Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 02.25.10

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.)     2ND - Garrett Totten (So.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.)                                  1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic:  The Red Raiders start another series today, starting off with Bethune Cookman today and alternating with Washington St. through the weekend.  If you haven't heard, the Red Raiders are off to a 4-0 start and it would be nice to grab a few more non-conference wins.

Barnes Big Debut:  LAJ's George Watson profiles freshman RF Barrett Barnes, who was named the MVP of last week's Red Raider Classic Tournament.  Here's Barnes on what he has in store for the weekend:

"I’m just going to try and come out here, work hard, win some more games this weekend and have a good overall weekend for the team," Barnes said. "God has put me in a great position to play Division I baseball under a great staff with great players, great teammates and a great situation all around. I’m just trying to go out and have fun."

And head coach Dan Spencer says that Barnes now has a reputation and will have tougher at bats:

"Barrett’s a great player," head coach Dan Spencer said. "Now, the report is going to get out on him and teams are going to pitch him tough. He’s hitting in the three-hole anyway and he’s in a pretty good position because he’s hitting in front of LeJeune and everybody knows he can hit. If he can stay with it and manage the peaks and valleys of being a good player and being a freshman in this league, he’s going to have a great year."

Continuing Success:  DT's Adam Coleman writes that the baseball team is looking to continue their winning ways this week.  This may me reading too much into a quote, but I absolutely love this from Spencer (emphasis mine):

"We talk about relentless consistency and just going out and playing well again," he said. "Playing well, doing things right, catching the balls you’re supposed to catch, running the picks that we run, executing offensively. Just playing good baseball.

"The more often you do it obviously it enhances your chances of winning."

That's a good way to describe how a team must continue to pursue perfection.  Love that quote.

Senior SS Joey Kenworthy talks about how this team is ready to win:

"I know in the past, we all wanted to win, but the atmosphere and the chemistry wasn’t the same," he said. "This year, it feels like all of us are ready. Not just four or five of us — our entire team, our pitching staff, our defense, our offense, we’re all clicking and I think we’re all ready."

Looking for a Win:  LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that head coach Pat Knight is vying for his first win against Nebraska:

"I think they need to hear all about Nebraska for the next three days," Knight said. "They don’t need to hear about these last four games; they don’t need to hear about anything but Nebraska. Our total focus needs to be on Nebraska."

And PG John Roberson realizes that this team needs to play hard as they still believe they are fighting for a tournament spot, whether it be NIT of the NCAA:

"It’s on me and Nick (Okorie) and some of the other guys to bring us together and look at the big picture," Roberson said. "We’re fighting for a postseason right now. If everybody realizes that I think everybody will come together and play harder, just play together and play more as a team, will want to win."

Miscellaneous:  Rush the Court checks in on the Big 12 . . . watch any NCAA tournament game from 2001 to last year (you could waste a day or a few days watching basketball)