Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
UAlbany
Tech Baseball kicks off 15 game homestand vs. UAlbany
February 19, 2026 | Baseball
The Red Raiders and Great Danes will meet for four contests this Friday, Saturday (DH) and Sunday
LUBBOCK, Texas – After the opening weekend of the season took the Red Raiders across the State of Texas to the tune of a nearly 1800 mile trip, Tech Baseball returns home this weekend to kick off a 15-game homestand with a four-game weekend set with the Great Danes of UAlbany at Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field.
Coming off a disappointing 12-13 mark at the ballpark last season, the Red Raiders will look to kick off the 2026 home slate in style against an unfamiliar opponent in UAlbany, who will be playing its four games of the 2026 season after sitting out the opening weekend of the season.
Tech will start the four-game series across three days with the home opener on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. before returning for games two and three of the series on Saturday afternoon. Game One of the double dip is set for 12:00 p.m. with the nightcap  on the docket for 45 minutes after the final out of the first contest.
The two teams will close out the four-game set on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
LAST TIME OUT:
Texas Tech enters the weekend riding high after a come-from-behind 21-12 win at UTRGV on Tuesday night that saw the Red Raiders outscore the Vaqueros 19-4 over the final six frames of baseball.
Freshman Linkin Garcia jumpstarted the Tech offense lifted a pair of home runs to left field and driving in six, while his infield mate Connor Shouse went 5-for-6 with a walk, becoming the first Red Raider since Damian Bravo at UCF in 2024 to record five hits.
On the bump, Hawai'i transfer Kaysen Raineri whiffed six and allowed just two hits and two runs over 3.2 innings of strong relief to earn his first collegiate win, while senior Jonny Lowe continued his strong work of late tossing two scoreless innings without a walk. He scattered just three hits and whiffed three.
Redshirt Freshman Logan Addison also looked good for Tech on the mound, as the hard-throwing righty tossed a scoreless ninth to close out the Red Raiders first win of the 2026 season.
At the plate, senior Tracer Lopez continued his strong start to the 2026 season as the Red Raiders leader in RBIs tacked on three more RBIs, driving in three for the second-straight contest. Lopez drove in three of Tech's five runs in the heartbreaking extra-innings loss to No. 7 Arkansas on a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth after driving home a run in the eighth on a sac-fly.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
GAME ONE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (1-3) vs. UAlbany (0-0)
DATE: Friday, Feb. 20, 2026
TIME: 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Jackson Burns (0-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Banner ('25: 5-5, 3.82 ERA)
GAME TWO:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (1-3) vs. UAlbany (0-0)
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026
TIME: 12 p.m. (Game One of DH)
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Lukas Pirko (0-0, 12.27 ERA) vs. RHP Ethan Nardacci ('25 : 1-4, 8.76 ERA)
GAME THREE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (1-3) vs. UAlbany (0-0)
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026
TIME: 45 minutes after Game One Â
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Donovan Becerra (0-0, 54.00 ERA) vs. Christian Mello ('25: 1-0, 12.23 ERA) Â
GAME FOUR:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (1-3) vs. UAlbany (0-0)
DATE: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Connor Mohan (0-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. TBA
HEADLINES IN 1-2-3:
* Texas Tech returns home Friday after a 1700+ mile road trip that the Red Raiders from Lubbock to Arlington to San Marcos to Edinburg and back. After a pair of tough losses to No. 7 Arkansas (6-5) and Oklahoma (10-3). The loss to OU despite ending in a seven-run margin was just a two-run game heading to the ninth before the Sooners scored five. In the setback to the top-10 ranked Razorbacks the Red Raiders rallied for four runs in the ninth and five runs in the first two innings of the game.
* After a frustrating weekend against three nationally-ranked foes (as of Monday) in Arkansas, Vandy and Oklahoma, the Red Raiders broke out to the tune of 21 runs, 20 hits, six doubles and a pair of home runs by SS Linkin Garcia on Tuesday against UTRGV. Tech erased an early 8-2 deficit outscoring UTRGV 19-4 over the final six innings of the game. After not recording a crooked number over the first 25 innings, Tech exploded for four runs in the ninth and scored a pair of crooked runs against UTRGV.
* The Red Raiders will debut the brand new field turf for the first time [in an official] game this weekend when the Great Danes of Albany play four games this Friday, Saturday (two games) and Sunday. First pitch on Friday is set for 2 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader getting going at Noon. Sunday's series finale will start at 1 p.m. The four-game series will kick-off a 15-game homestand for the Red Raiders.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders return to action next weekend (Friday-Sunday) for a three-game weekend set with CSUB (Cal State Bakersfield). First pitch next Friday is set for 2 p.m.
