Texas Tech Athletics
Grand Canyon
No. 16 Tech kicks off homestand with GCU
April 17, 2023 | Baseball
GRAND CANYON at No. 16 TEXAS TECH
Lubbock, Texas | Rip Griffin Park
April 18-19, 2023
- Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.: Watch | Listen | Stats | Tickets
- Wednesday, 12 p.m.: Watch | Listen | Stats | Tickets
Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | Grand Canyon Game Notes (PDF)
Promotional Notes
- Tuesday
- Bark in the Park Night:Â Detailed Bark in the Park Info (PDF)
Always a fan favorite, it's Bark in Park Night at Rip Griffin Park on Tuesday to kick off a two-game series versus Grand Canyon. The doggos are in for a treat as No. 16 Texas Tech hosts a formidable foe in the WAC preseason favorite and a top 100 RPI opponent that sports a 20-15 record in 2023. Texas Tech last played in front of its home crowd on Saturday, April 8 since departing for a five-game road swing that took them to Stanford, Calif. and over to Norman, Okla. The Red Raiders split their two-game midweek series at No. 8 Stanford and won their road series at Oklahoma. The 3-2 road week elevated Tech to No. 16 in the most recent D1Baseball Top 25 poll.
Coverage will be provided via Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Chris Sylvester will be on the mic for play-by-play duties while former Red Raider baseball player Mike Gustafson will provide the analysis on Tuesday and Wednesday. All broadcasts can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, 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 well as on the web via the Varsity App. Geoff Haxton will have the call alongside Jamie Lent for each contest.
TEXAS TECHÂ IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
After five games on the road versus Stanford and Oklahoma, the Red Raiders moved up the rankings in all six primary national baseball Top 25 rankings, released on April 17. Of the six polls - D1Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today Coaches and Perfect Game - Texas Tech has been ranked inside the top 25 of all six polls with the exception of a one-week absence from the D1Baseball poll in the March 6/Week 3 poll.
- D1Baseball: No. 16Â (+5)
- Baseball America: No. 15Â (+4)
- NCBWA: No. 18Â (+2)
- Collegiate Baseball: 21Â (+2)
- USA Coaches: No. 19Â (+3)
- Perfect Game: No. 13Â (+4)
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PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
- Tuesday, April 18: LHP Taber Fast (0-0, 6.04 ERA) vs. RHP Carter Young (0-1, 7.59 ERA)
- Wednesday, April 19: TBA vs. TBA
FOUR DOWN, FOUR TO GO
Believe it or not, Texas Tech is already halfway through its Big 12 conference schedule. The Red Raiders are 6-6 (.500) at the halfway point and sit in a jumble of six teams that own a league winning percentage of .500 or better, and are two games off the pace from first-place Texas who are 8-4 (.667). Texas Tech has won three of the four Big 12 series they've played, which were against the top half of the league's preseason poll. Texas Tech, who was picked to finish third in the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Poll, owns two series wins at home against preseason No. 1 TCU and preseason No. 2 Oklahoma State. On the road, Texas Tech was swept by preseason choice No. 4 Texas and most recently won its series at Oklahoma, two games to one, who was the No. 5 team in the preseason poll.
BIG 12 SWEEP
While it wasn't the Big 12 series sweep the Red Raiders were looking for on Sunday at Oklahoma, Texas Tech claimed a different sweep on Monday as it was announced by the league that the player of the week awards all went to the Red Raiders. Gavin Kash was named the Big 12Â Player of the Week, Ryan Free was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and Gage Harrelson was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. It was the first time in the history of the Big 12 weekly awards that Texas Tech claimed all three and the first time since April 2021 that a Big 12 team took home all three (Texas:Â Ivan Melendez, Tristan Stevens, Mike Antico).
TURNED A CORNER ON THE ROAD
Texas Tech returns home to face Grand Canyon following a lengthy road trip that sent them from Lubbock to Stanford, Calif., back to Lubbock, and then off to Norman, Okla. The Red Raiders entered that trip with something to prove by having a 0-4 road record cloud hanging over them. The Red Raiders suffered four-straight losses in their first road swing; it was their second road trip but their first four true road games of the season. Three of those four losses were bottom-of-the-ninth walk-offs to add an even worse taste to the mouth.
Texas Tech proved it can win tough games on the road, returning with a 3-2 record having a midweek split at No. 8 Stanford and a series win at Oklahoma. The Red Raiders scored 39 runs and batted .317 as a team in five road games. Three players - Gage Harrelson, Gavin Kash and Kevin Bazzell - each registered a batting average better than .400 on the five-game trip. Meanwhile, pitching posted a 5.17 ERA on the trip as well as a .253 opponent batting average.
NCAA STAT LEADERS
Entering Tuesday's game, Tech ranks in the NCAA Top 10 in nine different statistical categories (NCAA stat report following games played Sunday, April 16):
- No. 1 in sacrifice flies (32)
- No. 3 in hits (414)
- No. 3 in double plays (37)
- No. 5 in walks (226)
- No. 6 in runs (339)
- No. 6 in double plays per game (1.00)
- No. 8 in on-base percentage (.431)
- No. 8 in batting average (.321)
- No. 9 in runs per game (9.2)
SERIES HISTORY - GRAND CANYON
- Tech and GCU meet for the 33rd time on Tuesday but for just the fifth time since 2000.
- The Lopes currently own a four-game winning streak, it longest of the series that dates back to 1974.
- Tech owns a 9-2 all-time record in games played in Lubbock against GCU. The Red Raiders suffered its first two home losses in the all-time series the last time GCU was in town, in 2015, which began its current win streak.
- Tech and GCU played 23 of its 32 all-time meetings between 1991-98.
- Grand Canyon left the Division I ranks after the 1998 season, which coincided with the lapse in the series until it resumed in 2015. GCU joined the WAC as a D-1 member to begin the 2014 season.
SNAPSHOT OF THE OPPONENT - GRAND CANYON
- Grand Canyon is located in Phoenix, Ariz., and has an enrollment of 25,000.
- Grand Canyon also goes by GCU, and its nickname is the Lopes.
- GCU is a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and was the preseason choice to win the 13-team league. The Lopes claimed 10 of the 13 first-place votes cast by the WAC baseball head coaches.
- Grand Canyon shares league affiliation with additional Red Raider nonconference foes in the preseason No. 2 choice Sam Houston, preseason t-No. 4 pick Abilene Christian and No. 9 selection UT Arlington.
- In the preseason vote, Grand Canyon also garnered the WAC preseason Pitcher of the Year (Daniel Avitia) and the WAC preseason co-Player of the Year (Jacob Wilson, SS). Wilson entered the spring as D1Baseball.com's No. 4 collegiate prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft. He's the son of former MLB all-star player Jack Wilson who had a 12-year MLB career including nine years with the Pirates, three with the Mariners and two with the Braves.
- Grand Canyon's center fielder Homer Bush Jr., a native of Southlake, Texas, is also a son of an MLB player. His father Homer Bush played seven MLB seasons (1997-04) for the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Marlins. He was listed as the No. 88 on MLB Pipeline's prospect draft board prior to the season.
REMINDER FOR THOSE THAT MISSED BARK IN THE PARK
Tickets for the original Bark in the Park, scheduled for April 4 versus Abilene Christian, may be traded in for either of the two midweek contests, April 18-19, versus Grand Canyon, or the rescheduled May 9 contest versus ACU. All ticket exchanges are only valid if originally purchased through the Texas Tech ticket office (excludes third party and season tickets). Fans can contact the Texas Tech Ticket Office at (806) 742-8324 with additional questions or visit TexasTech.com/Tickets.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPÂ
The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, will be hosted at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, May 24-28. For info on attending and tickets, visit Big12Sports.com.
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