Red Raider Hardball | UCF Wawa Weekend Classic Open Thread

Helpful links: Official Site Game Notes | LAJ's Preview | DT's Preview

The links from above aren't so much previews, but there are a few quotes from head coach Tim Tadlock about needing to focus on grades:

"I’d say the main thing would be the academic side of it," Tadlock said. "As far as playing baseball goes, not a big concern. We’re going to line up and play and play nine innings a day. Which, good or bad — I mean, last week we had played 18 innings on Saturday, which is a tougher chore from a playing standpoint, and a managing standpoint and a coaching standpoint."

Also, RHP Jonathan Tripp talked about what the team needs to continue to do:

"As a staff we need to get ahead more," said freshman right-hander Johnathon Tripp, who allowed a run on five hits in three innings of relief in a 10-1 win over Northern Colorado. "Even thought we gave up only two runs we fell behind and throwing first-pitch strikes is where we need to grow this week. We’ve focused on getting ahead of hitters with our off-speed stuff. I feel like we’ll be farther ahead this week than we were last week. The big thing is to get ahead of hitters and not throw too many pitches."

Just like last week, I'll update this post with the results of all of the games.

CF - Brett Bell
LF - Zach Davis ------ RF - Devon Conley
SS - Tim Proudfoot ------ 2B - Bryant Burleson
3B - Alec Humphreys ------ 1B - Eric Gutierrez
C - Jarrard Poteete

Date: 2/22/2013
Time: 11:00 am
Opponent: Troy University
Starting Pitchers: TTU RHP Dominic Moreno (1-0, 0.00) vs. TU RHP Will Starling (1-0, 0.00)

Texas Tech 3, Troy 10 | (Official Site | LAJ) | Yeesh. An ugly game for sure. Pretty much everyone struggled here and Texas Tech left 10 runners on base. Starter Dominic Moreno had a sterling first game, but struggled here, giving up 5 runs, all earned, with 7 hits, 0 walks and 4 strikeouts. Moreno had already thrown 76 pitches and that's not good. The only batter that really got going was RF Devon Conely who went 2-4 with 2 RBI and that was pretty much the extent of the offense.

Date: 2/23/2013
Time: 5:30 pm
Opponent: University of Central Florida
Starting Pitchers: TTU RHP Corey Taylor (1-0, 1.50) vs. UCF RHP Danny Davis (1-0, 0.00)

Texas Tech 8, UCF 13 | (Official Site | LAJ) | Oh where oh where has the pitching gone. The pitching that was so dominant last weekend is non-existent this weekend. Starter Corey Taylor only managed 4 innings and gave up 10 runs, 9 earned, with 81 pitches. Not enough strikes. SS Tim Proudfoot and 1B Eric Gutierrez each homered and each had 3 RBI, but that was really too little too late. The season is going to hinge on the pitching. As cautiously optimistic as I was last weekend, I'm a bit concerned this weekend.

Date: 2/24/2013
Time: 10:00 am
Opponent: Connecticut
Starting Pitchers: TTU RHP Trey Masek (1-0, 0.00) vs. UCONN TBA