Baseball Plays In NCAA Regional For Sixth Straight Time
May 24, 2000 | Baseball
May 24, 2000
LUBBOCK, Tex. - The Texas Tech Red Raiders play in a NCAA Regional for the sixth straght time after appearing for the first time in 1995. Texas Tech is 8-10 all-time in NCAA games. The Red Raiders hosted the Regional in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
The Red Raiders enter the tournament as the third seed after posting a 35-24 record during the season. They will play second-seeded Rice at 3 p.m. on Friday followed by host Houston and fourth-seeded Princeton at 7 p.m.
The winner of the Houston Regional will face the winner of the Waco Regional next weekend for the trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
Entering the 2000 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament as the fifth seed, Texas Tech won two straight elimination games after dropping the opener to Texas. After the Longhorns defeated Tech, 8-4, on Wednesday evening, the Red Raiders bounced back to knock off Texas A&M and Texas.
Kevin Tracey tossed his ninth complete game of the year on Thursday afternoon while Marco Cunningham went 4-5 to lead Tech to the 8-6 win over Texas A&M. The Red Raiders avenged the first-game loss on Mark Austry's RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Texas, 4-3, on Friday night. The loss was Texas' second straight in the last at bat.
On Saturday, Baylor ended Tech's hopes of their first tournament title since 1998 by winning 10-1. Outfielder Cory Sellars made his first start of the season on the mound for Texas Tech. The Baylor game was the 1,900th game of Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays' career.
POSTSEASON HONORS
Members of the 2000 baseball team have recieved honors from coaches and newspapers for their achievements throughout the season. The conference coaches selected Marco Cunningham, Chaz Eiguren and Jason Rainey to their second team All-Big 12 while Kevin Tracey was named honorable mention.
Rainey and Eiguren were named to the All-Big 12 second team by the Dallas Morning News and Eiguren picked up second team honors from the Austin American-Statesman.
Cunningham was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team after hitting .438 (7-16) and making a number of outstanding defensive plays in Tech's four games last weekend.
Four Texas Tech players were named the to 2000 Academic All-Big 12 team. David O'Keeffe, Steve Rowe and Tracey were named to the first team while Trey Lunsford was a second team honoree. O'Keeffe was recognized earlier this season the top graduating senior on the club.
A TALE OF TWO TEAMS
At the friendly confines of Dan Law Field, Texas Tech posts a record of 21-6, but on the road the Red Raiders are 7-13 ? however, Tech's fielding percentage on the road is .975 (18 E/723 TC) compared to a .967 mark (36 E/1,082 TC) at home ? in Lubbock, the pitching staff is averaging 6.4 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (173 SO/242.0 IP) ? away from home, the staff averages 5.5 strikeouts per 9.0 IP (101 SO/165.2 IP) ? designated hitter Chaz Eiguren is hitting .396 (42-106) at Dan Law Field and is 26-80 (.325) on the road, but has hit six of his 10 home runs away from home ? Marco Cunningham owns a .349 (38-109) average at Dan Law Field compared to a .253 (19-75) mark on the road ? pitcher J.J. Newman's ERA at home is 5.03 (27 ER/48.1 IP) and on the road it is 8.69 (19 ER/19.2 IP).
GIVE ME THE BALL
Throughout the season, Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays has called upon right-hander Kevin Tracey in every situation a pitcher can face. Tracey is the only pitcher in Big 12 history to record at least seven complete games and five saves in a single season. In six of the eight conference series, Tracey has appeared in at least two games. At Texas A&M and Nebraska, he pitched in two games on the same day. In two consecutive weekends against Iowa State and Texas, he saved the Saturday game and tossed a complete game victory on Sunday.
EIGUREN NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Texas Tech senior Chaz Eiguren was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week by a select panel of media covering Big 12 baseball for games played Feb. 21-27. The designated hitter blasted five home runs and 16 RBI in Tech's four games that week. He was 13-21 (.619) at the plate and owned a 1.381 slugging percentage with 29 bases in 21 official trips. Eiguren tied an NCAA record last Tuesday with two home runs in the same inning. Against New Mexico, he hit a two-run homer and a grand slam in the Red Raiders' 10-run fifth inning. In his next at bat, the Broomfield, Colorado native sent a solo shot over the right-center field wall. For the game, he went 4-6 with three home runs and seven RBI.
In three games against Missouri, Eiguren hit .600 (9-15) with two home runs, a double and nine RBI. In Friday night's extra-inning loss, he tied the game with at three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. His final home run of the week came in the first inning on Sunday when he hit a two-run homer to put Tech up 2-0. Eiguren tallied three hits in all three games as he went 3-6 on Friday with five RBI, 3-4 on Saturday and 3-5 with four RBI on Sunday. Eiguren is the first Texas Tech Big 12 Player of the Week since Jon Weber was honored for the week of Feb. 1 last year. Shane Wright and Kevin Tracey were named conference Pitchers of the Week on Feb. 22 and Mar. 8, respectively.
TEXAS TECH ON THE AIR
For the eighth consecutive season, the entire Texas Tech baseball schedule will be broadcasted live on the Red Raider Baseball Network. Voice of Texas Tech Baseball Sam Stephens will handle the play-by-play duties. Stephens has a 20-minute pregame show and interviews players and coaches following each game. Games will be carried on Texas Tech's hometown station, KXTQ-950 AM as well as Texas Tech's official website www.texastech.com.
COACH HAYS ON THE AIR
Coach Hays' morning radio show will run on Thursday mornings on KKAM-1340 AM. Coach Hays will talk with Tech basketball broadcaster Jack Dale from 8-9 a.m. each week.
The 1998 season marked the debut of The Larry Hays' Show, coach Hays' weekly television show. In its third season, the show will air on Sunday nights through May 14. It will be broadcasted on CBS-affilate KLBK at 11:30 p.m. Hays is one of just seven collegiate coaches to have a weekly television show.
ROBERSON AND ACKERMAN TO SIT OUT REMAINDER OF SEASON
Right-handed starting pitchers Brandon Roberson and Chaz Ackerman have decided to sit out the remainder of the 2000 season.
Roberson, Texas Tech's opening day starter, injured his right elbow in his first start of the season on February 2 against West Texas A&M. He was slated to be Texas Tech's number one starter after being named first team All-Big 12 and setting the single-season school save record last season.
Ackerman, a junior-college transfer from Connor J.C., has been diagnosed with a microfracture in his right elbow. He injured the arm in his third start on 2/13 vs. USC.
Texas Tech will appeal to the Big 12 Conference for a medical redshirt on both player's behalf. According to the NCAA, a student-athlete may be granted an additional year of competition for reasons of "hardship." Hardship is defined as an incapacity resulting from an injury that has occurred under the following conditions: (1) The injury occurs prior to the completion of the first half of the playing season that concludes with the NCAA championship in that sport. (2) The injury occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than two contests or dates of competition or 20 percent of the institution's completed contests or dates of competition in his sport.
PRESEASON HONORS
RHP Brandon Roberson was named preseason third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The senior right-hander was Texas Tech's opening day starter. Roberson was named first team All-Big 12 last year after setting the single season school save record (10) in 1999.
The Dallas Morning News picked the Red Raiders third in a preseason Big 12 poll and named outfielder Marco Cunningham and designated hitter Chaz Eiguren to the all-conference team.
Outfielder Miles Durham was cited by Baseball America as one of the top 100 in the college class of 2000. Durham was ranked 58th by the magazine's writers and major league scouting directors. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1997 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.