Baseball Set To Begin 2017 Campaign vs. WIU & MSU

Friday, February 17

Starkville, MS

1 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Western Illinois

Baseball Set To Begin 2017 Campaign vs. WIU & MSU

February 16, 2017 | Baseball

TTU BSB Notes - WIU & MSU Live Stats SEC+ Stream (Game 2)SEC+ Stream (Game 4)Western Illinois Notes Mississippi State Notes

Texas Tech will begin the 2017 season with a four-game weekend against Western Illinois and Mississippi State.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The 68^th installment of Texas Tech baseball begins on Friday, Feb. 17, when the Red Raiders travel to Starkville, Mississippi, to take on Western Illinois and Mississippi State for a four-game weekend set.

The No. 14 Red Raiders will play a doubleheader on Opening Day, kicking off the 2017 season against Western Illinois at 1 p.m., before taking on Mississippi State after the conclusion of game one. On Saturday, Tech will take on the Leathernecks at 1 p.m., before wrapping up the weekend on Sunday with the Bulldogs at 3 p.m.

Tech's two contests against Mississippi State will stream live on SEC+, WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app. All four games will have live stats via msu.statbroadcast.com and can also be heard on the TTU Sports Network on 97.3 FM.

It will be the 24^th time in program history the Red Raiders have started the season with a doubleheader and the first since 2009. Tech is 33-13 when playing two games on day one, while posting a 43-24 overall record in its first game of the year, going 16-2 since 1999.

The 2017 season marks the first time under fifth-year head coach Tim Tadlock the Red Raiders have started the year away from Lubbock and the first since 2008. Tech hasn't left the state of Texas for Opening Day since the 1998 season, when the Red Raiders traveled to Albuquerque to face New Mexico.

Tech is 3-1 all-time on Opening Day under Tadlock, defeating Northern Illinois (8-0) in 2013, San Francisco (9-7) in 2015 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (12-3) last season. Tadlock entered the 2016 needing only 10 wins to move into third all-time on the career wins list at Texas Tech, beginning the year with 105. After 47 victories in 2016, the next win for the Red Raiders will gave Tadlock 150 at the helm of the program, making him the fastest Tech coach to reach the mark.

Friday will be the first time the Red Raiders have traveled to Starkville, but will not be the first meeting with the Leathernecks or the Bulldogs. Tech is 4-1 all-time against Western Illinois, with series' in 2005 & 2007, both in Lubbock. The year before the first matchup with WIU, the Red Raiders were grouped with Mississippi State in the 2004 NCAA Atlanta Regional, where Tech took both contests from the Bulldogs.

Tech enters the season ranked in five of the six national polls. The Red Raiders are ranked as high as No. 14 by D1 Baseball, with the other four polls checking in at: No. 17 (National College Baseball Writers Association), No. 19 (USA Today Coaches Poll), No. 25 (Baseball America) and No. 29 (Collegiate Baseball).

Texas Tech returns 17 letterwinners from last year's squad, while welcoming in 16 newcomers, a strong mix of freshmen and transfers, to the 2017 team. This year's group includes four seniors, nine juniors, eight sophomores and 12 freshmen. Among those returning are 2016 All-Americans Tanner Gardner (Third Team), Steven Gingery (Freshman) and Davis Martin (Freshman).

With a doubleheader to start the season, the Red Raiders will have the opportunity to start two different pitchers on Opening Day. Tabbed for game one against Western Illinois is sophomore right-handed pitcher Davis Martin, followed by sophomore left-hander Steven Gingery in game two vs. Mississippi State. Martin will become just the third pitcher to start in the first game of the year under head coach Tim Tadlock. In 2013-14, right-hander Dominic Moreno got the nod, pitching 6.0 innings in both outings, while right-hander Ryan Moseley took the mound on Opening Day in both 2015 & 2016 for the Red Raiders.

Game three and four projected starters are also sophomores in RHP Ryan Shetter and LHP Erikson Lanning. All four pitched in NCAA Tournament play last season, while three were starters in Tech's three College World Series games in 2016.

RHP Davis Martin and LHP Steven Gingery were awarded Freshman All-America status, the 13th & 14th in school history, after a strong debut season in the scarlet & black. The duo combined for 14 overall wins and 123 strikeouts last year. Martin racked up 10 wins on his way to a 10-1 record in 2016. Martin began his collegiate career in the bullpen, but moved into the starter role, tossing his way to a 2.52 ERA over 89.1 innings, while striking out 61 batters. Gingery put together a 4-2 record, along with a 3.18 ERA after tossing 68.0 innings last season, tallying a team-high 63 strikeouts in the process. Both were also exceptional in conference play, as they combined for a spotless 9-0 Big 12 mark, as Gingery topped the conference in ERA at 1.85, with Martin closely trailing at 2.00. Gingery and Martin were both recognized by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper as Louisville Slugger Freshman All-Americans, while Martin also received the honor from the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Baseball America and Perfect Game.

Last season, Gardner led the Red Raiders with a .379 average, which featured a team-high 89 hits, including 19 doubles, six triples and three home runs. He also tallied 35 RBI while crossing the plate for 55 runs. He produced 27 multi-hit games, including nine games with three hits, both figures leading the team, along with the longest hitting streak at 13 games, stretching from March 11 to April 2. Gardner was rewarded at the end of the season with a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection and a Second Team All-America nod by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

After the four-game weekend in Starkville, the Red Raiders will return to Lubbock to take on New Mexico State at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park for the home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m.