Red Raider Hardball | UT-Arlington vs. Texas Tech

*Click on the score for Official Site box score.

I've been hesitant to write about the team because I don't really know the team. I think I just now have a handle on who the players are, but I have no idea what they do or what they look like out on the field. I'm excited to see these guys play and get a feel for how they play. Overall, I think this team is fairly up-and-down and that might be what you see until conference play until head coach Tim Tadlock figures out where he wants where. I think he's still figuring out the pitching staff and who he wants as the weekend pitchers.

And I'll do better job of updating the boxscores over the weekend.

LAJ's George Watson and DT's Paige Skinner have previews. Here's head coach Tim Tadlock from Watson's article:

"Offensively we’re trying to play with a lot of aggressiveness and take what the other team gives us," Tadlock said. "We’ve done that some, but we need to bunt the ball better at times because there have been times we haven’t. You can control what the defense is doing sometimes if you handle the bat better, so I’d like to see us make strides there."

One thing the Red Raiders shouldn’t be lacking, at least not after Wednesday, is confidence, and Tadlock said he still sees plenty of that.

"I think we believe that we can play with anybody in the country," Tadlock said. "At the same time we know that it’s the little things that matter in a baseball game, so we’re just trying to embrace the little things. If we keep pitching well, that’s where the momentum is in baseball. It all starts there."

GAME 1 | UT-Arlington 3, Texas Tech 8 | (Box Score) | Texas Tech was down 3-0 in the 5th inning, but came storming back the very next inning with 5 runs in the 6th inning. Starter Dominic Moreno pitches 5 innings giving up 3 runs, all earned, walking 1 and striking out 4, but doesn't get the win. Freshman releiver Matt Custred gets his first win of his young career pitching the 6th inning, while Jerad McCrummen, Andre Wheeler and Nathan Bauder finish out the game. As an aside, Bauder is 5-10/145. That is not a typo.

Leadoff CF Brett Bell went 4-5 with an RBI, but it was C Mason Randolph and 3B Jake Barrios that provided the offense as Randolph was 1-3 with 2 RBI and Barrios was 2-4 with 3 RBI.

GAME 2 | UT-Arlington 1, Texas Tech 4 | (Box Score) | Trey Masek was stellar, going 8 innings, giving up 2 hits, no walks and striking out 7. He's just been fantastic this year and he hasn't allowed a run, so there's not much else you can ask of him. Reliever Corey Young allowed the only run in relief. The offense was led by SS Tim Proudfoot, who was 1-3 with 2 RBI. 1B Eric Gutierrez was 2-4 with a triple and scored a run. Overall, a really solid game. I love games like this.