Tech Draws Nebraska In Big 12 Tournament First-Round
May 24, 2005 | Baseball
May 24, 2005
2005 Phillips 66 Big 12 TournamentTexas Tech vs. Nebraska - Game One
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 8 p.m./Game Two - TBA
Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament Central
Complete Texas Tech Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
RED RAIDERS OPEN BIG 12 TOURNAMENT PLAY AGAINST NEBRASKA
The Texas Tech Red Raiders enter the 2005 Big 12 Tournament with its lowest seeding in the history of the tourney as Tech will be the No. 8 seed and face top-seeded Nebraska in the opening game. The Red Raiders and Huskers will meet for the fourth time in two weeks on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.
The 2005 Big 12 Tournament returns to the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City after a one-year hiatus as the 2004 tilt was played at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. The tournament appearance is the first for Tech in Oklahoma City since the 2001 season as the Red Raiders failed to qualify for the event in 2003 when it was last hosted here. The Red Raiders have played in the tournament championship game twice (1997 and 1998) and came away with title in 1998 after defeating Texas A&M 14-7. Texas Tech has not won more than one game in the tournament since 2000 when Tech went 2-2 to help secure an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Raiders were sent home early last season as Tech fell to Baylor in the opening game (8-3) and then lost to Oklahoma 3-1 in the elimination game.
Texas Tech enters tournament play on a three-game losing skid after being swept this past weekend at Oklahoma. The Red Raiders finished the 2005 regular-season with an overall record of 33-23 and went 9-16 in league play to earn the eighth seed.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers, Tech's first-round opponent, comes into the tournament red hot as the Huskers finished the season in a two-way tie with Baylor for the Big 12 regular-season title. The Huskers earned the No. 1 seed by virtue of a 2-1 series win over the Bears earlier in the season. Nebraska has won the post-season tournament three times (1999, 2000 and 2001) and is just one year removed from being the eighth seed in this event.
Tickets for the Big 12 Tournament can be purchased by calling the Oklahoma City All-Sports Association at (405) 236-5000. All Texas Tech games will be carried live on the Red Raider Baseball Radio Network (KKAM-1340 in Lubbock).
BLAIR NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior shortstop Cameron Blair has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Co-Player of the Week following a stellar weekend series against Nebraska. Blair joined Nebraska first baseman Curtis Ledbetter and pitchers Max Scherzer (Missouri) and Abe Woody (Baylor).
Blair hit .700 in the weekend series against the Huskers as he went 7-for-10 at the plate. Blair also added two more home runs to increase his season total to 17. The weekly award is his second of the year as he picked up the honor back on April 12.
FULLER NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Texas Tech senior center fielder Cody Fuller has been named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine University Baseball Academic All-District VI team for his contributions in the classroom.
Fuller, a senior from Smithson Valley, was one of three outfielders selected to this year's team and has totaled a 3.48 GPA as a communications/political science major. He just recently picked up the award for Texas Tech Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Year and is now eligible for Academic All-America honors. He will graduate from Texas Tech on Saturday when commencement exercises are held at the United Spirit Arena.
On the playing field, Fuller is the only Red Raider to make all 48 starts this season and has a season batting average of .324 along with eight doubles, two triples and 24 stolen bases.
RED RAIDERS IN THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
Texas Tech is making its eighth appearance in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament this week at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. Texas Tech has missed this post-season tournament just one time and that came in 2003, the last time the event was held in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor are the only three teams that have participated in all nine tournaments since the league's inception back in 1997.
The Red Raiders enter the tournament for the first time knowing they must win the championship in order to make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Until this season, Tech had all but locked up NCAA bids prior to the conference tourney.
- Tech's No. 8 seed is its lowest in tournament history...previous low a No. 5 seed in 2000.
- Texas Tech is 11-12 all-time in Big 12 Tournament games...Additionally, Tech is 10-9 when the tournament is held in Oklahoma City and 7-7 at the Bricktown Ballpark.
- Tech is 4-4 in opening round games.
- The Red Raiders have won two conference tournaments in school history (SWC in 1995 and Big 12 in 1998.)
- Texas Tech must win the tournament in order to be playing next week in the NCAA Regionals.
- Tech enters the tournament having lost its regular-season finale for the first time since the 1999 season. The 1999 Red Raiders dropped the final two games of the Oklahoma State series prior to the tourney.
ALL-AMERICA CANDIDATE
The decision to return to college for his senior year has turned out to be a good one for shortstop Cameron Blair. Blair is one of the top senior shortstops in the nation this season and will be a candidate for more post-season awards to match those he earned in 2004.
Blair comes into the week with an overall batting average of .363 along with 12 doubles and three triples. His 17 home runs on the season is tied for first in the league. Of Blair's 17 home runs this year, 10 have come in the rugged Big 12 and that is the best mark in the league. He leads the team with 59 RBI and now totals 140 in his career. TAKE A LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS.....Blair is making a case for Big 12 Player of the Year honors as he is posting a monster season offensively in conference play.
- fourth in the league with a .375 batting avg.
- leads league in slugging at .818
- leads league in runs scored (29)
- leads league with 10 home runs
- leads league in RBI with 25
- third with 21 walks
- struckout just nine times
- third in on-base percentage (.504)
RAIDERS ON THE PROWL
Opposing pitchers and catchers--BEWARE--Tech is on the prowl again in 2005. After sporting the quickest team in the Big 12 in 2004, the Red Raiders are looking for a repeat. Texas Tech leads the league with 136 stolen bases and that is 44 more than second place Nebraska who has 92 on the year.
Tech has three players with 20-plus stolen bags in Cody Fuller (26), Chris Williams (24) and Cameron Blair (21). The Red Raiders have averaged 110 stolen bases over the last four seasons.
McELROY STEPPING UP FOR TECH STAFF
Senior right-handed pitcher Tanner McElroy has come up big for the Red Raiders in his last two outings. Tech pitching coach Lance Brown made the decision to use McElroy as a starter in the weekend series against Nebraska and then again this past week at Oklahoma. That decision has been a good one as McElroy has turned in back-to-back career outings and has helped stabilize the starting pitching.
In his last two starts, McElroy has posted a 1.80 ERA through 15 innings and that includes his first career complete game on Saturday against Oklahoma. Over the two game stretch, he totaled seven strikeouts, three earned runs and opponents hit .263 against him. McElroy was robbed of the win against Nebraska in the Sunday finale as the Tech bullpen surrendered four runs late in the game before Tech was able to pull out a 7-6 win. In the complete game against the Sooners on Saturday, the Tech offense managed just one run on two hits and the Raiders fell 3-1.
RED RAIDER TIDBITS
Joe Dillon, a former Texas Tech All-American and team volunteer coach in 2004, was called up on Wednesday morning to the Florida Marlins. Dillon retired from baseball in 2003 due to chronic back problems but made a comeback last spring and has spent most of his time in at AAA Albuquerque. Dillon got a hit in his first major league at-bat on Wednesday afternoon in the second inning against the Dodgers and finished the day 1-for-4. Dillon is one of four former players currently on MLB rosters joining Travis Smith (Marlins), Keith Ginter (Oakland A's) and Josh Bard (Indians).
- The Red Raiders have won six-straight games on two different occasions this year. The longest losing streak was a three-game stretch between March 20 and March 25. Tech's longest losing streak in Big 12 play was a five-game stretch that began on March 20 against Texas A&M.
- Senior shortstop Cameron Blair posted his 50th career multiple-hit game on Sunday afternoon against Oklahoma. Blair also has 34 career multiple-RBI games in his two year stint as a Red Raider.
- Cameron Blair is currently tied for seventh place on the career home run list at Texas Tech with 31. One more home run by Blair will move him into a tie for sixth place with Todd Howey (1983-85).
- Senior center fielder Cody Fuller is four stolen bases away from moving into a second place tie with Jeff Boydston on the career stolen bases list at Tech. Fuller has 81 stolen bags in his four year career as a Red Raider (20.2 per-season average).
- Oklahoma's three-game sweep of Tech this past weekend was the first suffered by the Red Raiders since the 2003 season. Ironically, it was the Oklahoma Sooners who last dealt Tech a three-game sweep back on May 2-4 at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. The Red Raiders are now 0-7-1 in Norman dating back to the 2001 season.
- Shortstop Cameron Blair snapped his three-game hitting slump with a leadoff double in the top of the first inning against OU on Sunday. Blair finished 2-for-4 after going 0-for-16 in a three-game stretch dating back to the New Mexico game last Monday.
- Trey Stewart, Matt Smith and Brent Thomas all added to their home runs totals on Sunday against Oklahoma. Tech's three home runs in the game gives the Red Raiders a total of 45 on the season.
TECH vs. NEBRASKA
The Huskers increased their lead in the all-time series to 16-12 by taking 2-of-3 from the Red Raiders two weeks ago at Dan Law Field in Lubbock. Texas Tech and Nebraska will be meeting for just the second time in the Big 12 Tournament with the last meeting resulting in a 12-8 Husker win back on May 23, 2002 at the Ballpark In Arlington.
TECH vs. OKLAHOMA
The Oklahoma Sooners tied the all-time series record at 21-21-1 over the weekend as OU notched a three-game sweep of the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is 3-4 all-time against the Sooners in Big 12 Tournament play. The Sooners also carry a four-game win streak over Tech dating back to a 3-1 win over the Red Raiders in last year's Big 12 Tournament.
TECH vs. MISSOURI
The Missouri Tigers notched their third-straight series win over Tech earlier this season and the all-time record now stands at 15-13 in favor of the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is 0-1 against Missouri in Big 12 Tournament play as the Tigers won the only game 8-7 in 12 innings back in 1999.