No. 4 Tech Heads To ABQ For Midweek At New Mexico

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 4 Texas Tech baseball team will spend its midweek in Albuquerque to take on New Mexico at 2 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, April 17, at Santa Ana Star Field.

The game will be streamed online on the Mountain West Network, and can be heard on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM, the 97.3 app, the TuneIn app and at TexasTech.com. Live stats will also be available via statbroadcast.com.

Tuesday's game will be the second of two meetings between the Red Raiders (29-8) and the Lobos (12-21-1), with Tech taking the first game of the series, 7-2, on March 7. Overall, the Red Raiders are 72-46-1 all-time against New Mexico, trailing slightly in games played in Albuquerque at 25-26-1. Last season, Tech split its two-game road set against the Lobos, dropping game one, 16-5, before exploding for a 27-15 win in the finale.

An offensive explosion is exactly what happened for the Red Raider offense last weekend, as Tech totaled 56 runs over a three-game sweep of Kansas State at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. It broke a school record for runs in a Big 12 series, passing the previous high of 37 set in 2014.

Fourteen Red Raiders produced multi-hit bids, combined with 15 multi-RBI performances to pick up 21-4, 26-6 and 9-6 victories over the Wildcats. Saturday's contest featured 10 extra base hits by the Red Raiders, while Friday featured four homers, with grand slams coming in each of those contests.

Two of Friday's home runs came from sophomore Grant Little, who was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday after totaling nine hits over four games last week. Little went 4-for-5 in the series opener, racking up nine RBI, which matched the school record for RBI in a game. He joined John Grimes (March 23, 1984) and Mike Bewley (March 21, 1975) as the only Red Raiders to accomplish the feat.

Another sophomore, Brian Klein, also matched a school record in Friday's game, tying the mark for runs scored in a contest with six. Klein and Jon Slack are the only Red Raiders to score six runs in a game, with Slack doing so on March 13, 2002, against Sam Houston State.

Tech will face a dangerous New Mexico squad, seeking its first win in nine games. Over the weekend, the Lobos dropped its series at Nevada by scores of 15-2, 5-2 & 14-1. At home this season, New Mexico is 6-8-1.

Head coach Tim Tadlock will send out freshman right-hander Ryan Sublette to start on the mound against the Lobos on Tuesday. Last week at DBU, the Lemont, Illinois, native tossed 3.0 innings, striking out a season-high five. Sublette has totaled 14.2 innings this season with five starts and seven appearances under his belt, tallying 13 strikeouts overall.

He'll face a New Mexico lineup hitting .257 as a unit, with six starters above the team average. Junior infielder Hayden Schilling paces the Lobos with a .346 batting average over 30 games, while also leading the squad in RBI with 18. Senior outfielder Danny Collier leads UNM with 38 hits and 23 runs scored, hitting .299 on the year.

New Mexico's team ERA sits at 6.52 entering Tuesday's game, while the Lobos have tagged opponents for a 4.33 earned run average. Opposing batters sit at .306 against New Mexico through 34 games this season. Tuesday's starter for New Mexico is TBA.

The Red Raiders roll into Albuquerque with a .316 batting average, which continues to lead the Big 12 and ranks fifth in the country. Little and fellow sophomore Josh Jung pace Tech with 57 hits each, with Jung holding a slight edge in RBI (44) and runs scored (42), as Little follows closely with 43 and 39, respectively.

Part of Tech's offensive explosion last weekend was aided by nine home runs over a three-game span. The total brought the Red Raiders to 50 dingers this season, a mark that ranks sixth in the country. Tech has run up an 8.42 opponent ERA, while holding opposing hitters to a .210 average for a Red Raider ERA of 3.69.

For the 10th-straight week, Tech is ranked inside the top 10, slotted fourth by the NCBWA & Perfect Game, and fifth by D1 Baseball, Baseball America and the USA Today Coaches Poll.

After the midweek against UNM, the Red Raiders return home to host No. 14 Oklahoma on April 20-22 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

No. 4 Tech Heads To ABQ For Midweek At New Mexico

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Players Mentioned

Josh Jung

Brian Klein

Grant Little

Ryan Sublette