PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Arlington, Texas | Globe Life Field
No. 8 Texas Tech (36-18, 15-9) / Big 12 tournament seed No. 2
Game 1 – Wednesday, 4 p.m. vs. 7-seed Kansas State
Game 2 – Thursday, 12:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. vs. 3-seed Oklahoma or 6-seed West Virginia
- TBD — Watch | Listen | Follow | Stats
Big 12 Tournament Central | Big 12 Bracket (PDF)
Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | Kansas State Game Notes (PDF) | Oklahoma Game Notes (PDF) | West Virginia Game Notes (PDF)
STARTERS
Texas Tech enters the 2022 Big 12 Championship as the 2-seed and will kick things off on Wednesday versus a team they swept in the regular season, 7-seeded Kansas State. Since 2016, the Red Raiders have entered the Big 12 tournament seeded no worse than No. 3, the only team in the conference that can claim that feat, but has not won the tournament since 1998 – its only win.
Coverage will be provided via Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and ESPNU from Globe Life Field. For all morning/early afternoon games, Joey Zanaboni will have the call, alongside Mike Rooney providing analysis. For all late afternoon/evening games, Clay Matvick will have the call, alongside Greg Swindell providing analysis. The broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, any 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 Geoff Haxton will have the call alongside analyst, Jamie Lent.
TEXAS TECH IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- D1Baseball: No. 8
- Baseball America: 12
- NCBWA: No. 9
- Collegiate Baseball: 14
- USA Coaches: No. 11
- Perfect Game: No. 9
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
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Wednesday, May 25: LHP Mason Molina (4.04 ERA, 1-5) vs. RHP Connor McCullough (5.32 ERA, 3-3)
RED RAIDERS WELL REPRESENTED IN BIG 12 POSTSEASON AWARDS
The Red Raiders made a splash in the annual Big 12 postseason awards released on Tuesday, taking home Pitcher of the Year (Brandon Birdsell) and Freshman of the Year (Hudson White), respectively. In total, 12 Red Raiders earned 16 respective selections announced in the 2022 edition of the All-Big 12 awards. Birdsell is the second Red Raider hurler to win the award, joining Steven Gingery in 2017, while White is the sixth Texas Tech freshman to earn the honor and the third since 2017 joining Josh Jung (2017) and Gabe Holt (2018).
RPI vs. POLLS
Texas Tech is the only school in the country that has hosted an NCAA Regional five consecutive times since 2016, if it is to extend to six, the Red Raiders need their RPI rank to catch up with the respect they’re receiving from the national polls. While Tech checked in at No. 8 in the D1Baseball poll this week, its ninth-straight week ranked in the Top 10, Tech’s most recent RPI ranking was No. 37 (games through May 22). Tech is the highest-ranked Big 12 team by D1Baseball entering the 2022 tournament, followed by No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 18 TCU, No. 19 Texas and No. 22 Oklahoma.
JACE JUNG NAMED TO GOLDEN SPIKES SEMIFINALIST
On May 24, USA Baseball unveiled that Texas Tech sophomore Jace Jung was named a semifinalist for the 2022 Golden Spikes Award, moving closer to being named the top amateur baseball player in the country. The list of semifinalists is headlined by Jung (Texas Tech) and Jacob Berry (LSU) who are both making their second semifinalist list appearances this year after also earning the honor in 2021. Since 2007, 32 athletes have been named a semifinalist more than once in their careers, including past Golden Spikes Award winners Stephen Strasburg (2009), Mike Zunino (2012), Kris Bryant (2013), Brendan McKay (2017), and Andrew Vaughn (2018). A total of 31 players were named semifinalists.
HUDSON WHITE EARNS TEAM USA TRYOUT
It was announced on May 23 that Texas Tech Big 12 Freshman of the Year Hudson White was invited to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp. The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp will feature 48-50 of the premier non-draft eligible college players for a five-game Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad series in North Carolina from June 30–July 4. USA Baseball will name a final, 26-man Collegiate National Team roster after Training Camp that will represent the United States at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands from July 9–15.
BACK WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
The Red Raiders are entering familiar territory this week at the Big 12 Championship tournament at Globe Life Field as it is where they kicked off the season, Feb. 18-20. In fact, Tech opened both the 2021 and 2022 seasons at Globe Life Field as part of the State Farm College Baseball Showdown. While it is familiar territory, it hasn’t exactly treated Tech that well as they are 1-5 in those games. In 2021, Tech dropped games to three SEC teams – No. 8 Arkansas, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 7 Mississippi State. In 2022, Tech opened with a win over Michigan before falling to Auburn and No. 15 Arizona. In the win, Tech defeated Michigan with a run-scoring walk-off base hit from freshman Owen Washburn in his first collegiate game.
INSIDE THE SERIES – KANSAS STATE
- Wednesday’s meeting will be the 82nd all-time between the two programs.
- The series dates back to 1993 when Tech earned a win in the only matchup prior to the formation of the Big 12.
- It was Kansas State who eliminated Tech from the 2021 Big 12 tournament – winning what was Tech’s second game of the day after Tech lost to TCU earlier in the day.
- Tech opened the 2019 Big 12 tournament with a 7-4 win against KSU.
- Tech is 3-3 all-time in the Big 12 tournament against KSU.
- Tim Tadlock is 21-10 all-time against KSU. Tadlock is 12-0 in games against KSU in Lubbock after this year’s sweep.
INSIDE THE SERIES – OKLAHOMA
- Texas Tech and Oklahoma have met 98 times in the history of the two programs.
- The series dates back to 1976 as Oklahoma won six of the first nine games before the Big 12.
- Tech has played (12) and lost (9) to Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament more than any other team in the league.
- Oklahoma eliminated Tech the last time they faced each other in the Big 12 tournament – a 17-4 run-rule in 2016.
- Since the formation of the Big 12, Tech is 42-46-1 against the Sooners
- Since Tim Tadlock took over prior to 2013, Tech is 18-14 against OU. Tadlock is 0-3 vs. OU in the tournament.
- Tech has won 5-of-9 regular-season series against OU since 2013, including a sweep in Norman in 2019.
INSIDE THE SERIES – WEST VIRGINIA
- Texas Tech and West Virginia have met 33 times in the history of the two programs.
- Tech holds a slim 17-16 all-time advantage, and a significant win total coming from a 9-3 home record vs. WVU.
- Tech is 1-5 against WVU in games played during the Big 12 postseason Tournament.
- Tech head coach Tim Tadlock and WVU head coach Randy Mazey were both in the first season leading their programs when the first head-to-head matchup was played in 2013 as WVU joined the Big 12.
- Tech has won five of the last six regular-season series and is 16-11 against WVU in regular season games.
TEXAS TECH THIS-N-THAT
- The Red Raiders are 21-5 in home games this season, and 15-13 in all other games (road & neutral).
- Tech is 30-2 this season when holding its opponent to five runs or less.
- Tech is 27-0 this season when it has more hits than its opponent.
- Tech is 30-1 this season when leading after six innings.
- Texas Tech went 22-5 in the months of February and March.
- Texas Tech went 9-10 in April – but posted a 9-5 record in Big 12 games.
- Tech has scored six runs or more in 39 of 54 games this season.
- TTU is 33-6 in those games.
- Tech has scored in double-digits 19 times out of 54 games.
- TTU is 18-1 in those games. Tech lost with double-digit scoring for the first time at UNM (11-10) on April 19. It is also the only game Tech lost when leading after six innings.
- Tech has hit seven grand slams. If Tech hits an eighth this season, they will enter the NCAA record book in a tie for 12th place all-time, sharing eight with Eastern Ill. (2002), Florida (1998), Florida St. (1996), Hardin-Simmons (1989), North Carolina (1987), Virginia Tech (1986) and FIU (1983). Texas Tech surpassed six grand slams in a single season for the first time since 2004, hitting numbers six and seven in back-to-back games at Oklahoma State.
- Texas Tech is 30-11 this season when having at least one home run.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
For info on attending and tickets for the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, hosted at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, May 25-29, visit Big12Sports.com.
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