No. 14 TEXAS TECH at ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Abilene, Texas | Crutcher Scott Field
April 25, 2023
Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | ACU Game Notes (PDF)
STARTERS
Texas Tech and Abilene Christian will finally meet this season after the first scheduled meeting was postponed three weeks ago as the two are set to square off Tuesday evening at Crutcher Scott Field. The two teams were scheduled to play in Lubbock on April 4 but Mother Nature had different plans – it was later decided the game will be made up on May 9 at Rip Griffin Park. Since resuming the series and regularly playing again starting in 2014, the Red Raiders own an 8-1 advantage over the Wildcats in the series.
Coverage will be provided by ESPN+. On the mic for the broadcast in Abilene will be Andy Penney handling play by play duties while Kauy Ostlien will provide the analysis on Tuesday. All broadcasts can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, personal cellular device and television streaming services using the ESPN app. Registration for the subscription service can be found at ESPNPlus.com.
Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game over 46 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico as well as on the web via the Varsity App. Geoff Haxton will have the call alongside Jamie Lent.
TEXAS TECH IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
After the 4-1 week between two midweek wins versus Grand Canyon and winning their series versus Baylor, the Red Raiders climbed in five of the six national baseball Top 25 rankings, released on April 24/Week10. Of the six polls – D1Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today Coaches and Perfect Game – Texas Tech has been ranked inside the top 25 of all six polls with the exception of a one-week absence from the D1Baseball poll in the March 6/Week 3 poll.
- D1Baseball: No. 14 (+2)
- Baseball America: No. 10 (+5)
- NCBWA: No. 15 (+3)
- Collegiate Baseball: 22 (+1)
- USA Coaches: No. 15 (+4)
- Perfect Game: No. 13 (-)
The Big 12 recognizes D1Baseball for its primary rankings therefore when one ranking is needed, Texas Tech follows suit with the conference in those scenarios.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
- Tuesday, April 25: RHP Zane Petty (2-0, 5.02 ERA) vs. Max Huffling (3-1, 4.13 ERA)
WINNERS OF FOUR OF FIVE BIG 12 SERIES
Believe it or not, Texas Tech is more than halfway through its Big 12 conference schedule. The Red Raiders are 8-7 (.533) and sit in a jumble of five teams that own a league winning percentage of .500 or better. Texas Tech is three games back in the loss column from league-leader West Virginia, but the Mountaineers have played have the fewest conference games in the Big 12 as they own an 8-4 record. Texas Tech has won four of the five Big 12 series they’ve played, which started against the top half of the league’s preseason poll until hosting Baylor last weekend.
THE RPI DISCUSSION
While the rankings created by people have the Red Raiders a consensus Top 25 team and the top-ranked team in the Big 12, checking in at No. 14 in the D1Baseball poll – the primary ranking system acknowledged by the NCAA and the Big 12 conference. The computers are not so fond of Texas Tech as they sit at No. 65 in the RPI through games on April 23 on NCAA.com. Six of the Top 10 RPI teams hail from the SEC while the top Big 12 team in the latest RPI is West Virginia at No. 23. The Red Raiders climbed as high as No. 22 in the RPI, entering their series versus Texas (March 24-26), but have not recovered since losing that series.
– Said ESPN’s Mike Rooney during the ESPN telecast of Texas Tech versus Baylor on April 21, “That’s where the RPI can be infuriating, quite honestly. Because you can’t look at Texas Tech with your eyeballs open and tell me this is not a regional team.”
BIG WINS, TOUGH LOSSES
Red Raider fans have been treated to their fair share of comfortable wins as the Texas Tech baseball team has won 20 games this season by more than five runs. On the flip side, Tech has lost its fair share of close games giving Red Raider fans much heartache. Seven of Texas Tech’s 13 losses have come by two runs or less this season.
NCAA STAT MACHINES
Entering Tuesday’s game versus Abilene Christian, the Red Raiders rank in the NCAA Top 10 in 10 different statistical categories:
- No. 2 in hits (484)
- No. 2 in double plays (42)
- No. 2 in sacrifice flies (32)
- No. 4 in runs (386)
- No. 5 in doubles (102)
- No. 6 in walks (249)
- No. 7 in triples (18)
- No. 7 in double plays per game (1.00)
- No. 8 in batting average (.322)
- No. 8 in runs per game (9.2)
SERIES HISTORY – ABILENE CHRISTIAN
- Texas Tech and Abilene Christian will be meeting for the 53rd time on a baseball diamond Tuesday night.
- Texas Tech will see ACU for the second-straight season. Until last season, the two had last seen each other in 2016. Tech won a pair of games, claiming a 5-4 walk-off victory in Midland and a 7-2 win in Abilene.
- Texas Tech lost to ACU for the first time since 1976 last time in Lubbock, snapping a 12-game streak of wins; Tech rebounded with a 16-12 win in Abilene in the rematch.
- Until last season, the Red Raiders’ previous loss to ACU in Lubbock was on April 29. 1967 – a 1-0 no-hitter.
THE LAST MEETING WITH ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Texas Tech came out on top of a 4-hour, 42-minute marathon, defeating Abilene Christian 16-12 at Crutcher Scott Field the last time they met on May 3, 2022. The two squads combined for 31 hits, producing a collective 28 runs, with a total of 81 at-bats between the two. Seven pitchers saw action for Tech while 10 pitchers saw time for ACU. The Red Raiders avenged its loss in Lubbock to the Wildcats in a similar fashion, using a one-inning explosion of offense. Tech scored nine runs in the top of the sixth inning to catapult them to victory, while ACU used a seven-run second inning to pave the way to its win a week earlier.
TEXAS TECH-ABILENE CHRISTIAN CONNECTIONS
- Texas Tech’s Ty Coleman and ACU’s Logan Britt were on the same Texas A&M roster in 2020 and 2021.
- Texas Tech’s Zac Vooletich played on the game Navarro CC squad in 2021 as ACU’s Riley Bauman.
- Texas Tech’s senior Bo Blessie and ACU’s infielder Garrett Williams both played for Midland College in 2021.
- Texas Tech’s Kevin Bazzell and ACU’s Riley Bauman both call Rockwall, Texas their hometown.
- ACU right-handed pitcher freshman Holt Gibson played at Lubbock Cooper HS.
ACU TRIP TO LUBBOCK RESCHEDULED
Texas Tech announced on Wednesday, April 5 that it will host Abilene Christian on Tuesday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Rip Griffin Park. It is a rescheduled date for the game postponed on April 4. Due to inclement weather, Texas Tech and Abilene Christian mutually agreed to push the game to a later date. Those that continue to own single-game tickets for the April 4 contest will be able to trade those in for the rescheduled May 9 matchup. All ticket exchanges are only valid if originally purchased through the Texas Tech ticket office (excludes third-party and season tickets).
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, will be hosted at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, May 24-28. For info on attending and tickets, visit Big12Sports.com.
–TECH–