This Past Week in Red Raider Baseball
Can we forget about this last week? Lets hope the team can learn an important lesson, that no matter what your record, ranking, or the headlines say, any team can beat any other, on any given day or night. Tech traveled to Albuquerque to face off against the Lobos of UNM, having beaten them once this season, a 14-10 win in Lubbock, and had 2 games in New Mexico to finish off the series. UNM is currently 7th in batting average in division 1, 2nd in hits, 6th in on base percentage, 5th in runs, and a potential opponent in a regional matchup in the postseason. Needless to say, it was a big test for our younger pitching staff against a stout opponent. Splitting the 2 games wasn't ideal, but allowing "only" 10 runs in 2 games wasn't a terrible thing as we went into a tough conference series against rival Texas.
This past weekend started off a big couple weekends for the Big 12 race, as Texas was in Lubbock and TCU was in Stillwater. This coming weekend TCU hosts Tech and UT hosts OSU. A series win over the Horns would be great, and potentially put some distance between the Red Raiders and the Horned Frogs. A big comeback win on Friday night would be the highlight of the weekend unfortunately as Texas would outscore us 24-5 over the next 2 games. Whether it was complacency after an emotional win or Texas adjusting to our batters without us being able to respond, it was an ugly weekend.
Inside the Big 12
The conference title looks to be a 4-horse race with 3 weekends left in the regular season. Currently, Tech holds a 2-game lead over TCU, but 4th place Texas is only 3 games back.
Team | Overall | Home | Away | Conference |
Texas Tech | 31-12 | 18-6 | 10-5 | 12-3 |
TCU | 28-10 | 16-5 | 9-5 | 10-5 |
Oklahoma State | 25-14 | 12-7 | 12-6 | 9-6 |
Texas | 19-21 | 12-13 | 7-7 | 9-6 |
West Virginia | 20-18 | 9-9 | 11-9 | 6-8 |
Oklahoma | 20-20-1 | 13-8 | 7-12 | 6-9 |
Baylor | 18-22 | 13-14 | 5-8 | 5-10 |
Kansas State | 18-22 | 11-13 | 5-7 | 5-10 |
Kansas | 17-22 | 13-8 | 3-11 | 3-8 |
The conference currently has 3 teams in the Top 25, with TCU at 12th, Tech at 14th, and OSU at 23rd. All 3 teams are also currently projected to make the postseason, with OSU the 2-seed in the regional in College Station and TCU hosting a regional. Tech is currently projected as the national 6-seed, hosting a regional with Ole Miss, New Mexico, and Binghamton. We would also host the super regional against the winner of the LSU regional if we won our regional.
This Week in Red Raider Baseball
Originally the team was scheduled to play Abilene Christian in Abilene on Tuesday and in Midland on Wednesday, but with the rain coming in later this afternoon, the game in Abilene was moved to May 10th. After Wednesday's game, the team travels to Ft Worth for what could be the deciding series for the Big 12 regular season title. With a 2-game lead currently, as long as Tech doesn't get swept in Ft Worth, they will still leave the weekend with the lead in the conference. A sweep would all but lock down the title with just 6 more conference games left. Friday's 8:00 game is scheduled to air on Fox Sports 1 and Saturday's 4:00 game will be on Fox Sports Southwest, or some variation of it. There is a chance for rain this weekend in DFW, so be on the lookout for games to be moved around or rescheduled.