Preview: No. 24 Tech primed for Statesboro Regional

NCAA TOURNAMENT / STATESBORO REGIONAL
Statesboro, Georgia | J.I. Clements Stadium
1-seed: No. 21 Georgia Southern (40-18)
2-seed: No. 17 Notre Dame (35-14)
3-seed: No. 24 Texas Tech (37-20)
4-seed: UNC Greensboro (34-28)
- rankings from D1Baseball.com -

Game 1 - Friday, 1 p.m. | Texas Tech vs. Notre Dame (Watch | Listen | Follow | Stats)
Game 2 - Friday, 6 p.m. | Georgia Southern vs. UNC Greensboro
Game 3 - Saturday, 12 p.m. | Gm. 1 loser vs. Gm. 2 loser
Game 4 - Saturday, 6 p.m. | Gm. 1 winner vs. Gm. 2 winner
Game 5 - Sunday, 1 p.m. | Gm. 3 winner vs. Gm. 4 loser
Game 6 - Sunday, 6 p.m. | Gm. 4 winner vs. Gm. 5 winner
Game 7 - Monday, 5 p.m. | game played if necessary / if Gm. 5 winner wins Gm. 6)
- all times Central -

Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | Notre Dame Game Notes (PDF) | Georgia Southern Game Notes (PDF) | UNCG Game Notes (PDF)

STARTERS
After being selected for its sixth-straight NCAA regional, Tech hits the road for the Statesboro Regional hosted by Georgia Southern. It's new territory for the Red Raiders as they've hosted the previous five regionals in Lubbock - Texas Tech entered the 2022 season as the only program in the country to host every year since 2016.

Coverage will be provided by the ESPN Family of Networks with Mike Morgan providing the call, alongside Gaby Sanchez providing analysis, live from J.I. Clements Stadium. Friday's broadcasts have been announced while the remainder remains to be determined. Texas Tech's game versus Notre Dame will be broadcast on the ACC Network while Georgia Southern and UNC Greensboro will be on ESPN+. In spite of what network each contest is selected for, all games will be available on ESPN+. The broadcasts can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, any personal cellular device and television streaming services using the ESPN app. Registration for the subscription service can be found at ESPNPlus.com.

Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game over 46 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico as Geoff Haxton will have the call alongside analyst, Jamie Lent.

TEXAS TECH IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

D1Baseball: No. 24
Baseball America: 22
NCBWA: No. 11
Collegiate Baseball: 15
USA Coaches: No. 15
Perfect Game: No. 16

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday, June 3: RHP Andrew Morris (4.72 ERA, 7-2) vs. LHP John Michael Bertrand (2.39 ERA, 8-2)

TEXAS TECH - A NATIONAL POWER
In the 2021-2022 academic year, Texas Tech was one of just 11 programs, and the only from the Big 12 Conference, that went to a bowl game (football), the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the NCAA baseball tournament. Joining the Red Raiders in the exclusive group was Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and UCLA.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP FLASHBACK
Texas Tech earned the No. 2-seed in the Big 12 Championship, hosted at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. TCU earned the No. 1 seed, finishing one game better in the league standings than Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. By virtue of Big 12 tiebreaker scenarios, the Red Raiders were awarded the 2-seed. Tech finished the Big 12 Championship 1-2, winning its opening-round game against Kansas State before dropping its day two bout with Oklahoma and then its day three rematch with the same Wildcats team, exiting under the double-elimination format. Under head coach Tim Tadlock, the Red Raiders have won multiple games in the Big 12 Championship once, in 2019 when the squad finished 3-2.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP REBOUND
Despite Tech's lack of success at the Big 12 Championship under Tadlock (10-18), it hasn't meant that Tech wouldn't be ready to make a charge for Omaha. Tech reached the College World Series in 2014 after a 0-2 showing in the conference tournament. Reached the pinnacle again in 2016 following a 1-2 Big 12 Championship and in 2018 exited the tournament after a 1-2 performance but still reached the CWS. The 2019 team that made it to Omaha was the only Red Raiders team under Tadlock to reach the Big 12 Championship semifinals.

5-STRAIGHT REGIONALS IN LUBBOCK - STREAK SNAPPED
For five-consecutive postseasons, the Red Raiders were one of 16 host sites selected to host the regional round by the NCAA Selection Committee. Texas Tech entered the 2022 season as the only program in the country to host every year since 2016. It was the first time in school history that Tech secured hosting an NCAA Regional in five-straight seasons. The Red Raiders have hosted regional action eight times in Lubbock in total - 1996, 1997, 1999, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

KNOW YOUR FOES - NOTRE DAME

Texas Tech and Notre Dame played one common opponent this season: Michigan. The Red Raiders dropped Michigan 7-6 at the 2022 State Farm College Baseball Showdown while Notre Dame dropped the Wolverines 14-5 back on April 12.
Notre Dame and Tech have met just once all-time in program history, a 2004 matchup at the Round Rock Classic. Notre Dame took that matchup 6-1, as former MLB pitcher Dallas Braden was outdueled by Fighting Irish starter Tom Thornton. Thornton fired eight shutout innings of one-hit ball in that contest.
Tech will face a team from the ACC in postseason play for the fourth consecutive postseason. The Red Raiders hosted ACC foe, North Carolina, in last year's Lubbock Regional, faced Florida State in the 2019 College World Series and saw both Louisville in the 2018 Lubbock Regional and Duke in the 2018 Lubbock Super Regional.
Tech is 6-1 since 2018 versus ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament.

KNOW YOUR FOES - GEORGIA SOUTHERN

A potential meeting with the host Eagles would be the first between the two schools in program history.
Members of the Sun Belt Conference, Georgia Southern is hosting for the first time in school history.
The Red Raiders are just 3-8 all-time against host schools in NCAA Regional play, with two of the three wins coming in 2014 against No. 3 Miami - the last time Tech participated in a regional on the road.
Tech heads to the state of Georgia for a regional for the second time in program history. In 2004, Tech was selected for the Atlanta Regional. Tech advanced to the Regional Final before falling to No. 5 Georgia Tech.
If Tech faces Georgia Southern, it would be the first matchup against a Sun Belt team in the NCAA Tournament since the 2016 College World Series, when Tech fell 7-5 to eventual champion Coastal Carolina - albeit Coastal was in its final season in the Big South. Coastal joined the Sun Belt to begin the 2016-17 academic year.

KNOW YOUR FOES - UNC GREENSBORO

If Tech matches up with UNCG, it would mark the fourth time in school history that it would meet a member of the Southern Conference.
Tech's lone matchup against the SoCon came against Wofford, a 3-0 sweep, in Lubbock in 2003.
The Red Raiders are 4-0 against the No. 4 seed in NCAA Regionals under Tim Tadlock.
A matchup between Tech and UNC Greensboro would mark the third time in four seasons that Tech has faced a school from North Carolina. Tech hosted North Carolina as part of the 2021 Lubbock Regional and defeated Duke in the Super Regionals in 2019.

TEXAS TECH THIS-N-THAT

The Red Raiders enter the NCAA tournament with a 37-20 record, finishing 21-5 in home games and 16-15 in all other games (road & neutral).
Tech is 31-2 this season when holding its opponent to five runs or less.
Tech is 28-0 this season when it has more hits than its opponent.
Tech is 31-2 this season when leading after six innings.
Texas Tech went 22-5 in the months of February and March.
Texas Tech went 9-10 in April - but posted a 9-5 record in Big 12 games.
Tech has scored six runs or more in 39 of 57 games this season.
- TTU is 33-6 in those games.
Tech has scored in double-digits 19 times out of 57 games.
- TTU is 18-1 in those games. Tech lost with double-digit scoring for the first time at UNM (11-10) on April 19.
Tech has hit seven grand slams. Texas Tech surpassed six grand slams in a single season for the first time since 2004, hitting numbers six and seven in back-to-back games at Oklahoma State.
Texas Tech is 30-12 this season when having at least one home run.

THE BIG 12
Five of the conference's nine teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament and all five are ranked in the D1Baseball poll - No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 16 Texas, No. 22 TCU and No. 24 Texas Tech make up the conference's ranked teams. The Big 12 is tied with the SEC and ACC for most teams ranked in the Top 25 (D1Baseball).

--TECH--

Preview: No. 24 Tech primed for Statesboro Regional

Players Mentioned

Andrew Morris

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