Red Raider Hardball | Practice Starts Today

Practice Starts Today:  I took this picture at the baseball game after the football spring game during the 2009 season.  I love this photo.  I had also mentioned yesterday that the baseball facilities need an upgrade and a commenter mentioned that it's the team that matters.  I agree that the team matters, but the truth is that facilities do matter as well.  It may not be right, and players should flock to coaches who win, but players also base their decisions on a college program that does have great workout and stadium facilities. There's a reason why universities build new or upgrade facilities.  And Dan Law is in serious need of an upgrade.

The official site does a great job of getting to know some of the players and the team.  Truthfully, there's a ton that we don't know about the baseball team because the entire pitching staff is essentially new and that's you unknown.  That's not to say that some of these pitchers haven't had some experience pitching, but they've been hurt and this pitching staff has had one of the worst, if not worst, ERA's in the Big 12. 

But back to the official site, they have a couple of PDF's that will help you get familiar with the team.  The Media Supplement is a huge PDF so beware before clicking on that link.  Over 150 pages of stuff.  For those of you who want a more manageable document, the Quick Facts (PDF) is only 8 pages. 

Sneak Peek at Starting Lineup:  LAJ's George Watson has an excellent preview article and head coach Dan Spencer talks about his pitching staff:

"One thing I think we do have is a lot more Division I pitchers," Spencer said. "Now that being said, we don’t have a lot of Division I experience. We have a lot of guys with good arms and good second and third pitches, but they haven’t thrown in a Division I game. I do like our depth and our options left and right and the competition, and the fact that we don’t have to ride a guy that’s struggling. I’m confident these are the right guys and we have faith they’ll do what they’re supposed to do."

For those of you who don't follow the team, Barrett Barnes was the freshman of the year in the Big 12, he's an absolute stud and KWash already has dibs on him.  McGruder is an excellent player as well, very versatile, and was also a true freshman last year.

Based on Watson's article, here's the preliminary idea as to this year's lineup:

OUTFIELD
LF | Scott LeJeune (JR)    CF | Barrett Barnes (SO)    RF | David Paiz (FR)
INFIELD
SS | Kelby Tomlinson (JR)     2ND | Jamodrick McGruder (SO);
3RD | Nick Popescu (SR)                                  1ST | Stephen Hagen (JR)
C | Kevin Whitehead (JR)
DH | Reid Redman (JR)

And the penciled in pitchers:

STARTERS
LHP | Ben Flora (JR)
RHP | John Neely (JR)
LHP | Robbie Kilcrease (JR)
LHP | Danile Coulombe (JR)
RHP | Jamen Parten (SO)
RHP | David Paiz (FR)

CLOSER
RHP | Trey Masek (FR)

If you want to learn a bit more about these players, check out the Texas Tech baseball roster page and the schedule for the year where Texas Tech starts play on February 18th.