WACO, Texas – Texas Tech Baseball continues Big 12 Conference action this weekend in Waco, for a three-game series with Baylor.
First pitch from Baylor Ballpark at Magnolia Field is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Red Raiders will look to snap a seven-game Big 12 Conference losing streak overall and will look to win a road Big 12 Conference game for the first time since Mar. 22 when Tech defeated Arizona, 12-10 to win their lone Big 12 road series of the season.
Tech enters the final nine games of Big 12 play just one-game behind the Wildcats for the 12th and final spot in next month's Big 12 Conference
Championship in Surprise.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
GAME ONE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (22-22, 6-15 Big 12) at Baylor (23-21, 9-12 Big 12)
DATE: Saturday, May 2, 2026
TIME: 2:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Waco, Texas (Baylor Ballpark at Magnolia Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Kaysen Raineri (4-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Davenport (4-2, 4.57 ERA)
GAME TWO:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (22-22, 6-15 Big 12) at Baylor (23-21, 9-12 Big 12)
DATE: Saturday, May 2, 2026
TIME: 45 mins after the conclusion of Game One
LOCATION: Waco, Texas (Baylor Ballpark at Magnolia Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Adam Hayes (2-3, 7.27 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Wallace (3-4, 5.05 ERA)
GAME THREE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (22-22, 6-15 Big 12) at Baylor (23-21, 9-12 Big 12)
DATE: Sunday, May 3, 2026
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Waco, Texas (Baylor Ballpark at Magnolia Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Donovan Becerra (0-0, 11.57 ERA) vs. LHP Ethan Calder (3-5, 4.77 ERA)
HEADLINES IN 1-2-3:
* After seeing its Tuesday contest in Frisco against No 15 Oklahoma canceled due to inclement weather in DFW area, Texas Tech has had nearly a week off since last weekend series against Oklahoma State
* Tech enters the weekend series in Waco looking to snap a five-series Big 12 Conference losing streak and a seven-game Big 12 losing streak, as Tech has been swept in back-to-back series by Utah and Oklahoma State after dropping a Sunday rubber-match to then No. 17 WVU. The Red Raiders have been swept in back-to-back Big 12 series for the first time since 2024 when Tech was swept at KU and at home against Oklahoma. The Red Raiders have been swept in back-to-back conference series just twice in the 14-year career of head coach Tim Tadlock. The Red Raiders seven-game conference losing streak is the longest since Tech lost its final eight Big 12 games of the 2024 season (at Kansas, vs. Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State). The Red Raiders series with the Cowboys was trimmed to just two contests due to weather necessitating the cancelation of Sunday's series finale. Since starting 4-2 in conference play, Tech is just 2-13 over the last 15 Big 12 contests.
* This week, the Red Raiders saw Logan Hughes and Caden Ferraro tabbed the No. 46 and No. 165 prospects for the 2026 MLB Draft by Baseball America. Hughes, who has received buzz as a potential first rounder, was named one of the 10 dark horse first round pick candidates by the outlet. Hughes is hitting .372 so far this season with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs, while Ferraro is slashing .380/.505/1.097 on the season with five home runs and 39 RBIs.
MATCHUP NOTES (BAYLOR):
T-LO STAYED HOT
Since the calendar flipped to April,
Tracer Lopez has been one of the nation's best and most productive hitters, as the infielder closed the Month of April, hitting .460 (29-for-63) with eight doubles, a triple and 12 RBIs in 16 total games. Since a 7-for-32 stretch from March 27-to-April 7 that dropped the second baseman's average to .307, ,Lopez is now 27 for his last 52 and has seen his average climb all the way to .371 on the season. So far this season, Lopez has 65 hits in 175 at-bats and needs just one hit to tie his career high in hits (66) set a season ago. Entering the season with just 21 career doubles, Lopez has recorded 18 two-base hits this season and 21 total extra-base hits as the lefty has two triples and a home run. Lopez whose career average now sits at an even .300, has become only the fourth all-time Red Raider to reach 210 career hits and 200 career games played, joining Red Raider great turned assistant coach Eric Gutierrez (264 hits in 244 games), Taylor Ashby (228 hits in 216 games) and Clint Bryant (341 hits in 240 games). Lopez, who enrolled at Tech at the semester break in 2023 and before his senior season of high school baseball is now inside the top-10 in program history in the following categories: Games Played (207, 6th), Hits (228, t-6th), Runs Scored (166, 9th) and At-Bats (759, 5th). Lopez enters the weekend needing just seven hits to reach fifth, four at-bats to reach fourth and five runs to tie for eighth. While unlikely, he could reach third this weekend with 19 total at-bats.
WORK TO DO IF WE WANT TO REACH ARIZONA
The Red Raiders enter the eighth of 10 Big 12 Conference weekends on the outside-looking-in to make the 2026 Big 12 Championship in Surprise, Arizona, as Tech sits one full game behind Arizona for the 12th and final spot in the event. Tech does have the tiebreaker with Arizona by virtue of March series victory in Tucson. The Red Raiders face Baylor (May 1-3) this weekend in Waco and also have a home series with BYU (May 7-9) before closing the season with a three-game series at Cincinnati (May 14-16). Arizona heads to Lawrence this weekend (May 1-3) for a weekend series at No. 11 Kansas, before retuning home for their final home series of the year against Houston (May 8-10). Like the Red Raiders, Arizona ends the 2026 season on the road, as UofA will face Oklahoma State in Stillwater on May 14-16. If the Red Raiders end the regular season two-way tied with Arizona, they would advance on the tiebreaker (head-to-head) by virtue of the series win over the Wildcats.
DOING HIS BEST WORK IN BIG 12 PLAY AGAIN
A year after leading the Big 12 in total home runs (19) and Big 12 only home runs (11) in the regular season, Texas Tech outfielder
Logan Hughes continues to shine in Big 12 play. After hitting .376 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs in Big 12 play a season ago and slashing .376/.436/.760, Hughes has once again been one of the most productive players in Big 12 play again in 2026, as the outfielder is now 33-for-80 (.413) in conference play this season and is slashing .413/.515/.688 through his first 21 games this season. When you combine the two conference only season's for Hughes he is now 80-for-205 (.390) career in Big 12 play and has hit 16 home runs and driven in 49 in the 51 career games. Hughes also has 14 doubles and four triples, and has 150 career total bases in Big 12 play. For his career, Hughes, who has spent just two seasons at Texas Tech after transferring following his freshman season at Stetson, is a career .347 hitter with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs in 96 career games. Hughes' 31 career home runs are just five shy of cracking the Red Raider top-10. He has walked 66 times, been hit by 10 pitches and struck out just 53 total times. Hughes is slashing .347/.453/.691 in his two years in Lubbock and has recorded 259 career total bases in his two seasons.
WEEKEND ROTATION SHUFFLE
Entering the weekend against Baylor, the Red Raiders have shuffled the deck in the rotation, as sophomore
Kaysen Raineri will make his first career weekend start on Friday night, and freshman
Adam Hayes will bump up and start on Saturday afternoon. New Mexico Junior College transfer
Donovan Becerra will take the ball on Sunday afternoon for the series finale. Raineri who has started three games and made 10 total appearances has pitched 24 total innings and struck out 29, while Hayes will be making his 10th appearance and seventh total start. Hayes has pitched on the weekend the last three weeks against No. 17 WVU, Utah and Oklahoma State. Becerra will be making his third start and 11th total appearance on Sunday afternoon. Becerra started the Red Raiders Game Two (DH) contest against UAlbany back on Feb. 21 and against No. 24 UTSA back on Mar. 11. In his last appearance, Becerra tossed 2.1 innings of one run ball and struck out four last week at ACU (Apr. 22). He walked just one. Raineri's last appearance came in a starters role in the win over Tarleton State (Apr. 21) where he tossed four innings of two-run (one earned) ball. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
HUGHES AND FERRARO SHOOTING UP THE DRAFT BOARDS
With just over two months until the 2026 MLB Draft on July 11-13 in Philadelphia on All-Star Week, the Red Raiders have two of the faster rising draft prospects heading into the event, as this week, outfielders Logan Hughes and Caden Ferraro were named the 46th and 165th-best draft prospects by Baseball America. Pick No. 46 of the draft will occur in the Second Round of the 2026 MLB Draft while pick No. 165 will be the first pick of the Sixth Round of the 2026 MLB Draft. As part of the announcement, Hughes was also named one of the 10 "Dark Horse" candidates to be taken in the first round. Hughes is the No. 56 overall prospect for the draft according to MLB dot com and is projected as the No. 14 overall outfielder. Hughes is the fifth-best Big 12 prospect in the draft according to MLB dot com behind OF Saywer Stronsider (No. 9) of TCU, LHP Cole Carlon of Arizona State (No. 41), TCU OF Chase Brunson (No. 52) and Houston's speedy OF Tre Broussard (No. 53).
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders return home for the final homestand of the season, beginning on Tuesday night against DBU. First pitch from Rip Griffin Park is set for 6:30 p.m.
