Inside the Numbers: Breaking Down Texas Tech's Regular Season

As someone that did PR in professional baseball for six years, I have written more game notes and analyzed more baseball numbers than most. There are important numbers to look at when predicting success, as well as which ones to avoid. For example, when a team turns it around quickly, like last year's Houston Astros or the 2012 Baltimore Orioles who went 93-69 after finishing 69-93 the year before, look no further than the record in one-run games. Those 2012 Orioles went 29-9 in one-run games, finishing two games out of first place. In 2013, they went 16-26, finishing 12 games out. Wins under those circumstances are hard to replicate.

But many statistics, especially when returning key players, can give insight into what type of team is being fielded. Here are important statistics singled out from the 2016 Texas Tech Red Raiders regular season as we head into the regionals.

As a team...

• The 2016 Red Raiders won their first Big 12 regular season championship since 1997 with a 19-5 conference record, marking their best conference winning percentage in school history (.792). The 2014 CWS team finished fourth in the Big 12 with a 14-10 conference record.
• Tech is hosting a regional and super regional; so how is that an advantage? Their home record in 2016 was 20-7.
• Tech won 10 games against nationally-ranked teams, most in the Big 12.
• Tech scored 396 runs through 54 games this season (most since 2010), while posting a 4.07 ERA in Big 12 play, which was the second lowest in program history.
• The Red Raiders outscored their Big 12 opponents 57-15 in series openers, going 8-0 in those games. Quick starts are key when entering series with possible elimination.
• During Big 12 play, Tech went 16-2 when scoring at least five runs.
• Tech was 38-1 this season when either leading or tied following the eighth inning.
• Texas Tech went 10-2 against left-handed starters, while posting a 6-4 record in one-run games and a 5-0 record in two-run games.
• Tech was 1-1 in extra innings, and 25-6 when scoring first.

Important individual notes...

• Davis Martin, who will be a workhorse this postseason, earned the win in seven of his 10 starts as he allowed just 14 runs (11 earned) in that span. Tech went 10-0 during the regular season when Martin got the ball.
• Michael Davis hit .377 against ranked opponents with sevens runs scored, eight doubles, 17 RBI and a .424 on-base percentage.
• Zach Davis has the most stolen bases (30) among active Red Raiders.
• Tanner Gardner leads the team with 22 multi-hit games, while leading the Big 12 with five triples and a .485 on-base percentage.
• Eric Gutierrez either leads or has a share of the Big 12 lead with 49 runs scored and 51 RBI. He was second in the league with 120 total bases. Also led the team with 14 multi-RBI games.
• Tyler Neslony ranks second in the league with 48 RBI and fifth with nine home runs.
• Ryan Mosley has not allowed an earned run in 11 of his last 14 appearances.

Let's take a look at the record when teams score...

Texas Tech

Runs      0          1          2           3           4          5          6           7           8           9           10+

W-L     0-0       0-3      1-1       3-3       1-1       5-2       6-3      4-1       3-0       2-0       15-0

Opponents

Runs      0          1          2           3           4          5          6           7           8           9           10+

W-L     4-0       6-0      7-0       7-0       5-2       4-0       4-1      1-3      1-2        0-1       1-5

Important to note: Tech was not shutout this year, and they went 24-0 when holding their opponent under four runs.

Important metric...

Defense is the key to Tech making it back to Omaha. When Tech did not record an error they went 15-4, and went 18-4 when only committing one. But when Tech committed two or more errors they went 7-6.