No. 3 Tech Continues Home Stand with Kentucky

Friday, February 22

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2 PM

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No. 3 Tech Continues Home Stand with Kentucky

February 21, 2019 | Baseball

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Red Raiders dropped two of three to the Wildcats in Lexington last season.

By: Texas Tech Athletics Communications

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 3 Texas Tech baseball team gears up for its second straight home weekend to open the 2019 season as it hosts Kentucky for a three-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

The three-game series continues Saturday with another 2 p.m. first pitch on TexasTech.TV, now available on Apple TV and Roku devices. Sunday's finale will take place at 1 p.m. and be shown on FOX Sports Southwest Plus and the FOX Sports app. Fans can also tune in to the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM, the TuneIn app and the 97.3 app.

The Red Raiders (2-1) welcome the Wildcats (3-0) after taking two-of-three from Oregon (1-2) during the season opening weekend on Feb. 15-17. After dropping its season opener for just the second time under Tadlock, Tech recorded back-to-back comeback victories over the Ducks by scores of 12-11 and 6-4 to earn the series win. The two teams canceled Monday's series finale due to frigid weather conditions. The Red Raiders improved to 23-4 on opening weekends under Tim Tadlock.

Texas Tech climbed out of an 8-0 hole in the middle game, completing the comeback with a three-run seventh that put Tech on top, 12-11. Tech found itself down 4-1 in the fifth of the finale, but a two-run homer from freshman Tanner O'Tremba evened the score in the sixth, and junior Josh Jung drove in the go-ahead RBI in the seventh to lead Tech to the 6-4 win.

Red Raider fans met several newcomers last weekend with four freshman in the lineup on Opening Day. Tadlock also turned to newcomers Bryce Bonnin and Mason Montgomery to start the latter two games. In all, six newcomers received starts over the weekend and 13 newcomers made their first career appearances in the scarlet and black.

Texas Tech outscored Oregon 10-2 from the sixth inning on thanks to timely hitting and several nice performances out of the bullpen. The pen was responsible for 19.1 of the team's 27 innings pitched over the weekend and gave up only seven of Oregon's 20 earned runs.

Sophomore catcher Braxton Fulford got the start behind the plate on Saturday and posted a career day with his first multi-home run game and three RBI on his way to a 2-for-3 day with a walk. On Sunday, he gunned down a pair of Ducks on the bases while going 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt and a run scored. He enters the second weekend of the season as the team leader in batting (.500) and home runs (2).

Sophomore outfielder Gabe Holt extended his hitting streak to 20 games dating back to last season with four hits over the weekend and added six base on balls to close the week reaching base in 10 of 15 trips to the plate. Additionally, Holt ran all over the Ducks, going 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts.

Head coach Tim Tadlock will shake up the rotation heading into week two with redshirt junior left-hander Erikson Lanning getting the Friday start, Opening Day starter Caleb Kilian moving to Saturday and freshman Mason Montgomery remaining in the Sunday role. Lanning tossed 1.2 innings against the Ducks on Saturday in his first appearance since Feb. 26, 2018 against Maine. Kilian, the 2018 Big 12 leader in wins, gave up six runs in his start Friday to match a career high. Montgomery impressed in his collegiate debut against the Ducks, giving up just six hits in 4.0 innings while yielding three runs.

On the other side of the field, Kentucky will run out junior left-hander Zack Thompson on Friday, sophomore right-hander Jimmy Ramsey on Saturday and freshman lefty Dillon Marsh on Sunday. Thompson started against the Red Raiders in Game 2 last season, giving up three runs on two hits and four walks over 3.0 frames. Ramsey combined for three innings of relief between the first and third games of the series last year, striking out three while yielding three runs on two hits with two walks.

Texas Tech entered the 2019 season with its second-highest collection of preseason rankings in program history. The Red Raiders were ranked No. 3 in two polls: D1 Baseball and NCBWA. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the USA Today Coaches Poll both slotted the Red Raiders at No. 4. Perfect Game had the Red Raiders at No. 5, while Baseball America put Tech at No. 8. It marked the second-straight Tech has started the season as a consensus Top 10 team.

After the series with Kentucky, Texas Tech will face a quick turnaround and host New Mexico State in its first midweek game of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m., at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.