Tech closes five-game homestand Tuesday vs. SFA

Tuesday, March 26

Lubbock, TX

12:35 p.m. CT

Texas Tech Athletics

Stephen F. Austin

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Tech closes five-game homestand Tuesday vs. SFA

March 25, 2024 | Baseball

Game Notes (SFA)

The game is set for a 12:35 p.m. first pitch

By: Andrew Stern

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech Baseball closes out a five-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon when Stephen F. Austin pays a visit to Rip Griffin Park for a 12:35 p.m. contest.

Originally schedule for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, Tuesday's contest has been pushed up to 12:35 p.m. in order to try and avoid predicted inclement weather.

With a victory, Texas Tech can improve to a perfect 10-0 this season in non-conference home games and can win the 300th all-time game at Rip Griffin Park since the ballpark opened in 2012.

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS:

MATCHUP: Texas Tech (17-7) vs. Stephen F. Austin (3-22)
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
TIME 12:35 p.m. (CT)
LOCATION: Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field (Lubbock, Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: LHP Zach Erdman (0-0, 9.000 ERA) vs. Will Larson (0-1, 9.82 ERA)

1-2-3 HEADLINES:

* The Texas Tech Red Raiders enter Tuesday's midweek contest with Stephen F. Austin after winning the final two games of a weekend series with BYU. In the Saturday finale of the series the Red Raiders scored in the final eight innings and retired the final 16 Cougar batters they faced on the backs of three perfect innings from Jacob Rogers and a pair of perfect innings

* The Red Raiders are coming off arguably their most complete performance of the season on Saturday afternoon against BYU as the Red Raiders closed out the convincing 10-1 win over the Cougars to record the first Big 12 series win of the season. In the weekend series, Tech got three extra-base hits from Cade McGee (two doubles, HR) and got a two-run home run from Kevin Bazzell.

* The contest on Tuesday afternoon for Texas Tech will close out a five-game homestand that included a midweek with ACU last week as well as the weekend series with BYU. So far this season at home, the Red Raiders are 12-3. With a victory on Tuesday afternoon against SFA, the Red Raiders can record the 300th all-time victory at Rip Griffin Park.

MIDWEEK NOTES:
BRAVO. DAMIAN BRAVO.
Damian Bravo has been suburb in his second season in Lubbock, as the Sophomore has hit a team-best .452 over the season's first 24 games. Bravo has also recorded and on-base percentage of .515 and has a team-best 30 RBIs and 16 doubles. More importantly, Bravo has driven in at least one run in 16 of his 22 games played. Bravo driving in a run has been good for the Red Raiders as Tech is an impressive 15-1 when the outfielder contributes at least one RBI. The lone contest the Red Raiders didnt win this season was Friday against UT when Bravo homered in the fourth. Bravo sits second in the Big 12 in RBIs behind Brady Day of Kansas State.

DYLAN TO THE MAX
Catcher Dylan Maxcey has seized his opportunity for extended playing time with Kevin Bazzell sidelined. Maxcey led the Red Raiders in batting average over the week ending in 3-10, as the catcher hit 5-for-12 with four runs scored a homer run and seven RBIs. Maxcey drove in three runs in the win over New Mexico last Tuesday when he pinch-hit. In Saturday's win over Texas, Maxcey drove in four runs and hit his second home run of the season. In the midweek against NM State, Maxcey went 4-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBIs. When Bazzell went down, Maxcey is 13-for-37 (.351) with two home runs and 13 RBIs. Maxcey drove in a key run in the Friday 2-0 win at Baylor. Maxcey had the ever-important lead-off double and scored the game-winning run in the Red Raiders 4-3 victory over BYU in Friday's win.

TWO WITH 30
The Red Raiders currently have two players in Damian Bravo and TJ Pompey with at least 30 hits. Pompey recorded his 30th base knock of the season on Saturday while Bravo now has 38 hits on the season. Bravo and Pompey are first and second on the Red Raiders in average and are both within the top-15 in average in the Big 12.

ROLLIN' IN THE DEEP
Another pitcher who changed his warmup song in 2024 was senior Josh Sanders, who will now warmup to Adelle's Rolling in the Deep. So far it seems the warmup song is working for Sanders, as the righty has pitched 16.2 innings thus far, allowing just 12 hits and six runs (four earned). Sanders has now struck out 19 batters in his 16.2 innings of work. Hitters are hitting just .194 against him. Sanders had a strong opener to the series as the righty needed just 25 pitches over two innings of work to record his first save of the season.

MCGEES BEEN ON BASE AND HIT A LOT
Former Freshman All-American and Gonzaga transfer Cade McGee continues to provide a different and unique approach to the lineup this season. McGee has played and started in every game yet only has recorded 73 official at-bats because he has walked 22 times and been hit by 15 pitches. When you add it up, McGee has come to the plate 110 times through the first 24 games of the season and he has reached base safely in 59 of those at-bats. His on-base percentage sits at an eye-popping .527.

WOODYS BIG WEEK
Junior outfielder Drew Woodcox had one of the best weeek's of his Tech career last week as the outfielder saw action in three of the five games. Woodcox recorded at least one hit in all three contests he played in as he went 5-9 (.555) with two home runs and three RBIs. Woodcox also excelled on the defensive end as he played a strong outfield making six putouts including a highlight reel catch in last Wednesday's win over New Mexico State. Woodcox is now hitting 11-29 (.414) this season with five home runs and 12 RBIs. After homering in Sunday's third game in Waco and Tuesday's win over ACU, Woodcox has now hit a career-high five homers. Woodcox had just five career home runs in 95 at-bats before this season.

FINAL 16 RETIRED IN A TWO-HITTER
The Red Raiders closed the BYU series by allowing just one run in a two-hitter. After junior Jack Washburn handled the first four innings of Sunday's game, the Red Raiders turned to sophomore Jacob Rogers who fired three perfect innings. Tech turned to freshman Parker Hutyra for the eighth and ninth innings. Hutyra struck out four including the last batter of the game to seal the victory.

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
After struggling offensively in wet and humid conditions in a weekend series loss in Waco, the Red Raiders rebounded in a big way in the weekend series against BYU. On the weekend, the Red Raiders hit .324 (34-105) with nine extra-base hits. The Red Raiders also shined on the mound this weekend as they pitched to a 3.33 ERA in the 27 innings pitched. Tech struck out 34 batters and held BYU to a .194 average for the weekend. The Red Raiders walked just eight batters on the weekend. Led by Damian Bravo and Drew Woodcox, five different Red Raiders hit over .300 on the weekend.

UP NEXT:

The Red Raiders hit the road to face another new Big 12 foe in UCF. The three-game series kicks-off on Thursday night with the first of two 5 p.m. (CT) contests. The series finale is set for Noon (CT).