Tech welcomes Cincinnati for weekend battle

Friday, April 4

Lubbock, Texas

2 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Cincinnati

Tech welcomes Cincinnati for weekend battle

April 03, 2025 | Baseball

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The Red Raiders and Bearcats enter with identical 4-5 Big 12 records

By: Andrew Stern

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech Baseball begins a crucial stretch of back-to-back Big 12 home series this weekend when Cincinnati pays a visit to Rip Griffin Park for a three-game series.

The weekend begins on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. and continues at the same time on Saturday afternoon. The third and final game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Sunday's contest against the Bearcats will be the first of two "Bark in the Park" games, as Red Raider Nation can bring their favorite four-legged friends to The Rip on Sunday (size restrictions apply; waiver required).

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

GAME ONE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (8-17, 4-5 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (17-11, 4-5 Big 12)
DATE: Friday, Apr. 4
TIME: 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park)
PITCHING: RHP Mac Heuer (1-2, 5.18 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Taylor (4-0, 2.70 ERA)

GAME TWO:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (8-17, 4-5 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (17-11, 4-5 Big 12)
DATE: Saturday, Apr. 5
TIME: 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park)
PITCHING: RHP Tyler Boudreau (1-1, 8.20 ERA) vs. RHP LHP Kellen O'Connor (0-0, 5.16 ERA)

GAME THREE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (8-17, 4-5 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (17-11, 4-5 Big 12)
DATE: Sunday, Apr. 6
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park)
PITCHING: RHP Zane Petty (0-1, 3.71 ERA) vs. TBA

HEADLINES IN 1-2-3:
* After a four-game road trip, Texas Tech returns home this weekend for a three-game series against Cincinnati. After never facing the Bearcats before their arrival to the league, the Red Raiders faced UC last season in the Big 12 Championship Arlington. The Red Raiders won that contest 10-5. This weekend series against Cincy will begin on Friday afternoon with a 2 p.m. first pitch followed by another 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m.

* This weekend series against Cincinnati marks the beginning of an imperative stretch of games in April. Tech will play a grand total of 12 of 17 games at home this month including three Big 12 home weekend series against Cincinnati (Apr. 4-6), Baylor (Apr. 11-13) and Arizona (Apr. 25-27). The month also includes a midweek series against UTRGV as well as a home game against ACU.

* Entering the weekend inside the top-80 in RPI due in large part to boasting the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country, the Red Raiders will look to make an April charge against four top-70 RPI teams. Cincinnati enters the weekend with an RPI of 61. The Red Raiders next weekend foe, Baylor, sits at 34 in the RPI while Arizona State and Arizona sit at 18 and 24 respectively. So far this season the Red Raiders have played No. 9 OU, No. 11 Texas, No. 15 UNC, No. 16 Kansas State, No. 26 TCU, No. 29 UC Irvine and No. 72 Grand Canyon.

MATCHUP NOTES:

FIRST TIME ON THE WEEKEND

After facing off for the first time in the Big 12 Tournament last season, Tech and Cincinnati will now meet in the regular season for the first time this weekend. The Red Raiders won last year's first all-time meeting between the two schools, 10-5.

WEATHER IS COMING

Due to projected inclement weather projected for Friday night, the Red Raiders series opener against the Bearcats was moved up to a 2 p.m. first pitch after originally being scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start. Despite Friday's game time switching and projected weather on Saturday, no additional changes have been announced for the final two games of the series.

RETURN OF MAC

After missing last weekends series at Kansas State due injury, Friday afternoon's contest will feature the return of RHP Mac Heuer who was scratched from last Friday's start due to injury. The missed start last Friday was his first of the season and came after the righty had pitched the first six Friday's of the season.

12 HOME GAMES IN APRIL

After playing just nine home games in the first two months of the regular season, the Red Raiders will play 12 times at Rip Griffin Park during the month of April. That stretch begins this weekend with the weekend series against the Bearcats. Following a quick trip to New Mexico for a Tuesday afternoon midweek, the Red Raiders will return home for a weekend series against Baylor (Apr. 11-13). Following a weekend trip to Arizona State (Apr. 17-19) on Easter weekend, the Red Raiders will head to ACU for the first game of a two-day home-and-home against the Wildcats (Apr. 21-22). The Red Raiders will close the month of April with a weekend series against Arizona (Apr. 25-27) and a midweek series against UTRGV (Apr. 29-30).

HEART BREAK IN THE LITTLE APPLE

Heading to the ninth with a 4-2 lead after enjoying the lead for the entire game (Tech scored a pair in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead) the Red Raiders were walked off by |Kansas State on Sunday when the Wildcats scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth. The loss was espically hard for Tech as it secured the series sweep for Kansas State and marked the first time since last April the 26th that Tech was walked off in a contest. Ironically enough, that contest also occured in Kansas, as KU walked off the Red Raiders by a score of 4-3. The loss was an oddity for Tech as it marked the first time that Tech lost when leading after either seven or eight innings. The Red Raiders were 7-0 and 6-0 when leading after either the seventh or eighth innings. The setback also marked the first time that Tech lost when having at least three shutout innings this season, the Red Raiders were a perfect 3-of-3 on Sunday in shutdown innings.

THE SCHEDULE HAS CHALLENGED US

In addition to playing 16 of the first 25 games away from home the Red Raiders have played the nations most difficult and challenging schedule. According to Warren Nolan the Red Raiders enter the weekend at No. 1 overall in SOS and No. 4 in the country in non-con SOS. Entering action this week the Red Raiders have played just three Quad Four games (Tech is 2-1) and just eight games against Q3 and Q4 teams. When you expand that out (including OU who enters at No. 9 in the RPI) the Red Raiders will end up playing 17 of their first 25 against Q1 and Q2 opponents. The Red Raiders trail just Minnesota (1) and Xavier (2) in overall schedule according to Warren Nolan and are one of six programs in the entire country to play fewer than four Q4 games that list includes Big 12 foe BYU (1), Maine (1), UCLA (2), UConn (2) and New Orleans (2). When you expand that list out to fewer than eight Q3&4 games the Red Raiders have played the second-fewest Q3 and Q4 games in the country trailing just Boston College. The Red Raiders are one of four teams in the country with eight or fewer Q3/Q4 games joining BC (6), North Dakota State (8) and CSUN (8). 15 of Tech's 25 games have occurred against Quad One or Quad Two opponents.

RACKING UP THE FREQUENT FLYER MILES

The Red Raiders have been road warriors this season as, Tech has played just nine of the first 25 games (including tonight's game against OU) at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. After opening the season at UNC and hosting UC Irvine, the Red Raiders began a stretch of three straight road weekends in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Houston. Since Feb. 24, the Red Raiders have played just six total home games: A mid week series against UCSD, a three-game weekend series against TCU and a midweek against Tarleton. The Red Raiders have racked up nearly 10,000 miles (9,241 miles) of travel through the first 47 days of the season. The Red Raiders have also spent 22 nights in a hotel through the first 47 days including last night's stay in Frisco. The Red Raiders have also taken 16 flights.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders hit the road for a midweek contest at New Mexico, Tuesday afternoon. First pitch from Albuquerque is set for 3 p.m. (CT)/2 p.m. (MT).