Texas Tech University Athletics
Drozd, Kirsch & Ritchie Earn Degrees from Tech
December 14, 2014 | Baseball
Kirsch (left), Drozd (center) and Ritchie (right) finished their bachelor's degrees during the fall semester and walked in graduation ceremonies this past weekend in Lubbock.
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech baseball program had three of its former student-athletes graduate this past weekend as left-handed pitcher Jonny Drozd (University Studies), outfielder Adam Kirsch (University Studies) and outfielder Todd Ritchie (Exercise and Sport Sciences/General Studies) earned bachelor's degrees from Texas Tech University.
All three student-athletes helped lead the Red Raiders to their first-ever NCAA Regional and Super Regional titles in 2014 while making the program's first trip to the College World Series in Omaha.
Drozd, who pitched two seasons at Tech, signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees following the 2014 season and returned to Tech this fall to complete his degree.
Drozd, who was named All-Big 12 honorable mention as a senior, went 7-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 28 relief outings with a team-leading five saves along with 73.1 innings pitched, 48 strikeouts and only 15 walks allowed. He recorded a 2.75 career ERA, which ranks sixth in school history.
Drozd started his professional career strong with a 0.57 ERA in 13 outings with the Yankees Rookie-League club while notching six saves in 15.2 innings pitched with 23 strikeouts without allowing a walk.
Kirsch, who like Drozd, signed a free agent contract with the Yankees following Tech's CWS run. He played one season with the Red Raiders and made it memorable while becoming just the second player in school history to be named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Kirsch also returned to Tech this fall to complete his degree following his first minor league season.
Kirsch, an All-Big 12 first team selection, batted .307 with a Big 12-leading 21 doubles, 10 home runs and 51 RBI with 35 walks in 65 games played in 2014.
He paced Tech in the NCAA Tournament with a .360 (9-for-25) batting average with a double, triple and home run with three RBI and a .484 on-base percentage. He capped off his collegiate career batting .500 (4-for-8) at the College World Series.
He played in five games with the Yankees Rookie-League club as he batted .333 (5-for-15) with two doubles, a pair of home runs, including a grand slam in his career debut, with seven RBI and four walks.
Ritchie played two seasons at Tech while playing in 73 career games with 29 starts in the Red Raider outfield. He was the only Tech player over the last two seasons to start in all three outfield positions in each season.
He posted a .276 (32-for-116) career average with three doubles and 13 RBI with 28 walks and a .425 on-base percentage.
As a junior, Ritchie was named All-Big 12 second team by College Sports Madness and tied for the team lead with five outfield assists while also batting .315 with a .371 batting average in Big 12 play. Also in 2013, Ritchie posted a .516 (16-for-31) average with runners on base - the best average by a Red Raider in over 12 years. In addition, Ritchie batted .478 with runners in scoring position - another mark a Red Raider hadn't reached in over 12 seasons.
As a senior, Ritchie tied the school's all-time record for walks in a game with five at Oklahoma State on April 5 in game two of Tech's three-game series in Stillwater, Okla.
