Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Head Down South For NCAA Regionals
June 01, 2004 | Baseball
June 1, 2004
2004 NCAA Atlanta Regional
Russ Chandler Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.
Hosted By Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
Friday Game Times
Texas Tech vs. Mississippi State, 2 p.m. (CT)
Georgia Tech vs. Jacksonville State, 6 p.m. (CT)
Atlanta NCAA Regional Homepage
Complete Texas Tech Release in PDF Format
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Red Raiders Set For Atlanta Regional
The Texas Tech Red Raiders received an at-large bid from the NCAA Baseball Committee and will begin play in the regionals this weekend in Atlanta, Ga. as the No. 2 seed. Texas Tech will play the third-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs at 3 p.m. (ET) on Friday afternoon at Georgia Tech's Russ Chandler Stadium while the top-seeded Yellowjackets will take on fourth-seeded Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. (ET).
The Red Raiders (38-19) will be looking to avenge their early exit from last week's Big 12 Conference Tournament in what will be Texas Tech's ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. Texas Tech concluded the regular season with a six-game win streak but went 0-2 in the conference tournament as the Red Raiders fell to Baylor 8-3 and No. 17 Oklahoma 3-1.
The NCAA Regional field in Atlanta will feature three of the top names in college baseball in Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and Texas Tech and a rising program in Jacksonville State. The winner of this weekend's regional will meet the winner of the Athens, Ga. Regional (hosted by the University of Georgia) for a Super Regional that will be held at a site to be determined June 11-13 or June 12-14. Texas Tech has not played any of the three teams in NCAA competition and will be playing Mississippi State for the first time.
Tickets for the regional are currently on sale and can be purchased through the Georgia Tech Athletic Ticket Office at 1-888-TECH-TIX or online at www.ramblinwreck.com. Texas Tech will be allotted 200 reserved all-tournament packages and those are priced at $70.
Fans who can't make the trip to Atlanta can tune into the Red Raider Baseball Radio Network (KKAM - 1340 in Lubbock) as Mark Finkner will bring all the action live from Russ Chandler Stadium. The pregame show gets underway 25 minutes prior to first pitch while the post game show will feature full analysis and interviews from Tech players. The NCAA will also offer live stats on its website at www.ncaasports.com.
Texas Tech Joins Elite Group
Texas Tech's at-large bid to this year's NCAA Baseball Tournament has capped off a successful year for the Red Raiders as all four major sports (Football, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball and Baseball) have advanced to postseason NCAA competition.
Texas Tech is one of just four schools nationwide to have sent all four major NCAA sports to postseason play joining fellow Big 12 member Texas, Florida of the SEC and North Carolina State of the ACC. This also marks the second time in the last three years that Tech has accomplished this rare feat in college athletics.
The Red Raider football team got Tech rolling as the squad defeated Navy in the Houston Bowl back on Dec. 30, 2003 and finished the year with an 8-5 record. The Lady Raider basketball team earned their 15th-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round before falling to Louisiana Tech. The Lady Raiders finished the season with a 25-8 overall record and were ranked as high as No. 1 during the regular season. The Red Raider basketball team led by Coach Bob Knight advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to top-seeded St. Joseph's. Tech finished the year with a 23-11 overall record.
Brady Picks Up All-America Honor
Texas Tech junior first baseman Josh Brady has been named to the USA Today/Sports Weekly Second-Team All-America list that was released on Sunday afternoon.
Brady, a 5-10 first baseman from Lindon, Utah and transfer from the Community College of Southern Nevada, took the Big 12 by storm this season as he tallied incredible numbers for a first year Division I player. Through 57 games this season, he is batting .356 and has a Big 12 best 19 home runs and is second nationally with 84 RBI. Along with his power numbers, Brady also led the Big 12 with 30 stolen bases and had a fielding percentage of .982.
He becomes Texas Tech's first All-America selection since Josh Bard who earned those honors in 1999.
A Look At The Regional Field
Texas Tech will be the No. 2 seed at the Atlanta Regional being hosted by Georgia Tech this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium....here is a look at the regional field...
MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Mississippi State Bulldogs earned an at-large bid to this year's NCAA Tournament and were one of nine SEC schools to make the cut. The Bulldogs did not make the SEC Conference Tournament but their impressive No. 27 RPI and 34-22 record helped get them a No. 3 seeding.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are batting .311 as a team and are led by outfielder Brad Corley who is hitting .378 with 12 doubles, 18 home runs and 52 RBI. The Bulldog pitching staff has a combined ERA of 4.29 and is led by closer Saunders Ramsey who is 7-1 with four saves and a 2.27 ERA. The Bulldogs are coached by Ron Polk.
GEORGIA TECH
The Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (41-19) enter the NCAA Tournament as one of the nation's hottest teams and are the No. 4 national seed. Georgia Tech has won 20 of its last 22 games (including a 20 game win streak April 20-May 28) and was the ACC Regular-Season Champion.
Offensively, the Yellowjackets have the best batting average in the field as they are hitting .319 as a team. Steven Blackwood is the leading hitter with a .369 average while Micah Owings leads the team in home runs (15) and RBI (62). On the hill, Owings (8-2, 3.62 ERA) and Andrew Kown (9-1, 3.65 ERA) are the leading hurlers as both have logged over 90 innings of work. Danny Hall is in his 11th season as the head coach.
JACKSONVILLE STATE
The Jacksonville State Gamecocks will be the No. 4 seed in this weekend's regional after getting the automatic bid from the Ohio Valley Conference. The Gamecocks are 31-27 on the year and have won 17 of their last 25 contests.
Bobby Hicks is the team's leading hitter with a .376 batting average while he also has 11 home runs and 21 doubles. The Gamecocks have the lowest team batting average at .285 but have the second most home runs with 64. Bobby Wynns is the leading hurler as he is 9-6 on the year with a 2.67 ERA. JSU is coached by Jim Case.
Briefly
- Texas Tech will be making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and all nine teams have been led by current head coach Larry Hays. The Red Raiders have been in the tournament nine of the last 10 years and have a 13-16 overall record and are 4-4 in first round games. The Atlanta Regional will mark just the second time that Texas Tech has played in a regional on the East Coast.
- Texas Tech has just four players on the roster with NCAA Tournament experience (Steve Gooch, Cody Fuller, Tanner McElroy and Madison Edwards). Tech did not qualify for the tournament in 2003, snapping a string of eight consecutive appearances.
- The trip to Georgia will be the first in the history of the program, however, Texas Tech and Georgia Tech have met once before as Tech beat the Yellowjackets 8-4 on Feb. 11, 1996 in Kissimee, Fla.
- Junior first baseman Josh Brady took over the Big 12 home run lead this past week at the Big 12 Tournament when he launched his 19th dinger of the year against Oklahoma in the elimination game. He also leads the league with 30 stolen bases, 165 total bases and 84 RBI.
- Senior right-hander Steve Gooch needs just three more innings of work to surpass Matt Miller (270.2) for fifth place on the all-time innings pitched list at Texas Tech.
- Texas Tech's 81 home runs this season is tied for sixth place all-time with the 1986 team. Tech has scored 524 runs this season and that ranks sixth all-time behind the 544 scored by the 1999 squad. The 2004 team will go down in the school history books in at-least 11 season records.
- The Red Raiders proved to be the fastest team in the Big 12 as they have stolen a league best 136 bags. Josh Brady (30) and Cody Fuller (27) are tops in the league and the team needs just 10 more stolen bases to move in to second place on the all-time season record list.
- Junior shortstop Cameron Blair has hit safely in 27 of his last 29 games including a 20-game hitting streak between April 3 and May 9. Blair has had just nine games this season without a hit.
