Viva The Matadors, a Texas Tech Red Raiders community

For the last three seasons, the focus of recruiting for the Texas Tech baseball program has been about building overall depth, especially on the pitching staff, and increasing speed on offense and defense. That effort has begun to pay off the past two seasons.

Now, the Red Raiders have shifted their recruiting focus to addressing specific needs, and the 2011-12 class reflects that. With the only senior for the 2011 season being an infielder, graduation won’t take much of a toll on the program in the future.

Tech released its fall signing class Tuesday, which comprised just six players — two right-handed pitchers, one-left-handed pitcher and three infielders. Five of the six players will be entering their high school senior seasons in the spring.

"Our signing class was very specific to what our needs were," head coach Dan Spencer said in a statement from the school. "We really like the six guys that we signed. With only one senior, we will have to wait and see how the draft plays out to see whether or not we will add a guy in the spring or not."

* SB Nation | Nick Bell, Mississippi State DE, Passes Away At 20 Following Battle With Skin Cancer (Just an awful story. Think a good thought for Nick and his family.)
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* FWST's Dwain Price | QB controversy brewing at Texas Tech
* LAJ's Adam Zuvanich | Plainview product Egnew producing for No. 14 Mizzou
* DT's Mike Graham | Injuries lead to position shuffling for Tech football
* RP.com's Travis Cram | Tech Searches For Season-Defining Win
* CT's Dave Matter | Behind the Numbers: Tigers vs. Red Raiders
* SBN's Doug Gillett | THE CFB BUYERS' GUIDE: DEFENSES (linked for a tremendous Texas Tech reference)
* Baron Batch | enjoy the ride, it doesn't last long!
* Texas Tech Baseball | Red Raider Profile: RHP Hayden Holub
Big 12 Hoops' Evan Pfaff | Big 12 Hoops Preseason All-Freshman Teams

* LAJ's Don Williams | Texas Tech/A&M have same thought in mind: Get bowl eligible in a hurry
* LAJ's Adam Zuvanich | Red Raiders’ hard-working receiver rounding into 2009 form
* LAJ's Adam Zuvanich | Tuberville can befriend some fans with win at Texas A&M
* LAJ's Adam Zuvanich | Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M Tale of the Tape
* AggieSports Robert Cessna | Tech not just a passing team and Game Day Matchups/Keys
* FWST's Dwain Price | Texas Tech receiver still feels sting of Texas A&M snub
* FWST's Mac Engel | Texas A&M quarterback change may be imminent
* The Chron's Brent Zwerneman | Tech's rushing game makes strides | A&M's defense makes stopping the run a priority
* FWST | Big 12 gameday for Oct. 30
* Turfburner's Jay Beck | Big 12 Previews: Week Nine
* SB Nation's Sean Keeley | College Football Buffet, Week 9: Michigan State vs. Iowa, Missouri vs. Nebraska Are Must-Eats
* Texas Tech Baseball | Red Raider Profile: RHP/OF Trey Masek
* LAJ's George Watson | Fall workouts show Tech’s need to work on pitching this winter
* LAJ's Courtney Linehan | Men's Basketball Raiders prepare for Sunday trip to NMSU

* Big 12 Sports' Jeremiah Washington | Texas Tech Student-Athlete Spotlight: Eric Stephens
* LAJ's Don Williams | Kickers balance idle time, pressure of job to find routine that works
* DMN's Chuck Carlton | A&M's Sherman, Tech's Tuberville share a coaching tie and shaky bowl hopes
* DMN's Mike Graham | Prediction: Limiting QB Jerrod Johnson hurts Texas A&M in Texas Tech win
* Aggie Sports' Robert Cessna | Luster is off Tech-A&M rivalry
* LAJ's Don Williams | Texas Tech Football Notebook
* The Battalion's Kyle Cunningham | Rewriting Records | fuller etching name into aggie lore after following in father’s footsteps (I don't understand why the editors didn't capitalize the subtitle. Weird.)
* DT's Mike Graham | One game at a time
* KC Star's Blair Kerkoff | Blair Kerkhoff’s Big 12 insider
* Daily Camera's Kyle Ringo | Injured Colorado QB Tyler Hansen leaves hospital
* DMN's Mike Graham | Texas Tech's new head coach Tommy Tuberville takes business as usual approach in preparing for Texas A&M
*Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan | Week 9 Preview in the Big 12
* Rivals.com's Mike Huguenin | Week 9 Primer: Road Tests for Unbeatens
* Texas Tech Baseball | Red Team Wins Final Game of Series, 8-7 and there's some post-game video from head coach Dan Spencer, OF Barrett Barnes, 2B Jamodrick McGruder and SS Reid Redman

* LAJ's Don Williams | Red Raiders getting hang of new running-game nuances
* LAJ's Don Williams | Tech notes: More playing time for Dewhurst
* FWST's Dwain Price | Tech's Neal Brown said Baylor's Got Talent
* DT's Mike Graham | Position switch: Moves for Torres, Lewis prove effective
* DMN's Mike Graham | Stomach virus running through Texas Tech football team
Aggie Sports' Robert Cessna | Former Consol standout Lewis finishing up solid career at Texas Tech
* SAEN's Brent Zwerneman | Slocum weighs in on Sherman's gig
* The Chron's Brent Zwerneman | Slocum protégés to face off Tuberville, Sherman add spice to rivalry
* LAJ's Matthew McGowan | Tech unveils upscale restaurant, bar in football stadium
* Yahoo! Sports Jason King | For Texas Tech’s Knight, it’s win or go home
* Texas Tech Baseball | Black Team Wins Series with 7-5 Victory (the Daily Toreador also has some video)

Former Tri-City Dust Devil Chad Bettis has been named to the Northwest League's 2010 All-Star team as the league's top right-handed starting pitcher. The Colorado Rockies' second round selection in the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was the lone Dust Devil named to the team this season.

Bettis was nothing short of dominant for the Dust Devils this season, as he compiled a 4-1 record in ten appearances (nine starts) to go with a 1.12 ERA in 48 1/3 innings pitched. His performance earned him a promotion to the Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League, where he made his first start on August 22nd. In two starts at Asheville he has continued the torrid start to his professional career with a 1-0 record and 1.42 ERA in 12 2/3 innings pitched.

Third-year skipper Jim Horner – a former Tacoma Rainiers catcher, and Washington State Cougars player – has resigned.

Horner is leaving the organization to become an assistant coach at Texas Tech University, where he will work under head coach Dan Spencer.

Spencer, who played at Oregon State, was once an assistant coach at Tacoma Community College and served as head coach at Green River CC before eventually landing at Texas Tech.

Horner told the Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press that he was making the change for family reasons. "I have four kids that are all under the age of 12, so I’m getting to the point in time when I just can’t take them out of school," he told the paper. "They don’t get to do a lot of things that other kids get to do."

When the Dan Law Field public address announcer bellowed early Saturday evening that Texas Tech had qualified for the Big 12 Championships by virtue of a 5-3 win over Baylor, the crowd let out an approving roar.

The reaction of the team indicated something different.

"We have much higher goals than just the Big 12," first baseman Barrett Barnes said. "(Head coach Dan Spencer) said that today. We need to come out and try to win the series, win the series at Nebraska and keep rolling all the way through. We want to take these last two series and hope to get into a regional."

Plans are in the works for major renovations to Tech's home field, which would bring about new seating, including chair-back seats, new press box and suites and other amenities to bring Tech up to snuff with the rest of the Big 12. Fundraising for the $12 million project has been steady but somewhat slow, with Spencer saying about $3 million has been pledged, which would be enough to get something started on the first phase of the renovation sometime this summer.

"We're being talked about by the chancellor and the board about getting on the list of projects that need to happen," Spencer said. "The chancellor is very concerned about finishing football and golf, and I understand that. I hope then that we're next. I think the chancellor is trying to be fiscally responsible to not allow a lot of debt, to raise the money and spend the money we have. He's trying to do it that way, which is the right way."

Spencer said if the Dan Law Field project is done in phases, the first would include new seating, new suites and a new press box, and he hopes those would be done in time for the 2011 season.

"But that's the baseball coach in me talking, and a bunch of things have to happen between now and then," Spencer said. "It's about Texas Tech University and it's bigger than the baseball program, and we need to be good teammates as far as what's going on with things on campus right now."

When he began the 2010 season with three pitchers already shelved due to elbow surgery, Dan Spencer knew the road through the Big 12 Conference would not be smooth.

The Texas Tech baseball coach also didn’t expect the roller-coaster ride the Red Raiders have been on the last two months. Through all the twists and turns and enduring a long losing streak, Tech is right where the coach thought it would be: in the mix for its first NCAA regional in six years.

"We were going to have to do something special in some other area because we are not going to pitch as well as we thought we would, you just can’t," Spencer said. "Nobody in the league can lose arguably your No. 3, No. 6 and No. 8 guy on the staff and it not affect you.

"I thought we would be a factor, whether that was third or sixth or whatever. With the position players and the impact they could make I thought we’d be OK."