No. 6 Tech Hosts No. 4 Arizona In Marquee Midweek Battle

Tuesday, March 7

Lubbock, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Arizona

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No. 6 Tech Hosts No. 4 Arizona In Marquee Midweek Battle

March 07, 2017 | Baseball

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The Red Raiders will face off against the Wildcats under the lights at Rip Griffin Park on Tuesday night

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 6 Texas Tech baseball team continues its stretch of four-straight ranked matchups with a date against No. 4 Arizona on Tuesday, March 7, at 6:30 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park on FOX Sports Southwest Plus.

Tuesday's game will also air live on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 97.3 FM, with live stats available via TexasTech.Statbroadcast.com.

The first night game of the year for the Red Raiders bills two 2016 College World Series teams, who were on opposite sides of the final bracket in Omaha. Arizona went on to finish runner-up in the championship final to Coastal Carolina, who eliminated Tech's postseason run.

It will be the first matchup between two top-10 teams in Lubbock in the Tim Tadlock head coaching era and the first overall since at least 1998 (insufficient records beyond 1998). However, it is not the first time the Red Raiders (11-2) and Wildcats (10-1) have squared off during Tadlock's tenure, as the two teams played in a two-game set in 2013 in Tucson. Tech dropped the first game, 6-2, before picking up a 5-2 victory to split the season series. The Red Raiders have won three of the last four meetings with the Wildcats.

Tuesday will be the first time the two programs have met in Lubbock, as 14 games have been played in Tucson and two at a neutral site.

February was a good month for the Red Raiders, as they opened the season with a 9-1 record. Tech began the 2017 campaign on the road in Starkville, splitting their two-game set with Mississippi State and sweeping Western Illinois. The Red Raiders returned home to and posted a 16-1 showing over New Mexico State in the Lubbock opener, before sweeping a four-game weekend with Cal. Tech wrapped up the six-game home stand with a 7-2 win over New Mexico last Tuesday to start out 6-0 at Rip Griffin Park.

The Red Raiders finished the week 3-1 after taking the final two games of the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic over the weekend against No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 2 LSU to open March. After falling to No. 11 Texas A&M in the tournament opener, Tech rebounded to defeat the Rebels, 5-1, before a come-from-behind victory over the Tigers, 5-4, in dramatic walk-off fashion. The Big 12 as a whole went 7-2 at the Classic.

It was the first time the Red Raiders had posted back-to-back wins over top-10 teams since 2014 when Tech won three straight over No. 3 Indiana.

With an 11-2 start to the season, the Red Raiders have found their way into the top-10 of four different polls, moving up in five from last week's rankings. For the fourth-straight week, D1 Baseball has Tech ranked highest among the six publications at No. 6. Perfect Game (No. 8), the USA Today Coaches Poll (No. 9) and the National College Baseball Writers Association (No. 9) all have the Red Raiders inside the top-10 of their respective polls. Rounding out the other publications are Collegiate Baseball at No. 12 and Baseball America at No. 14. The Red Raiders have been ranked inside the top six in each of the last two seasons.

On Tuesday, the Red Raiders will call upon freshman right-hander John Henry Gonzalez for his third start of the season. Last week, the Edinburg native tossed 4.0 innings against New Mexico, giving up only two runs on two hits, while striking out two Lobo batters. This season, Gonzalez has seven strikeouts over 9.2 IP as Tech has won all three games he's made an appearance.

Junior outfielder Tanner Gardner helped bring the Red Raiders to a 2-1 record at the 2017 Shriners College Classic, after notching the game-winning single against the Tigers on March 5. It was the second hit of the day for the Frisco native, who now has three multi-hit performances this season. His second two-hit game came the day before, after racking up a pair of two-RBI singles, as he was responsible for four of Tech's five runs against the Rebels.

Another junior outfielder, Connor Beck, put tallied three hits against the Tigers, while also scoring a run. He's up to a .500 batting average this season, reaching base safely on 12 of his 18 at-bats in 2017.

The Red Raiders continue their four-game home stand with a weekend set against UTSA on March 10-12 at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park, with Friday's contest set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, followed by 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.