SURPRISE, Ariz. – With the regular season in the books, Texas Tech Baseball will next turn its attention to the 2026 Big 12 Championship where Tech will meet BYU In Tuesday's First Round.
First pitch from Surprise Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT)/4:30 p.m. (MST).
The game will air on ESPN+ and will also be heard on the Texas Tech Sports Network and via the Varsity Network app from LEARFIELD.
Tech has already beaten BYU twice this season and will look to advance to Wednesday's Second Round where No. 8 seed Baylor would wait at the same time (6:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. MST).
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech Red Raiders (27-27) vs. BYU Cougars (27-27)
DATE: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
TIME: 6:30 p.m. (CT)/4:30 p.m. (MST)
TOURNAMENT: Big 12 Tournament First Round
LOCATION:Â Surprise, Arizona (Surprise Stadium)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Jonny Lowe (4-1, 4.67 ERA) vs. Blade Paragus (0-0, 3.00 ERA) Â
HEADLINES IN 1-2-3:
* Texas Tech earned its way to the 2026 Big 12 Championship this week by defeating No. 25 Cincinnati last Friday afternoon and Arizona dropping 2-of-3 in its weekend series against Oklahoma State. After falling in run-rule fashion on Thursday night, the Red Raiders bounced back on Friday afternoon to win 6-5. In the win the Red Raiders got home runs from Caden Ferraro and first baseman Robin Villeneuve. The Red Raiders also got five strong innings from junior Donovan Becerra who earned his first career win and two scoreless innings from Connor Shouse who nailed down his third save.
* In the weekend series against No. 25 Cincinnati, Ferraro caught fire hitting .538 on the weekend with a double and two home runs. Ferraro drove in three and slugged almost 1.100. Ferraro homered in both ends of the doubleheader and also hit a single off the top of the right field wall. Ferraro's home runs were measured at 430 and 431 feet respectively.
*The Red Raiders open their stay at the 2026 Big 12 Tournament presented by Allstate on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. MST) against ninth-seeded BYU. The Red Raiders and Cougars already have played this season, with the Red Raiders taking two-of-three from BYU back in Lubbock two weeks ago. After winning a tight pitchers duel on Thursday night, the Red Raiders bounced back from a tough Friday night defeat to win a 15-11 slug fest. In the weekend series against BYU Tech got two home runs from catcher Matt Quintanar and seven RBIs from Logan Hughes. Tuesday's projected starter, Jonny Lowe, tossed three innings of one-run ball and struck out five in the Red Raiders 2-1 win over BYU back on May 7.Â
MATCHUP NOTES:
T-LO STAYED HOT
Tracer Lopez continues to shine in his final season with the Scarlet and Black, as so far in 2026 Lopez is hitting .366 with a career-high 78 hits and a career-best 21 doubles. Lopez has now played in 217 career games and made 210 career starts recording 797 at-bats, 173 runs scored and 241 total hits. Lopez is now solo fifth the all-time hits category, and his Lopez's 173 runs scored are tied with assistant coach Eric Gutierrez for seventh all-time on the Red Raiders runs list. Lopez's 797 at-bats are also the third most in school history while his 217 games played are also third all-time in program history trailing just Gutierrez (244) and Clint Bryant (240) for the most games played in school history. Lopez is already just one of four players in program history to reach 210 career hits and 200 games played joining Eric Gutierrez (264 hits in 244 games), Taylor Ashby (228 hits in 216 games) and Bryant (341 hits in 240 games). So far in his senior season, Lopez has set career highs in: runs scored (56), hits (78), doubles (21), RBIs (36), and one-base percentage (.426). Also with his .366 average thus far in 2026, Lopez has raised his career average to .302.
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A WIN IN THE QUEEN CITY SENT US TO ARIZONA
Heading into the final weekend of competition in the regular season, the Red Raiders used a key win in the first game of the day-night doubleheader at No. 25 Cincinnati to clinch the 12th and final spot in this week's Big 12 Championship. The Red Raiders who finished the regular season one full game ahead of Arizona, fell into a tie with the Wildcats on Thursday night after UofA beat OSU in the opener and Tech fell at Cincinnati. With their backs against the wall, the Red Raiders responded on Friday morning, overcoming a 3-0 deficit early to win 6-5 in the first game of the double dip. The big blow in the game was a two-run RBI single from
Linkin Garcia that gave Tech a lead. In the win, the Red Raiders stranded runner on the corners in the fifth with two outs, first and second one out in the seventh (ended it with a double play), runners on first and second in the eighth and ended the game on another double play ball. In the win,
Connor Shouse pitched the final two innings to earn his third save, while junior Donovan Becera earned his first career win after going a career-best five innings and allowed just three runs. Also in the win, Tech got homers from
Caden Ferraro and
Robin Villeneuve. The homer from Villeneuve was his first home run since Mar. 17 at DBU.  Â
HUGHES IS HEATING UP AND ROCKETING UP THE DRAFT BOARDS
A year after leading the Big 12 in total home runs (19) and Big 12 only home runs (11) in the regular season, Texas Tech outfielder
Logan Hughes continues to shine in Big 12 play. After hitting .376 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs in Big 12 play a season ago and slashing .376/.436/.760, Hughes has once again been one of the most productive players in Big 12 play again in 2026, as the outfielder is now 43-for-110 (.391) in conference play this season and slashed .391/.496/.718 in 30 conference games. Hughes hit nine home runs to run his career total to 20 in two seasons. Hughes' 20 career Big 12 home runs are the second-most in program history trailing just Josh Bard. Hughes and Bard are the only two players in Texas Tech history to have recorded 20 career home runs in league play. A season ago, Hughes launched 11 of his Big 12 leading 19 homers. Heating up over the last 10 games, Hughes has now homered in five of his last 10 games and seven of his last 15. The outfielder after being projected in the late Second Round of the 2026 MLB Draft is now getting buzz at a First Round Pick in the 2026 MLB Draft held in Philadelphia during All-Star Weekend. Hughes was mocked at No. 28 to the Houston Astros in Perfect Games' latest MLB Mock Draft. Hughes was tabbed the No. 46 prospect in the draft by Baseball America. The home run that Hughes hit the opposite way in Cincinnati during the regular season finale was his 36th-career home run tying him with Eric Gutierrez for ninth all-time on the all-time home run list. Hughes has now recorded 91 career hits in his 60 Big 12 games and has driven in 58 career runs in those 60 games. He has struck out just 35 total times in 235 career Big 12 at-bats and has walked 29 times.
500 SECURED
In his 14th season at the helm of his alma matter, head coach Tim Tadlock earned his 500th win in the Red Raiders 6-5 win at No. 25 Cincinnati last week. Tadlock became the second coach in program history to reach 500 wins, joining Larry Hayes (813-479-3). He is the 15th active coach to reach 500 wins.Â
BYU PART TWO
Meeting for the second time in less than three weeks, the Red Raiders will face BYU in the First Round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Surprise. Just two weeks ago, the Red Raiders and Cougars met in Lubbock, with Tech taking 2-of-3. After taking the series opener by a score of 2-1, the Red Raiders won a key rubber-match on Saturday afternoon against BYU, winning 15-11. The Red Raiders and Cougars have played three times in the regular season since BYU joined the league with the home team taking the series in all three instances. Tech won the series in 2024 and 2026 in Lubbock, and dropped the series in Provo in 2025. Tuesday's starter for the contest against+ BYU,
Jonny Lowe, pitched three innings of one-run ball and struck out five in the 2-1 win against BYU. Lowe was one of three Red Raider relievers to toss at least two innings and strike out at least two. Two-way standout
Connor Shouse and
Logan Addison each tossed two scoreless. Addison struck out three and earned a save while Shouse also tossed two innings and struck out two. On the offensive side of the ball, five Red Raiders hit at least .300 in the series against BYU led by catcher
Matt Quintanar. Quintanar went 5-for-10 with two homers and five RBIs, while Hughes also homered twice and drove in seven. Shouse,
Linkin Garcia and
Tracer Lopez were the other three Red Raiders to hit above .300 in the series in Lubbock. Shouse went 5-for-13 (.385) and drove in two runs and doubled three times, while Lopez went 4-for-11 (.364) with three walks. Garcia drove in four and had four hits, while Hughes hit 3-for-9 with three walks drawn.
SHOUSE BECOMEING A TWO-WAY THREAT
Originally brought in as just a hitter/position player, versatile sophomore
Connor Shouse has become a late inning secret weapon for coach Tim Tadlock and the Red Raiders as the righty, has now pitched six-straight scoreless innings and has earned the save in all three of those contests. Shouse who tossed two scoreless to earn the save against DBU, also tossed two innings of shutout baseball in the Red Raiders 15-11 series-clinching win against BYU back on May 9. Shouse also nailed down arguably the most important save of the season for the Red Raiders when he closed out last Friday's win over No. 25 Cincinnati by pitching a scoreless eighth and a scoreless ninth. Shouse has now lowered his ERA to 5.87 and has struck out 16 batters in 15.1 innings played. On the offensive side of things, Shouse is batting .360 with 10 home runs, 76 total hits and 66 RBIs. He's second on the Red Raiders in RBIs and third in total hits.
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QUINTANAR AMONGST THE NATION'S BEST
In his first season with the Scarlet and Black, catcher Matt Quintanar continues to cement himself as one of the nation's best catchers, as the backstop has now played 53 of the Red Raiders 54 games this season and has started 52 of those contests all while being one of the Red Raiders most productive defensive and offensive players. Hitting .323 with 13 doubles and six homers, Quintanar has struck out just 17 times in his nearly 200 at-bats (198), and has driven in 45 runs and scored 35 runs. On the defensive side, Quintanar continues to shut down the opposing run game as the catcher has caught 21 of 49 would-be base stealers and has fielded to a .990 clip, making just four total errors (two via catchers interference). Quintanar who was Preseason NCBWA All-American was one of 16 semifinalists for the nation's top catcher award. Quintanar transferred to Texas Tech from Central Arizona (2024) and Blinn College (2025).
