39-13, 13-8) and the Jayhawks (29-23, 11-10) will meet for the 63^rd time on Thursday night, as Tech leads the all-time series at 38-24. In games played in Lubbock, the Red Raiders hold a 20-9 edge in the set, picking up the series win in 2015 with victories in the final two matchups at 9-3 & 3-2.

Last season, Tech posted a sweep of the Jayhawks in Lawrence, its first against Kansas since 2011 and the first on the road since 2004. The Red Raiders limited the Jayhawks to three or fewer runs in all three contests, while exploding for 10 & nine runs in each of the first two games, respectively. Over the end of the 2015 series to 2016, Tech has won five-straight over Kansas, doing so for the first time since 1998-99.

Three teams enter the weekend in the conference standings at 11-10, as Kansas joins Baylor and West Virginia tied for fourth in the league. The Jayhawks have secured their spot in the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship next week in Oklahoma City, with a chance to move as high as second if a certain path unfolds over the final weekend of play. The Red Raiders also have an opportunity to climb to the top seed in the tournament and clinch the league title with a sweep of the Jayhawks.

It has been nearly a week and a half since the Red Raiders last took the field, spending a week in Columbus, Ohio, and Morgantown, West Virginia. Tech came away with a 3-1 record from the trip, picking up a gritty 5-3 victory over the Buckeyes before battling the Mountaineers in a trio of one-run contests. The Red Raiders clinched the series with 1-0 and 4-3 wins on a Saturday doubleheader, then dropped the 3-2 finale on Sunday.

The Jayhawks were supposed to play midweek contest against Creighton on Tuesday, but was canceled due to inclement weather. Before that, Kansas wrapped up its second consecutive series win by taking two from Kansas State on May 12-14. The Jayhawks posted 5-4 & 6-4 victories in the first two games, before falling in the finale, 10-3. The Sunday loss was the first in nine games for Kansas, as the Jayhawks won the final game against Baylor, then tallied a midweek win against then-No. 16 Missouri State before a four-game sweep of Texas Southern.

Tech will keep its same rotation from its last weekend of competition, enlisting its trio of sophomores in lefty Steven Gingery, right-hander Ryan Shetter and south paw Erikson Lanning. The three are a combined 14-2 with 161 strikeouts in 2017. The Jayhawks will counter with righty Jackson Goddard, followed by left-hander Taylor Turski and RHP Sean Rackoski on the mound. Kansas' trio has put together a 13-11 mark and 167 strikeouts.

At the plate, the Jayhawks have compiled a .254 batting average, as Matt McLaughlin leads the squad with a .304 mark. He leads Kansas with 35 RBI and shares the team-high in hits with James Cosentino at 56. Rudy Karre tops the Jayhawks with 42 runs scored, as Kansas averages 5.2 runs per game and 8.2 hits per game.

On the flip side, Tech is hitting .303 as a unit this season, which leads the conference. Senior Hunter Hargrove has put together a team-best .345 average behind 71 hits, including 20 doubles, both figures lead the Big 12 this season. Junior Orlando Garcia has driven in a Tech-best 53 RBI this year, while freshman Josh Jung has crossed home plate 49 times.

After going 3-1 two weeks ago and an off week last week, the Red Raiders remained at No. 4 in five of the six publications. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper is the only set of rankings with Tech slotted in another position than fourth, putting the Red Raiders at seventh in this week's poll.

Tech will hit the road for the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship beginning Wednesday, May 24, in Oklahoma City.

No. 4 Tech Wraps Regular Season At Home Against KU

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Players Mentioned

Orlando Garcia

Steven Gingery

Hunter Hargrove

Josh Jung

Erikson Lanning

Ryan Long

Anthony Lyons

Kholeton Sanchez

Ryan Shetter