Big 12 Championship | Game 3 | #7 Texas Tech vs. #2 Texas A&M 
4:00 p.m. | Red Hawks Field | Oklahoma City, OK

Starting Lineup:  

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

Starting Pitchers:

Duke von Schamann | (5-0, 3.92); Trey Masek | (5-3, 4.69); Robbie Kilcrease | (5-3, 6.03); Jamen Parten | (1-4, 6.25); David Paiz | (3-4, 6.26

Big 12 Championship:  You can find the official site preview here (PDF) and if you've never clicked on an official site press release, you should know that whoever does the work for the baseball team is pretty darned good.

LAJ's George Watson previews the series and notes that this team is still looking for some wins. CF Barrett Barnes says that this team isn't satisfied and wants to continue to play their game:

"Every team is good in the Big 12," Barnes said. "It's not an easy conference or a walk-through. But we don't worry about who is on the other side of the field. We just play our game, stay locked in, play our style, be aggressive and fast. When you get too amped up about who you're playing against, that's when you start making mistakes and it goes on a downward spiral."

Meanwhile, head coach Dan Spencer says that the team needs to continue to play well:

"We need to come out here and play well," Tech head coach Dan Spencer said. "I think the league is going to get seven in (the NCAA tournament). I look around at the other power conferences and that's the way it shakes out. But we need to help ourselves, need to play well and win and do the things we're capable of doing."

I haven't had time to listen, but check out Watson with Ryan Hyatt of SportsRadio 1340.

More after the jump, including the Red Raiders who made the All-Big 12 Team and opinions on Texas Tech's chances to make the NCAA Tournament.

Continue reading this post »

Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-7, 2-1) vs. Baylor Bears (13-7, 1-2)

*Click on the score for boxscore.

Winning a Road Series

The Red Raiders won their first opening road series since 1997 with a 2-1 series win against Baylor. There is a quick game against Dallas Baptist in Dallas and then host Nebraska at Dan Law this weekend. As far as the Dallas Baptist game, the LAJ has your starters:

Freshman right-hander David Paiz (3-0, 4.97 ERA) gets the start for the Red Raiders. He’ll be opposed by Patriots staff ace Jared Stafford, who is 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA.

The Nebraska series is the same weekend as the Red-Black spring football game.

Back to the Baylor series, if there was one thing that kept Texas Tech out of the NCAA Tournament last year, it was that the Red Raiders couldn't win on the road and were pretty good at home. It's nice to get a series win on the road, and it was a series that almost was swept had Texas Tech been able to come back in that Saturday game. 

Accolades

Congrats to 1B Stephen Hagen, Player of the Week, and OF Andre Wheeler, Newcomer of the Week, for nabbing two of the three weekly awards this week by the Big 12.

Boxscore Thoughts

• Boxscore Game 1 | P Jamen Parten probably had the best start of any of the starting pitchers. David Paiz and Zach Fowler pitched 2.0 innings of one-hit ball, but closer John Neely, who got the win, gave up 2 runs in his 2.0 innings of work, both earned. At the plate, RF/2B Jamodrick McGruder (2-5; 1 RBI), DH/P David Paiz (2-5; 1 RBI), LF Andre Wheeler (2-3; 1 RBI) and 3B Reid Redman (2-3; 1 RBI) all had two hits. The interesting thing here is that Paiz, a true freshman, is the starting pitcher and the designated hitter. Wheeler is another true freshman. I should also point you to this YouTube clip and the game-saving catch of CF Barrett Barnes.
• Boxscore Game 2 | True freshman P Tre Masek got the start, but it was pretty darned rough (3.0 IP; 5 H; 8 R; 4 ER; 4 BB; 1 SO). I'm also guessing by looking at Masek's line that the defense didn't help him and he didn't help himself as he 4 walks. The bullpen was an absolute mess. The only relief pitcher that did much of anything was Aaron Corwin (1.2 IP; 0 ER; 1 BB; 0 SO). The absolute incredible thing about all of this was that Texas Tech was down 4-13 going into the top of the 9th inning and Texas Tech rallied for 9 runs. That rally came up short, but the Red Raiders were so close to sweeping this series. 1B Stephen Hagen (5-6; 2 RBI; 1 HR) was on fire while C Bo Altobelli (4-6; 3 RBI) and 2B Jamodrick McGruder (3-5; 3 RBI) each had 3 runs batted in.
• Boxscore Game 3 | Starting P Robbie Kilcrease was the only pitcher to give up a run (5.1 IP; 8 H; 6 R; 5 ER; 2 BB; 2 SO) and the bullpen was lights out. Neely gets his second win of the series in relief and pitched the 9th inning, while Ben Flora and Duke von Schamann pitched a hitless 10th inning. And this was really another come-back victory as Texas Tech scored one run in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to eentually put this away. And if you were ever concerned about the offense, don't be. It's pretty danged impressive. CF Barrett Barnes (3-6; 1 RBI), RF David Paiz (2-2; 1 RBI), 1B Stephen Hagen (2-5; 1 RBI), C Bo Altobelli (2-5; 1 RBI), LF/RF Andre Wheeler (3-6; 3 RBI) and 3B Reid Redman (3-5; 1 RBI) all had good days at the plate.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-6, 0-0)

*Click on the score for boxscore.

The Red Raiders finished off their final homestand, 5 games against Iowa and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Iowa, the Texas Tech Invitational, going 4-1 in the series and conference play starts this Friday at Baylor. LAJ's George Watson wrapped up yesterday's series and it's the bullpen that's stuggling a bit:

In the last eight games, Tech’s bullpen has allowed 30 earned runs on 51 hits over 28 2/3 innings, giving them a 9.44 ERA. Tech is 4-4 in those eight games, but has won four of its last five despite the struggles.

"We’ve got to address that," Spencer said. "We’ve got to find someone in those places to be cleaner. You get a 5-0 lead and you can’t walk people and give up two or three hits in an inning or two or three runs. I think its confidence and competitiveness. We’re not giving up runs in a lot of innings but we keep giving up two or three at a time."

The Red Raiders now sit at 12-6 for the year and 3 of those losses happened against TCU where the Red Raiders were swept. I've linked the boxscore for each game above, but below my thoughts are the official site recaps of each game. As far as my general thoughts on the 5 game series:

• Danie Coulombe is going to be a weekend starter as he's most likely the most consistent starting pitcher for Texas Tech. In his last start against Iowa, he had 6 strikeouts to 1 walk. That's winning baseball as far as I'm concerned.
• John Neely is your closer, earning 1 save and 1 win during the series and pitched in 3 of the 5 games. Neely did have a rough go at yesterday, pitching 2.0 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs.  He's got to be better than that and he had some leeway yesterday, but you would prefer that your closer shut down the opposing team.
  
• True Trey Masek started his first game of the year and went out and pitched 7.2 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 ER, striking out 5 and walking 2. It wouldn't surprise me that Masek is one of your weekend starters.  But he's not the only true freshman making an impact (see below)>
  
• Jamen Parten, Robbie Kilcrease and David Paiz are most likely your other best pitchers. The bullpen is struggling a bit and I don't have time to get into the all of the bullpen pitchers, but this is a problem with a lot of college teams. I'll also say that yesterday's winner, Duke von Schamann, is just getting into the swing of things after being out most of the non-conference.
• SS Kelby Tomlinson may have been the big winner for the series. It wouldn't surprise me to see Tomlinson to be all-conference by the end of the year. He's hitting .391/.453/.500 for the year and leading the team with 19 RBI.
• 1B Stephen Hagen is also starting to make some waves. He didn't play hardly at all last year, but he's hitting .357/.536/.486, with 2 homeruns, 2 doubles and has driven in 16.
• 3B Reid Redman had a game-winning single in the series and for the year he's hitting .328/.443/.406.
• The interesting thing about the 3 hitters above is that they're all transfers or players who didn't play much at all last year. Last year's star, CF Barrett Barnes, is struggling a bit at the plate, .275/.507/.412, and there's still plenty of time for him to come around.

The Red Raiders won 3 out of 4 this past weekend and dealt with winds blowing about 35 mph and gusting at 50 mph yesterday, which made the boxscore a bit ugly, but winning I'll take winning 3 of 4 any day of the week.  You can click on the score to pull up the boxscore for all of this weekend's games. 

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

There are a couple of things.  In the one loss for the weekend, starting pitcher Daniel Coulombe pitched 5.0 innings, walked 2, struck out 9 and gave up only 3 earned runs.  Most of the time that's going to be enough, but the defense failed the Red Raiders on Friday night, giving up 4 errors.  That's what cost Texas Tech that game more than anything else. On Saturday and yesterday, the defense was better, giving up only 1 error in those 2 games.  Head coach Dan Spencer talked about the approach of the team after the loss to BYU:

On what has changed since losing to BYU:  I think it is just a commitment to approach. It’s not a physical deal, we have a lot of physical kids or kids with a lot of skill. It is just understanding what we are doing and understanding the approach. You can hit with the wind blowing across, and you can hit with the wind blowing out but don’t change your approach, they are young. You get in the early spring and you start playing on back-to-back days. You play nine innings, four days in a row, and I think young guys especially, and some of those guys aren’t in the lineup, you get a little complacent as the games get long, when you are into your 34th or 35th inning. We have to do a good job of not worrying about who our opponent is and taking care of out business, just executing the game plan in all three phases."

The all-tournament team for the Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic (pdf) and Texas Tech placed 7 players on the all-tournament team (out of 14) and LF JaModrick McGruder was named the MVP.  C Bo Altobelli, SS Kelby Tomlinson, McGruder,  CF Barrett Barnes, UTL Reid Redman, SP Robbie Kilcrease, and SP Daniel Coulombe were those on the all-tournament team.

More after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

Red Raiders Defeat Northwestern, 8-6 | I know I shouldn't get too excited about a 4-0 start, but I'm happy for this group.  I can't remember how this team started off last year, but I do remember they started off well and then faded once they started to play some mid-week games and then started to play better once conference (weekend) play started.  Perhaps the difference is that the pitching is pretty good and it's not the offense that's just bailing the pitching out.  This weekend, there was really only one bad pitching performance from Aaron Corwin, who didn't register an out yesterday (0.0 IP; 3 H; 5 R; 4 ER; 2 BB; 0 SO), but the team and the pitching staff rallied. 

And if you're not paying attention, RHP/RF David Paiz saved the day yesterday, coming in for Corwin.  Remember, Paiz is a true freshman.  That's right, a true freshman, and he's starting in right field, was at designated hitter yesterday and he pitched 4 innings after Corwin (4.0 IP; 3 H; 0 ER; 2 BB; 6 SO) striking out 6.  And John Neely (2.0 IP 3 H; 0 ER; 0 BB; 1 SO) earned the save. 

At the plate yesterday, SS Kelby Tomlinson was outstanding (4-5; 3 RBI) while 1B Stephen Hagen hit his first home run of the season (2-4; 1 HR; 2 RBI).

Red Raiders Start 4-0 | LAJ's George Watson and DT's Jose Rodriguez have their post-game thoughts and this from head coach Dan Spencer:

"I thought we were a touch complacent, to be honest with you, in the middle innings after we got back the lead, but I think that’s part of dealing with young guys," head coach Dan Spencer said. "The games are longer, the outs are harder to get and we don’t understand that yet. We’re trying to get them into the mindset that at the end of the year, when they count up wins, they all count the same and you don’t want to give one away when you have the lead."

And Paiz talks about helping out on the mound:

"It felt great on the mound," Paiz sad. "It got ugly sometimes but I got the job done. I wish I could have helped with the stick a little more, but we fought back and showed what kind of team we have. I didn’t get to warm up as much as I’d like but when the coach calls you in you have to get the job done. Everyone fought back and we got the win that we needed."

And in an somewhat funny exchange, when Spencer recruited Paiz, he had never seen him pitch:

"We recruited him as a hitter," Spencer said. "The only time I saw him (pitch) was long after he signed, and I saw him in the summer and he pitched…he threw an inning and I went ‘Holy smokes, shoot we’ll be able to use him on the mound too.’"

I've posted from video from the DT summarizing the series after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

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. 

Big 12 Baseball Championship

(click link to watch games live)

Texas Tech (27-27, 13-14)

Location: AT&T Bricktown Ballpark : Oklahooma City, OK
Radio: Affiliates

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Bonham Hough (Sr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.)     2ND - Jamodrick McGruder (Fr.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.)                                  1ST - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (Jr.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

All-Big 12 Teams Announced: Of course, the Longhorns dominated this team, but the All-Big 12 Awards were announced and a handful of Texas Tech players made the list:

Freshman of the Year: 1B/RF Barrett Barnes
All-Big 12 Second Team: 1B/RF Barrett Barnes; DH Scott LeJeune; P Chad Bettis
Honorable Mention: P Bobby Doran; SS Joey Kenworthy; 2B Jamodrick McGruder; C Jeremy Mayo; LF MIchael Reed

I can't say that I know who should or should not have made this team. What I will say is congrats to this group of Red Raiders, who were picked to finish last in the Big 12 this year and ended up finishing fifth. Despite how the season ended (and I know it's not over just yet), I'm proud of this group.

LAJ's George Watson talked with Barnes, who said that this was a goal of his:

"It's a goal I set for myself before the season," Barnes said. "I always set high goals. It's just a reward for all the hard work I put in through high school and my career working to this point and I'm excited about it."

And head coach Dan Spencer thinks highly of his freshman:

"He's a special kid," head coach Dan Spencer said. "Talent part of it but it's not enough if you're going to hit in that part of the lineup. He has a tremendous home life and structure and family and tremendous faith. He wants to be great and does all the work and he does extra work and pays attention. A lot of kids say they want to be great but they don't show up for the early work. He's a very good example to anyone who wants to be successful."

Big 12 Baseball Championship: You can click on the link at the top of this post, or click here to watch the games live. LAJ's George Watson writes that the season has been tough on the team, but ultimately a success:

You know that's got to irk a pitching guy like Spencer, who made his name shaping an Oregon State staff that won consecutive College World Series titles. But, he's as handcuffed as his players right now. That's why he had to stick with Jay Johnson on Saturday and Bobby Doran on Sunday about an inning longer than normal. Bettis was in the stands, not the bullpen, and he'll be there one more time Wednesday for the final game of his suspension.

Whether he intended to hit Baylor's Gregg Glime or not, Bettis has some making up to do this week. He's got to be fresh and focused because for the Red Raiders to have any chance this week he's going to have to pitch lights out against Texas and Missouri. That's the only chance Tech has to win this tournament until the offense gets out of its doldrums.

Regardless of what happens in Oklahoma City, Tech fans should look at this year as a successful one. The consensus among Big 12 coaches said the Red Raiders would finish last. So a fifth-place finish in the regular season is significantly better than expected.

Watson also writes that the team wiull look to CF Taylor Ashby and SS Joey Kenworthy to lead the team in Oklahoma City:

When the 2010 season is done, Joey Kenworthy and Taylor Ashby will likely never don another baseball uniform.

But Texas Tech’s only four-year seniors will leave their Red Raider days knowing they were two huge factors in turning a program from a postseason afterthought into one that was in the thoughts of those deciding postseason fates.

"It’s a huge feeling," said Kenworthy, Tech’s shortstop. "Being a part of that is something special, and (head coach Dan Spencer) reminds us of that every day that we’re the ones showing the young guys what it takes on and off the field. It’s a special feeling and I wouldn’t trade it for anything."

Texas Tech (27-27, 13-14) vs. Nebraska (27-27, 10-17)
Location: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park : Lincoln, NB
Radio: Affiliates

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Bonham Hough (Sr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.)     2ND - Jamodrick McGruder (Fr.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.)                                  1ST - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (Jr.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

Swept:  There's no sugar-coating any of this.  The Red Raiders needed to get just one win to be on the positive side of the win column in conference play and that didn't happen.  It stinks that this team lost their best player for four games because he wasn't warned when he hit a Baylor player.  An automatic four-game suspension absolutely affected the outcome of this series.  Perhaps, however, this was nothing more than a situation whereby the depleted pitching staff simply caught up with Texas Tech.  Head coach Dan Spencer was forced to pitch catcher Jeremy in yesterday's final game as I imagine that the bullpen was absolutely bare.  Flora, Petite and Erzinger pitched on Friday, while Johnson, Stewart, Erzinger, Burnett and Cooper pitched on Saturday. Other than Sunday's starter, Doran, that was your entire pitching staff. 

LAJ's George Watson has the recap from Sunday's final game and opines that Texas Tech's chances of securing an at-large berth is slim:

The loss drops the Red Raiders to 27-27 overall and 13-14 in the Big 12 heading into Wednesday’s opening round of the Big 12 Championships at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. Tech, the No. 5 seed, will open tournament play at 9 a.m. against suddenly surging Texas A&M (36-19), the fourth seed which has won five of its last six conference games. Tech will also face top-seed and national No. 1 Texas (46-8) at 3 p.m. on Thursday and No. 8 seed Missouri (27-25).

By dropping below .500 in Big 12 play, however, the Red Raiders’ hopes of earning an at-large berth to the NCAA playoffs were likely damaged beyond repair, leaving them the automatic bid that goes to the conference tournament winner as their only way of ending a six-year NCAA postseason drought.

Big 12 Tournament:  After the jump, the official site has set the pools and this week's schedule at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City:

Continue reading this post »