Tech Baseball Opens Big 12 Play With Nationally-Ranked Nebraska
February 27, 2001 | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2001
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THE RED RAIDERS
Texas Tech is in the middle of seven game homestand after hosting Howard Payne and New Mexico this past week. Tech was originally scheduled to face TCU on Tuesday but was forced to postpone the game to a later date due to inclement weather. Tech went 3-1 over the week after beating Howard Payne 5-4 on Tuesday, New Mexico 9-6 on Saturday and splitting with New Mexico 7-6, and 5-7 on Sunday.
The Tech offense couldn't manage a home run this past weekend thus extending their home-home run drought to eight games. During the Larry Hays era, the Red Raiders have never gone more than five games without a home run at Dan Law Field.
Texas Tech was one of three teams who did not open Big 12 Conference play this past weekend. Tech, Iowa State and Nebraska all played non-conference opponents while the rest of the Big 12 opened league play. Tech opens the conference season against Nebraska this weekend in hopes of earning the school's second regular season Big 12 title. The Red Raiders won the inaugural Big 12 Championship in 1997.
Texas Tech will toil with a new and improved weekend pitching staff as Cory Metzler will take the mound on Friday with Chris Phillips on Saturday and Brandon Roberson on Sunday.
The Red Raiders put together their longest win streak of the season over the last week as they won five straight games before losing to New Mexico on Sunday in the second game of the doubleheader.
With the 2-1 series win over New Mexico, Texas Tech has now won or tied 76 straight non-conference home series. Tech has won 66 series and tied nine dating back to the 1989 season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Texas Tech will close out its seven game homestand this weekend as the team will face the nationally ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers in a three-game series beginning on Friday evening at 7 p.m. Texas Tech wraps up the three-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday and will then take four days off before battling rival Texas in Austin. Texas Tech will head to Austin on Thursday afternoon and will kick-off the series at 7:30 p.m. at Disch-Falk Field. Tech will play the Horns at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the rubber match begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Tech will come back from Austin on Sunday night and then face Eastern New Mexico in a midweek game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
RAIDERS ON THE AIR
For the eighth consecutive season, the entire Texas Tech baseball game schedule will be broadcast live on the Red Raider Radio Network and made available to its statewide affiliates. Play-By-Play voice of the Red
Raiders Mark Finkner will make the call in this his sixth season. He will be joined by popular color commentator Ryan Hyatt who will be in the broadcast booth for his fourth season. Finkner and Hyatt will host a 20-minute pregame show and will have postgame interviews with players and coaches. Tech baseball games can be heard locally on KKAM 1340 AM.
TECH DROPS NEW MEXICO 9-6
Texas Tech scored six runs in the fourth inning highlighted by two RBI doubles by Gera Alvarez and Nick Blankenship that propelled the Red Raiders to a 9-6 win over border rival New Mexico on Saturday evening at Dan Law Field.
Texas Tech (11-5) handed the Lobos (4-10) their 10th loss of the season and tied the season record at 1-1 between the two schools. The game got off to a late start after 45mph winds delayed the start of the game until 7 p.m.
Texas Tech drew first blood in the game when Nick Blankenship hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Gera Alvarez. New Mexico struck back in the top of the second inning scoring two runs on one hit to take the lead.
The Red Raiders regained the lead in the fourth after scoring six runs on four hits. New Mexico rallied again in the fifth as they scored four runs off a two RBI single by Chris Alexander and RBI singles by Donny Sevieri and Mark Okano.
Brandon Roberson (3-1) took the win for Texas Tech and Cory Metzler earned his first save of the season. David Young (0-3) took the loss for New Mexico.
The series will conclude with a doubleheader beginning at noon on Sunday.
TECH SPLITS WITH UNM
Texas Tech was unable to pull off the series sweep as the New Mexico Lobos claimed a 7-5 win in the second game of the Sunday doubleheader before a season-high crowd of 2,502 fans at Dan Law Field. Texas Tech was, however, able to extend its Big 12 Conference best 76th consecutive non-conference home series in which Tech has either won or tied by claiming a 7-6 win in the first game of the doubleheader. Tech has won 66 home non-conference series and tied nine dating back to 1989.
Senior first baseman Chad Landry was the hero for Texas Tech in game-one as he went 2 for 4 at the plate with two RBI. Tech got a two hit and one RBI performance from both Gera Alvarez and Tony Arnerich to help the Red Raiders seal the win.
Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Phillips earned his fifth win of the season after tossing 8 1/3 innings giving up six runs and striking out five batters. Senior Blake McGinley replaced Phillips with two outs remaining in the ninth to earn his third save of the season. Greg Atencio (0-3) took the loss for New Mexico.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Lobos broke a 1-1 one tie in the top of the fourth and never looked back. New Mexico put up five runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. Texas Tech rallied thanks to a 4 for 4 performance at the plate from freshman Brent Fossum. Tech put up two runs in the sixth and eighth innings but was unable to overcome the Lobo lead.
Chris Cooper (2-1) earned his second win of the season for New Mexico while Jeff Perez earned his first save of the year. Junior Chad Ertel (0-1) took the loss for Texas Tech.
RAINEY NEARS CENTURY MARK
Senior Jason Rainey made his debut last season at Texas Tech after transferring from Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas. Rainey finished the 2000 season with 76 hits. He got his first hit of the 2001 season against TCU on Feb. 4 when he hit a two-run home run to win the ball game. He now has 96 hits in his career meaning he needs just four to reach the century mark.
HOME RUN DROUGHT CONTINUES
Texas Tech has not hit a home run at Dan Law Field since the second game of a doubleheader against Howard on Jan. 26. Since then, Tech has played eight home games and has not been able to cash in on the big prize. The longest span of time that a Red Raider did not hit a home run at Dan Law field in the Larry Hays era was a five game stretch in March of 1993.
TCU GAME POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER
The Texas Tech baseball game with TCU scheduled for 3 p.m. on Tuesday has been cancelled due to forecasted inclement weather.
Texas Tech and TCU have not made concrete plans as to when the games will be made up but the series will still remain home and home. An announcement will be made within the next week as to the rescheduling of the contest.
FOSSUM HAS BIG GAME WITH NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque product Brent Fossum decided to put on a show for his hometown New Mexico Lobos but it was a show the Lobos would have rather done without. Fossum went a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate with two RBI during Tech's 7-5 loss in the second game of the doubleheader last Sunday. Fossum, a freshman from El Dorado High School in Albuquerque, made his third start of the season on Sunday replacing Jason Rainey in the outfield.
HAYS NEEDS THREE WINS TO REACH 1, 250 PLATEAU
Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays is just three wins shy of winning his 1, 250th career victory. Hays is currently the fourth winningest (by victories) active head coach in collegiate baseball and the eighth winningest (by victories) all-time.
FLASHBACK TO 1999
The last time that the Nebraska Cornhuskers came to Lubbock, the two teams were only able to play five innings after inclement weather played havoc with the series. Texas Tech came out the victor with a 10-5 win over the Huskers. Over the last two years, Texas Tech and Nebraska have split four meetings (2-2).
ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM
Through 18 games this season, Texas Tech has stolen 43 bases and been caught just eight times. Compared to this time last season, Tech had managed just 21 stolen bases and finished the year with 71. Leading the way in base robbing is Kerry Hodges who has stolen 12 on 13 attempts. Hodges' 12 stolen bases leads the Big 12 as J. Nelson from Kansas is in second place with 10. The Texas Tech record for stolen bases was set during the 1996 season when that squad stole 185 bags.
HITTING NOTES
- Texas Tech just barely improved its season batting average after the New Mexico series improving from .310 to .311. Tech's team batting average is ranked second in the Big 12 Conference behind Nebraska
- Senior Chad Landry leads all Tech players with a six-game hitting streak dating back to Feb. 17. Gera Alvarez and Nick Blankenship each have three game streaks.
- Junior shortstop Gera Alvarez continues to lead the Texas Tech offense with a .408 batting average and is tied with Tony Arnerich with 19 RBI. Alvarez currently leads the Big 12 in hits (29), Runs Scored (24), Doubles (7), Total Bases (49) and Walks (13)
PITCHING NOTES
- Chris Phillips earned his fifth win of the season against New Mexico in the first game of the doubleheader last Sunday. Phillips is now 5-1 on the year and currently leads the league in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts.
- As a staff, Texas Tech currently ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference in ERA. Baylor leads the league with an overall ERA of 2.26 while Texas is in second at 2.63 and Oklahoma State in third at 3.23.
- Brandon Roberson followed up his 14 strikeout performance at San Diego State with a nine strikeout affair against New Mexico on Saturday night. Roberson is currently tied in the Big 12 standings with Chris Phillips with 32 strikeouts.
- Blake McGinley earned his third save of the season in the first game of the doubleheader against New Mexico. McGinley now has a record of 1-1-3.
- Cory Metzler had an impressive weekend against New Mexico in which he earned his first save of the year.
2001 CLASS EARNS HONOR
Collegiate Baseball Magazine has ranked Texas Tech's 2001 newcomer class 13th in the nation. The Red Raiders will welcome 20 newcomers to the roster this year which include 13 junior college transfers.
Cal. State Fullerton was tabbed No. 1 in the rankings while defending national champion LSU was second.
TECH LANDS STRONG 2002 CLASS
Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays had no reason but to smile as Tech landed 12 recruits during the early signing period. Local pitching standout Bobby Livingston tops the list for the Red Raiders. Livingston, a left-handed pitcher from Trinity Christian School in Lubbock, has been clocked with pitches over 89 mph. Tech also got another solid lefty pitcher in Brandon Shaw from 2000 Junior College National Champion Grayson County College.
The Red Raiders signed three high school student-athletes and nine junior college players.
75th ANNIVERSARY--51st SEASON
The Texas Tech baseball team will celebrate its 75th Anniversary during the 2001 season. The first Red Raider baseball team suited up in 1926 and finished the season with a 11-2-1 season record. Texas Tech did not field a team after the 1929 season due the Great Depression and the United States' involvement in World War II. Tech began playing baseball again in 1954 and has played every year since. Texas Tech has an overall record of 1,092-860-7 through 51 seasons of play and an impressive 455-210 record in the last 10 years.
PRESEASON BIG 12 PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Texas Tech Red Raiders placed five players on Collegiate Baseball Magazine's Pre-Season Big 12 Players to Watch list. Getting the nod for Texas Tech was oufielder Jason Rainey, right-handed pitcher Brandon Roberson, right-handed pitcher Steve Rowe, catcher Anthony Arnerich and third baseman Nick Blankenship.
Nebraska's Shane Komine (RHP) was projected to be the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year while Missouri's Ryan Stegall (SS/RHP) got the early nod to take home Player of the Year honors.
LARKIN TRANSFERS
Texas Tech senior second baseman Shaun Larkin has decided to transfer prior to the start of the 2001 season, Texas Tech Head Baseball Coach Larry Hays announced on Friday Jan. 19.
Larkin made the decision after spending time with Coach Hays discussing his role on the team and came to the conclusion that a transfer was in order to gain more playing time his final season. He was the fourth leading hitter on the team last season with a .309 average and started all 62 games at second base.