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Friday, March 11
Houston, TX
6:30 p.m. CT

Texas Tech University

at

Rice

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Preview: Road show continues at Rice

March 10, 2022 | Baseball

Texas Tech Game Notes

By: Matt Burkholder

No. 17 TEXAS TECH at RICE
March 11-13, 2022

Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | Rice Game Notes (PDF)

STARTERS
Texas Tech continues this season's first extended road trip, at Rice, for a three-game series this weekend. The No. 17 Red Raiders traveled to Biloxi, Miss. on Monday for a two-game midweek showdown against No. 23 Mississippi State and split the series falling 11-5 on Tuesday and rebounded Wednesday with a 7-2 win. The outing continued for the Red Raiders with a travel day on Thursday to Houston to prepare for their series against Rice at Reckling Park. 

Rice will simulcast its radio call from play-by-play man Jason Metko from inside Reckling Park for its broadcast coverage provided by C-USA.tv. The broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, or personal cellular device by navigating to CUSA.tv and select "Rice". 

Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game over 46 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico as Jamie Lent will have the call alongside analyst, Mike Gustafson. 

TEXAS TECH IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

  • D1Baseball: No. 17
  • Baseball America: NR
  • NCBWA: No. 15
  • Collegiate Baseball: No. 19
  • USA Coaches: No. 11
  • Perfect Game: No. 16
  
Parker Kelly
 

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

  • Friday, March 11: RHP Andrew Morris (6.28 ERA, 1-0) vs. RHP Cooper Chandler (7.30 ERA, 0-3)
  • Saturday, March 12: RHP Brandon Birdsell (2.57 ERA, 2-1) vs. RHP Roel Garcia (5.91 ERA, 0-0)
  • Sunday, March 13: LHP Mason Molina (3.00 ERA, 1-1) vs. TBA

BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK/NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK AWARDS RESIDE AT TEXAS TECH
For the second-straight week, Texas Tech took home the Big 12 Baseball Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week honors, the conference announced on March 7. Parker Kelly was selected the Player of the Week while Owen Washburn was named the Newcomer of the Week for games played Feb. 28-March 6. Ty Coleman was recognized with both honors a week ago. 

In five games, Kelly hit .421 with 13 RBI and three home runs, and one double. The week included a massive Saturday contest that featured the senior mash all three home runs in one game, including two for Grand Slams, that added up to nine RBI – tying a Texas Tech program record for a single game. His previous RBI high was three against UConn last season. Washburn, a true freshman, recorded his first two career home runs collecting the two in back-to-back games. He owned a .421 batting average over five games, and also collected a double in addition to the two home runs, and racked up eight RBI. Texas Tech scored 70 runs in total to sweep Merrimack over the weekend in four games after posting a big 4-3 extra innings midweek win over Dallas Baptist.

NO FLUKE
The Red Raiders offense has been propelled by an unprecedented tear by third baseman Parker Kelly. Named the Big 12 Player of the Week this past Monday after posting a single game with three home runs, two of which were Grand Slams, for nine RBI - Kelly hit .421 with 13 RBI and three home runs, and one double for the week. He proved it was no fluke in the midweek series mashing his third Grand Slam in the last five days against Mississippi State on Wednesday. He also knocked a solo HR the night before. He went .571 from the plate for five RBI vs. the defending national champs.

STRAIGHT DEALIN'
The Texas Tech pitching staff has registered 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings through 14 games this season, which ranks No. 14 in Division I baseball and tops in the Big 12. The staff owns a collective 161 strikeouts, which is tied for No. 1 in the nation and also tops in the Big 12.  Seven different Red Raiders have collected double-digit strikeouts, led by Andrew Morris (24) who is striking batters out at a rate of 15.07 strikeouts per nine innings - ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 23 in the NCAA. Second in the clubhouse is Brandon Birdsell (19), followed by Mason Molina and Chase Hampton (16), Brendan Girton (15), Trendan Parish (14) and Derek Bridges (10).

In addition to the strikeout count, Red Raiders are limiting opponents to 7.06 hits per nine innings, which ranks No. 33 in NCAA DI and No. 3 in the Big 12.

 
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SCOUTING - RICE

  • Rice is off to a 3-10 start in 2022, having lost their last game played against Houston 10-7 on Tuesday night.
  • Rice opened the season against Tech's Big 12 conference mate, Texas. The Longhorns won all three games with a combined margin of victory of 36-3 in games played in Austin, Texas.
  • Rice has one win against Houston Baptist, Harvard and Lamar this season.
  • C-USA head coaches tabbed Rice to finish eighth in their annual preseason poll. Southern Miss was picked to finish first, followed by Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, UTSA, FIU, Rice, WKU, Middle Tennessee, UAB, and Marshall.
  • Rice did not have a player on the C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team.
  • Rice is led by first-year head coach José Cruz Jr. He was named the 22nd head baseball coach at Rice on June 9, 2021. He is the first former Rice player to be named as the Owls head baseball coach since Harold Stockbridge (1949-52).  Cruz's association with Rice began in 1992 when he chose to remain home and sign with the Owls after leading Houston's Bellaire High School to the top ranking in the country in 1992.

SERIES HISTORY
These two Texas programs will tangle for the 117th time on Friday night, a series that dates back to 1958. Tech leads the all-time series 60-56, and are winners of four-straight. Tech started the streak in 2014 in a neutral site game at Minute Maid Park, and won three more sweeping a weekend series in Lubbock, March 6-8, 2020. Head Coach Tim Tadlock is 4-1 all-time against Rice as the Red Raiders lost one game to the Owls in 2013 in Tadlock's first season at the helm.  The 2013 win was the last win for Rice in the series, but was the 15th-straight at the time.

THIS-N-THAT

  • Texas Tech lost for the first time this season when scoring first on Tuesday against Mississippi State. Tech is 8-1 this season when scoring first.
  • Tech is 11-1 when scoring three runs or better. 
  • Three of Texas Tech's wins have come after trailing in the sixth inning.
  • Texas Tech has surged in the fifth and sixth innings offensively this season scoring 23 runs in the fifth, and 24 in the sixth. The fourth inning is the least productive, as the Red Raiders have scored three runs total in 14 games.
  • Texas Tech is 8-1 this season when having at least one home run.
  • Parker Kelly is the first Red Raider to own three Grand Slams in the same season since Cameron Blair in 2004 and 2005, respectively.


--TECH--