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This Week In Texas Tech Baseball - 4/12/2016

The Red raiders come off a fantastic week, winning 4 of 5 on the road against top 25 teams

By Jonathan_TTU

This Past Week in Red Raider Baseball

Tech had a tough week, travelling to Tallahassee for a 2-game set and then to Stillwater for a 3-game series in a big test in the Big 12. The first game against FSU was rather poor, with Tech only getting 4 hits. After that, the offense woke up, and in a big way over the next 4 games with 56 hits, 35 of which came in the last 2 games against OSU. They outscored the 2 opponents 36-12, and the last game was called early as Tech run-ruled the Cowboys in a 15-5 win on Sunday. Tech has now won 10 straight conference games, with an 11-1 record to lead the Big 12. It is the longest conference winning streak in their history, and the 5th longest in Big 12 history. The OSU sweep was Tech's first sweep on the road over a top 25 team since 1995

All these records and statistics begs the question; Is this the best Red Raider baseball team under Tim Tadlock? Even further, is this the best team Tech has ever seen, at this point in the season? There has been talk that if this season continues like it has been going so far, Tech will be a lock to host a regional. OSU was supposed to be a huge test and we blew their pants off in their home stadium. The Red Raiders haven't played Texas, West Virginia, or TCU yet, but you can only win games over teams that you are scheduled to play.

Under coach Larry Hays, the Red Raiders are seen to have the most success. In 1995 they went 51-14 (16-8 in conference), winning the regular season and conference tournament. Their best Big 12 record came in 1997, going 23-7. They won the Big 12 regular season title in 1997, and the Big 12 tournament in 1998. Hays had consistently winning teams, playing in the NCAA tournament each year from 1995-2002, but never advancing past the regional stage.

Tadlock's team from 2 years ago is the team to have the most success in post-season play, the only Red Raider team to have made it to the CWS. That year they went 45-19, with a 14-10 Big 12 record, finishing 4th in conference. This years team has just 3 conference wins less than that team did, and although the schedule this year has a heavy back end, 3 wins seems like a no-brainer. As of right now, this team has the potential to have the best conference record,and definitely make some noise in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments.

This week's rankings from D1 Baseball, the official rankings used by the NCAA, came out yesterday morning, and Tech rose to 14th. 2 weeks ago, we weren't even getting votes. Last week we jumped to 22nd, and this past week, went up another 8 spots. When the official stories come out from the University, a different poll is used, the one from Baseball America. There are 6 major polls available for college baseball, with last week's rankings varying by 7 spots. This week, we're ranked as high as 10th in one poll, and as low as 23rd in another.

Current Rankings
Poll Date Rank
Baseball America April 11 15
Collegiate Baseball April 11 10
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association April 11 23
USA Today Coaches April 11 21
Perfect Game April 11 14
D1 Baseball April 11 14

Tech gathered another conference award this week, with Michael Davis winning the Big 12 offensive player of the week, the 4th different Red Raider to win the award this season. Davis led the conference in RBI's with 11, 7 of which came in 2 separate swings in the final game of the OSU series.

This Coming Week In Red Raider Baseball

The Red Raiders take a week off from playing in the conference, with the next series coming up on April 22nd against UT in Lubbock. Starting tonight, Tech plays 2 more games against Sam Houston St in Lubbock, a team they beat in Huntsville 11-6 back at the beginning of the season. The annual Brooks Wallace Memorial Series is this weekend, with Tech hosting San Diego St for a 3-game series. This series is in honor of former Red Raider Brooks Wallace , who died of leukemia. Tech looks to continue to build their case to make the tournament this year.

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