|
Tech Baseball Host No. 3 Texas In Crucial Three-Game Series This Weekend
PDF Formatted Notes
Texas (32-7, 14-3) at Texas Tech (22-17, 11-7)
A QUICK LOOK AT TEXAS TECH The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in runs (341), hits (422), doubles (95), triples (14), home runs (37), runs batted in (295), walks (231) and sacrifice flys (30). Over the last five games, the Tech pitching staff has posted a 3.89 ERA (19 ER/44.0 IP) and have walked just 11 batters (2.3 BB per 9.0 IP). Tech will finish the homestand on Tuesday when the Red Raiders host Southwest Texas State. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Texas Tech will go on the road next weekend when they travel to Lawrence, Kansas for a three-game series with the Jayhawks. That series will open on Friday, April 21 at 7 p.m. Game two will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m.
AT THE PLATE
ON THE MOUND
A TALE OF TWO TEAMS
MOVING UP THE CHARTS Coach Hays is Texas Tech's all-time winningest coach. He has led the Red Raiders to three conference championships and posted winning seasons in 12 of his 13 years. The Red Raiders have put together a streak of seven straight 40-plus win seasons and five NCAA Regional appearances under Hays. In 1998, he guided Tech to the Big 12 Tournament Championship with just seven pitchers. He was named 1997 Big 12 Coach of the Year after the Red Raiders won the conference title with a 23-7 Big 12 mark. Texas Tech also claimed the No. 1 ranking in collegiate baseball for several weeks, the first time a Red Raider sport was ranked No. 1 in school history. In the summer of 1997, he was an assistant coach for the USA National Team. In 1995, Texas Tech set a school record with 51 wins and advanced to the Midwest I NCAA Region championship game. In 29 full seasons at the collegiate level, Coach Hays has led teams to 12 league titles and guided his 1983 Lubbock Christian University team to the NAIA national championship.
FOR THE RECORD Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays moved into eighth place among all-time winningest coaches with his 1,219th victory on 4/2 vs. Kansas State ... he is also fourth in victories among active coaches ... ahead of Hays on both lists is Wichita State's Gene Stephenson at 1,244 victories ... Hays has 1,221 career wins. Mark Austry has moved into 12th on the career games played list with 150 ... ahead of Austry is Jimmy Zachry (1980-84) with 154 games. Brennan Burns needs just one double to move into a tie for 17th place with 29. Marco Cunningham has moved into eighth place on the stolen base list with 49 in his career ... he needs four more to pass Mike Kinney (1992-93) and move into the seventh spot ... Cunningham is tied for 15th in doubles with 30 and is 16th with 115 runs. Miles Durham is tied for 16th all-time in stolen bases with 35. Chaz Eiguren's career batting average of .361 (90-249) puts him in 12th place all-time and his .610 (152 TB/249 AB) slugging percentage is ranked 15th. Brandon Roberson is fifth all-time with a 2.34 ERA and second all-time with 10 saves. Kevin Tracey moved into a tie for eighth with his ninth complete game ... is also tied for seventh with four career saves ... Tracey is tied for 15th with 53 walks and tied for 13th with 72 earned runs.
TEXAS TECH ON THE AIR Stephens has a 20-minute pregame show and interviews players and coaches following each game. Games will be carried on Texas Tech's hometown station, KXTQ-950 AM as well as Texas Tech's official website www.texastech.com.
COACH HAYS ON THE AIR The 1998 season marked the debut of The Larry Hays' Show, coach Hays' weekly television show. In its third season, the show will air on Sunday nights through May 14. It will be broadcasted on ABC-affiliate KAMC at 11:00 p.m. and CBS-affilate KLBK at 11:30 p.m. Hays is one of just seven collegiate coaches to have a weekly television show.
ROBERSON AND ACKERMAN TO SIT OUT REMAINDER OF SEASON Roberson, Texas Tech's opening day starter, injured his right elbow in his first start of the season on February 2 against West Texas A&M. He was slated to be Texas Tech's number one starter after being named first team All-Big 12 and setting the single-season school save record last season. Ackerman, a junior-college transfer from Connor J.C., has been diagnosed with a microfracture in his right elbow. He injured the arm in his third start on 2/13 vs. USC. Texas Tech will appeal to the Big 12 Conference for a medical redshirt on both player's behalf. According to the NCAA, a student-athlete may be granted an additional year of competition for reasons of "hardship." Hardship is defined as an incapacity resulting from an injury that has occurred under the following conditions: (1) The injury occurs prior to the completion of the first half of the playing season that concludes with the NCAA championship in that sport. (2) The injury occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than two contests or dates of competition or 20 percent of the institution's completed contests or dates of competition in his sport.
EIGUREN NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK In three games against Missouri, Eiguren hit .600 (9-15) with two home runs, a double and nine RBI. In Friday night's extra-inning loss, he tied the game with at three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. His final home run of the week came in the first inning on Sunday when he hit a two-run homer to put Tech up 2-0. Eiguren tallied three hits in all three games as he went 3-6 on Friday with five RBI, 3-4 on Saturday and 3-5 with four RBI on Sunday. Eiguren is the first Texas Tech Big 12 Player of the Week since Jon Weber was honored for the week of Feb. 1 last year. Shane Wright and Kevin Tracey were named conference Pitchers of the Week on Feb. 22 and Mar. 8, respectively.
BIG 12 ON THE TUBE The first live telecast was March 31 when Texas played at Oklahoma. Texas Tech will be featured April 21-23 when they play at Kansas. In addition to the COLLEGE SPORTS package, FOX Sports Net will broadcast a number of Big 12 baseball games for the four consecutive season. Texas Tech opened the FOX Sports broadcast season on March 19 in Lubbock. The games will be a regional broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest, Midwest and Rocky Mountain. The Big 12 Tournament Championship game will be nationally broadcasted on May 12.
NEW ADDITIONS Daren Hays returns to Texas Tech after serving as the head coach at Lubbock Christian the past eight seasons. He spent the 1991 season as a Tech assistant where he was the hitting coach. While at LCU, Coach Hays compiled a 356-163 record and became the first LCU coach to win 300 games in just seven seasons. He will work with Red Raider outfielders and hitters. Britt Smith also comes to Texas Tech from Lubbock Christian where he was the pitching coach last year. Prior to LCU, Smith played and coached at West Texas A&M. He played all nine positions for the Buffalos. Coach Smith has assisted three other former assistants of Larry Hays - Jimmy Shankle (former LCU head coach), Todd Howey (Tech grad and current West Texas A&M head coach) and Daren Hays. He will work with the Texas Tech pitching staff. Coach Hays will look to replace All-Americans Josh Bard and Shane Wright with 17 newcomers (seven pitchers). Of those 17 new faces, there are 13 transfers and four true freshman.
PRESEASON HONORS The Dallas Morning News picked the Red Raiders third in a preseason Big 12 poll and named outfielder Marco Cunningham and designated hitter Chaz Eiguren to the all-conference team. Outfielder Miles Durham was cited by Baseball America as one of the top 100 in the college class of 2000. Durham was ranked 58th by the magazine's writers and major league scouting directors. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1997 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
THE SCHEDULE Red Raider opponents in the preseason polls posted a 255-131 (.661) overall record in 1999. Texas Tech will host Southern California (2/11-13), Baylor (3/17-19) and Texas (4/14-16) at Dan Law Field. The Red Raiders go on the road to visit Long Beach State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
Red Raiders vs. Longhorns The Series other every year since meeting for the first time in 1968. From 1976-92, Texas won 51 of the 56 games played, but since then Tech holds a 14-13 advantage. The Red Raiders have won six of the nine meetings in Big 12 play and six of the last eight games in Lubbock.
A Quick Look at Texas Head Coach Augie Garrido is in his fourth season as the head coach at Texas and owns a 1,270-608-8 career record. Prior to coaching in Austin, Garrido coached at Cal State Fullerton, Illinois, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Francisco State. He is 0-2 against Texas Tech in Lubbock. As a team, the Longhorns are hitting .300 with 74 doubles, 12
triples and
17 home runs. Sophomore Jeff Ontiveros has hit nine home runs, 15
doubles
and driven in 51 runs. On the mound, Texas pitchers own a 3.04 ERA in
39
games this season. The pitching staff has a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio
and are holding opponents to a .257 average. Closer Charlie Thames has
12
saves and a 0.88 ERA while Beau Hale and D.J. Jones have 8-2 records.
|
Official Gear of the
|