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Kansas at Texas Tech
Lubbock, Texas Rip Griffin Park
From May 18-20, 2023
Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | Kansas Game Notes (PDF)
STARTERS
The final regular-season series has arrived for the 2023 Red Raiders, which will open Saturday by honoring six seniors before the finale. The Big 12 standings have remained largely unchanged over the final three games of a season in which the Red Raiders could finish anywhere from second to eighth in the league as Tech hosts Kansas, still in trouble.
Coverage will be provided via Big 12 Now on ESPN+. John Harris will be on the mic for play-by-play action, while former Red Raider baseball player Mike Gustafson will provide analysis for all three games. Using the ESPN app, all broadcasts can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, personal cellular device, and television streaming service. Subscription to the subscription service can be found at ESPNPlus.com.
The Texas Tech Sports Network broadcasts the game to more than 46 affiliates across the state of Texas and New Mexico, as well as on the varsity app. Geoff Haxton will have the call with Jamie Lint.
Texas Tech nationally
Although Texas Tech continues to climb in the RPI, the Red Raiders have been out of every poll outside the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s top 30 this week. The Red Raiders are ranked 14th in the D1Baseball poll and own an RPI of No. 66 heading into the matchup against K-State on Thursday, April 27. After dropping two of three to the Wildcats, Tech dropped out of the D1baseball poll but remained in the Baseball America, coaches poll and NCBWA poll. Despite being absent in all but one ranking on May 17, the Red Raiders’ RPI improved to No. 41 during that stretch.
The Big 12 D1Baseball recognizes its major rankings, so when a ranking is needed, Texas Tech is the same as the conference in those situations.
Scheduled pitching matches
- Thursday, May 18: LHP Mason Molina (4-2, 4.20 ERA) vs. RHP Collin Baumgartner (5-1, 3.95 ERA).
- Friday, May 19: RHP Trendan Parish (3-2, 5.74 ERA) vs. TBA
- Saturday May 20: TBA vs TBA
Senior greeting
Before Saturday’s May 20 regular season finale against Kansas at 2 p.m., a Senior Day ceremony will be held. Tech will honor its six-member senior class, which includes Bo Blaise (2nd year at Tech/Midland College/Midland, TX). Ty Coleman (2nd year at Tech/Texas A&M/Midland, TX), Ethan Coombes (1st year at Tech/Lubbock Christian/Roswell, NM), Garrett Crowley (2nd year at Tech/Fordham/Queens, NY), Nolen Hester (1st year at Tech /Wofford/Mount Pleasant, TX) and Zac Vooletich (2nd year at Tech/Navarro College/San Antonio, TX).
KANSAS SENIOR SENDOFF
Just like they did on their last visit in 2021, Kansas will be in town for a big weekend for the Red Raiders. In the 2021 edition of the TTU-KU series, the Jayhawks won the first game 7-4, before the Red Raiders won the next day 13-4 to clinch the series victory with a 5-0 shutout on Senior Day. Before the 2018 season, Tech had just one senior in 2021 to honor right-handed pitcher Connor Quinn from Odessa College.
this is; Big 12 regular season finale
Suddenly, the postseason is here. The Red Raiders entered the final Big 12 regular season 10-11 in league play and need a split with Kansas to avoid their worst conference mark since 2013 (9-15). Tech went 13-11 in Big 12 play in 2015.
Tech has won four of its first five Big 12 series and has lost back-to-back road Big 12 series in league play against K-State (April 28-30) and No. 6 West Virginia (May). 12-14) and fell victim to back-to-back losses in those games, going 2-4 combined. Heading into the league’s final three games in a season where the Big 12 standings have seen little separation, there is plenty of concern that the Red Raiders could finish anywhere from second to eighth. If Tech can rebound, it will extend its claim as the only school in the conference to finish in the top 3 every season since 2016.
- The Red Raiders have not lost a home Big 12 series this season or any 3-for-3 series in the Big 12 and are 8-for-8 overall at Rip Griffin Park this season.
Discussion of RPI
Although Texas Tech is out of the D1baseball poll, it has been improving in the RPI, which is used heavily in the NCAA selection process for the postseason. The Red Raiders enter the weekend series No. 41 in the RPI, a good spot to extend their regional bid to seven consecutive seasons.
- Why the focus of RPI? The RPI, (Ranking Percentage Index) is heavily factored into the NCAA Tournament selection process at the end of the season when selecting the 64 participants and 16 regional hosts.
30 WINS; It should not be accepted
Texas Tech reached 30 wins this season at Kansas State on April 29. This marks the ninth-straight season in which Tim Tadlock’s ball club has reached at least 30 wins. The driver is responsible for nine of the 31 all-time 30-win seasons and five of the 16 all-time 40-win seasons. The current streak of nine-straight 30-win seasons is just short of the program’s streak of 30+ wins from 1994-2006. The Red Raiders had just one 30-win season (2011) between 2007-2013.
- Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU are the three Big 12 schools that can claim nine-straight 30-win seasons since 2014.
History of the Texas Tech-Kansas series
- Thursday’s meeting was the 79th between the two programs.
- The series went 2-3 when the teams first met in Edinburg, Texas in 1981.
- In the year The 1981 three-game series was the only prelim game until the formation of the Big 12.
- Tech is 48-27 all-time against Kansas since the Big 12 was formed.
- Since 2015, the Red Raiders have won seven straight against the Jayhawks.
- Since 2015, Tech is 17-5 against Kansas.
- The two clubs have met just once in the Big 12 Tournament (W, 7-5) on May 24, 2019.
2022 Texas Tech-Kansas Flash
The Jayhawks outscored the Jayhawks 36-4 in the first two games last season in Lawrence to clinch the series before the Red Raiders fell 8-5 in Sunday’s contest. Despite plenty of offense in the first two games, Kansas took a 2-1 lead through the first six innings and got off to a late start in Friday night’s opener. The Red Raiders exploded in the seventh and three more in the ninth to comfortably win the first game of the series. In the seventh inning, three of the Red Raiders’ first four outs went to Cole Stilwell. Before Stilwell tied the game with a sac fly, Jess Jung hit a three-run home run that was about 15 feet in the seventh to tie the game at the batter’s eye. Tech exploded for 28 runs on Saturday, the eighth time the program has scored 28 or more in a game. Led by Hudson White’s career-high five wins (5-for-6), he recorded twelve different Red Raiders. Brandon Birdsell dropped a gem not to be missed. He pitched his second game of the 2022 season without allowing a hit. Birdsell’s final line was 5.0 innings pitched, zero hits, zero runs, eight strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander didn’t pitch a game over 6.0 innings against Rice on March 12. On Sunday, Tech fell behind 7-2 until cutting the deficit to three runs in the top of the seventh, but the rally ended and the Jayhawks tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to avoid the sweep.
Big 12 Championship
The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, May 24-28.
Wednesday, May 24
Game 1: No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed – 9 am
Game 2: No. 1 seed vs. No. 8 seed – 12:30 p.m
Game 3: No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 seed – 4 p.m
Game 4: No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed – 7:30 p.m
25 May
Game 5: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 9:00
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 12:30 p.m
Game 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner – 4 p.m
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner – 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 26
Game 9: Game 7 loser vs. Game 5 winner – 3 p.m
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6 – 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 27
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner – 9 p.m
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner – 12:30 p.m.
* Game 13: If necessary – 4 hours
* Game 14: If necessary – 7:30 p.m
Sunday, May 28
Game 15: Championship Game – 5 p.m
–tech–
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