Texas Tech Athletics
Sam Houston
Preview: Red Raiders prep for Sam Houston
May 04, 2023 | Baseball
SAM HOUSTON at TEXAS TECH
Lubbock, Texas | Rip Griffin Park
May 5-7, 2023
- Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Watch | Listen | Stats | Tickets
- Saturday, 2 p.m.: Watch | Listen | Stats | Tickets
- Sunday, 1 p.m.: Watch | Listen | Stats | Tickets
Promotional Notes
- Sunday
- "Study Break at Rip Griffin Park"
- Stress baseball and bat pen giveaway - qty. 500 each - for TTU students
- Ceremonial First Pitch - TTU T&F Terrence JonesÂ
- Postgame baserunning for kids and autographs with the TTU baseball freshmen class
- "Study Break at Rip Griffin Park"
The Red Raiders enter the month of May owning a 30-15 record and 11 regular season games left in front of them starting with Sam Houston this weekend. Despite being one of 32 teams in the nation entering Friday's slate of games, Texas Tech needs a solid finish down the stretch to be in a position to earn its seventh-straight regional bid. The Red Raiders own a 59 in the latest RPI rankings (5/4) and were projected in the group of "last five in" in the latest D1Baseball Field of 64 on May 3. Sam Houston will be no easy task, coming to Lubbock for the first time since eliminating the Red Raiders from the 2017 Regionals. The Bearkats sit in first place in the WAC with a 28-18 record, an 18-6 mark in league play and sport an RPI ranking of 91.
Coverage will be provided via Big 12 Now on ESPN+. John Harris will be on the mic for play-by-play duties while former Red Raider baseball player Mike Gustafson will provide the analysis for all three games. 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 over the weekend.
TEXAS TECHÂ IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
After one of the greatest jumps in the polls in Week 10/April 24 following a 4-1 week between two-midweek wins versus Grand Canyon and winning their series versus Baylor, Texas Tech had its greatest fall of the season in the latest rankings (Week 11/May 1) after a disappointing 1-2 week at Kansas State. The Red Raiders fell from three polls, including dropping from No. 14 to out in the D1Baseball poll. It is just the second time this year to have an absence from the D1 poll dating back to the March 6/Week 3 poll - which was after a 1-2 week at the Shriners Children's College Classic.
- Baseball America: No. 15Â (-5)
- NCBWA: No. 24Â (-9)
- USA Coaches: No. 24Â (-9)
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PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
- Friday, May 5: LHP Mason Molina (4-2, 3.70 ERA) vs. RHP Coltin Atkinson (7-2, 3.16 ERA)
- Saturday, May 6: RHP Trendan Parish (3-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Beard (5-3, 5.34 ERA)
- Sunday, May 7: TBA vs. LHP Gavi Coldiron (2-2, 6.25 ERA)
30 WINS; NOT TO BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED
Texas Tech reached 30 wins this season at Kansas State on April 29. It marks the ninth-straight completed season that a Tim Tadlock ball club reached at least 30 wins. The skipper is responsible for nine of the all-time 31 30-win seasons and five of the 16 all-time 40-win seasons. The current streak of nine-straight 30-win seasons is only short of the program-best 14-season streak of 30+ wins earned from 1994-2006. The Red Raiders had just one 30-win season (2011) between 2007-2013.
- Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are the only Big 12 schools, at the moment, who've clinched nine-straight 30 win seasons, dating back to 2014. If TCU can earn five more wins in 2023, they would join the duo.Â
BIG WINS, TOUGH LOSSES
Red Raider fans have been treated to their fair share of comfortable wins as the Texas Tech baseball team has won 20 games this season by more than five runs. On the flip side, Tech has lost its fair share of close games giving Red Raider fans much heartache. Ten of Texas Tech's 15 losses have come by two runs or less this season.
BAZZELL QUIETLY ON FIRE
While a lot of attention has gone Gavin Kash's way, rightfully so having a Big 12 Player of the Year caliber season, redshirt freshman Kevin Bazzell has made a strong case for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, especially over the last 10 games. Bazzell now owns the team's top batting average (.390) as he's hit for a blistering .537 average over the last 10 games.
- Bazzell owns a team-lead 12-game hitting streak. During the 12-game steak nine of 12 have been 2+ hit games and four have been 3+ hit games.
SENIOR DAY QUICKLY APPROACHING
It's May, which means the regular season finale is quickly approaching. Senior Day will be held on Saturday, May 20 in the Red Raiders regular-season finale versus Kansas at 2 p.m. Tech will honor the six-member senior class prior to the game, which includes Bo Blessie (2nd yr. at Tech/Midland College/Midland, TX), Ty Coleman (2nd yr. at Tech/Texas A&M/Midland, TX), Ethan Coombes (1st yr. at Tech/Lubbock Christian/Roswell, NM), Garrett Crowley (2nd yr. at Tech/Fordham/Queens, NY), Nolen Hester (1st yr. at Tech/Wofford/Mount Pleasant, TX) and Zac Vooletich (2nd yr. at Tech/Navarro College/San Antonio, TX).
EYE ON THE BIG 12
The Big 12 standings will be somewhat limited in the amount of movement this weekend as Texas Tech is one of four teams in the Big 12 playing an out-of-conference series. West Virginia hosts Oklahoma and Kansas hosts Texas while the rest of the league has a nonconference series. Membership will likely have a close eye on the Mountaineers to see if they can separate themselves from the rest at the top hosting the Sooners and then the Red Raiders next weekend.
ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST OFFENSES
Entering Friday's game, Tech ranks in the NCAA Top 10 in seven different statistical categories.
(NCAA stat report following games played Wednesday, May 3):
- No. 4 in sacrifice flies (32)
- No. 8 in hits (505)
- No. 8 in double plays (42)
- No. 9 in doubles (106)
- No. 10 in runs (401)
- No. 10 in triples (18)
- No. 10 in walks (267)
SERIES HISTORY - SAM HOUSTON
- Friday's meeting will be the 14th all-time between the two programs.
- The series dates back to 1955 with Tech owning a narrow edge, 7-6.
- Eight of the 13 games in the series have been played in the last nine seasons; the Red Raiders lead the series 5-3 in that span.Â
- The last time the two programs met was in 2021 at Minute Maid Park as part of the Shriners Hospitals College Classic (Tech won 8-0). It was the second time the two teams met at Minute Maid as both participated in the Shriners Hospitals College Classic in 2014 as well.
- Sam Houston eliminated Texas Tech from the 2017 Lubbock Regional. It was the last time the Bearkats visited Rip Griffin Park as the No. 3-seed eliminated the host to advance to this first Super Regional in program history.
- This will be the first three-game weekend series between the two programs. Sam Houston's previous trip to Lubbock for a regular season meeting was for a two-game midweek series that was rolled into a doubleheader on April 13 to due weather.Â
- The last time Tech faced Sam Houston they were members of the Southland Conference; they have since transitioned to the WAC with an official start date of July 1, 2021. On Nov. 5, 2021, it was announced they'd be on the move again accepting an invitation to join Conference USA. That move will take place on July 1, 2023.
LAST TIME VS. SAM HOUSTON
In game two of the 2021 Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic, Patrick Monteverde threw seven shutout innings, and Cal Conley hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh as Texas Tech ran away with an 8-0 win over Sam Houston State on Saturday, March 6 at Minute Maid Park. It remained a 1-0 game until the seventh inning when the Red Raiders exploded for six runs. RBI singles from Jace Jung and Dylan Neuse made it a 3-0 game before Conley unloaded on a 3-1 pitch into the upper deck in right field that extended the lead to 7-0 after seven. The Red Raiders tacked on one more in the eighth on a Dru Baker RBI double.
TEXAS TECH-SAM HOUSTONÂ CONNECTIONS
- Texas Tech's Zane Petty and Sam Houston's Hunter Avery, separated by one year in class, played on the same high school team in 2021 with Petty a junior and Avery a senior at Corsicana HS.Â
- Texas Tech's Ty Coleman and Sam Houston's Alex Magers both played at Texas A&M together in 2020 and 2021.
- Texas Tech's Bo Blessie and Sam Houston's Gavi Coldiron both played at Midland College together in 2021.
- Texas Tech's Zach Erdman and Sam Houston's Braden Davis were both on the 2021 Keller HS team.
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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