Texas Tech Baseball
Red Raiders Take 2nd Game from Wildcats
| Date | Start Time | Texas Tech Starting Pitcher |
Dallas Baptist Starting Pitcher |
Result |
| 5/8/2009 | 6:30 p.m. | Nate Karns (W, 4-5) | A.J. Morris (L, 11-1) | 6-0 |
| 5/9/2009 | 2:00 p.m. | AJ Ramos (W, 5-4) | Lance Hoge (L, 5-3) | 12-6 |
| 5/10/2009 | 1:00 p.m. | TBA | Todd Vogel (3-0, 4.67) | - |
Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Jr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Jr.); RF - Garrett Totten (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Jr.) 2ND - Willie Rueda (Sr.);
3RD - Justin Berry (Fr.) 1ST - Chris Richburg (Sr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (Fr.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (Fr.)
*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).
As per the FanShot from kayakyakr the Red Raiders have won a road series for the first time in over 5 years, beating the K-State Wildcats 12-6 on Saturday afternoon (recap). Starter AJ Ramos (6.1 IP; 6 H; 2 ER; 5 BB; 7 SO) was very effective in his 6 innings of work. Former starter Miles Morgan (1.0 IP; 1 H; 2 ER; 2 BB; 0 SO) struggled a bit in relief, but it's my recollection that it's been a while since he's pitched (I believe he's been dealing with a family matter). Brian Cloud (1.2 IP; 0 H; 0 ER; 0 BB; 4 SO) was lights out closing out the game, registering 4 out of 5 outs by strikeout. The nice thing about Cloud's success is that Chad Bettis will assuredly take the mound at some point today.
Again, the top of the order is just killing the ball and here's hitters 1 through 3 yesterday: 2B Willie Rueda (2-4; 3 RBI), SS Joey Kenworthy (3-6; 3 RBI) and 1B Chris Richburg (1-4; 3 RBI). Twelve hits and 12 runs. Not bad.
LAJ's George Watson wraps up yesterday's win and head coach Dan Spencer has nothing but praise for his players:
"It’s been a good couple of days," head coach Dan Spencer said. "The guys have played like warriors, they really have. We had to find out what we’re made of (after losing three at Missouri) and what adjustments we had to make. It’s a tribute to the kids because they did it. It’s all about the kids doing the deal. It’s the kids making the decisions. They’re executing and making (the coaches) look like geniuses."
Spencer also talks about changing a bit on pitching philosophy:
"First and foremost it’s the fact that the guys on the mound have jumped out and shown up," Spencer said. "(Pitching coach Ed Gustafson) and I put our heads together and have made things simpler. We’re not worrying so much about throwing breaking balls. We’re attacking with fastballs on both sides of the plate, throwing the change in there and getting aggressive around the plate. Karns showed up huge (Friday) night and kept us out of the bullpen. Morgan came in today and got some big outs for AJ, and AJ was tremendous and Cloud was great."
I think yesterday's win, coupled with Oklahoma State's second loss to OU yesterday, means that Texas Tech is assured of playing in the Big 12 Tournament, which only takes the top 8 teams in the Big 12 (Big 12 standings).
If you had asked me if this team could make it to the Big 12 tournament this year, I would have asked you to slow your roll. I thought this team had a long ways to go before we talked about any sort of post-season. I'm glad I was wrong.