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Friday, April 8
Lubbock, TX
6:30 p.m. CT

Texas Tech University

vs

Kansas State

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Cole Stilwell

Preview: No. 4 Tech returns home to host K-State

April 07, 2022 | Baseball

Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF)Kansas State Game Notes (PDF)ESPN+

By: Matt Burkholder

No. 4 TEXAS TECH vs. Kansas State
April 8-10, 2022

Texas Tech Game Notes (PDF) | Kansas State Game Notes (PDF)

STARTERS
Texas Tech hosts K-State this weekend for the first time since 2018. It will be the 79th all-time meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1993 when Tech earned a win in the only matchup prior to the formation of the Big 12. 

This weekend, John Harris and Mike Gustafson will call the game from inside Rip Griffin Park as coverage will be provided via Big 12 Now on ESPN+. 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. 4
  • Baseball America: 5
  • NCBWA: No. 4
  • Collegiate Baseball: No. 5
  • USA Coaches: No. 4
  • Perfect Game: No. 3
  
Jace Jung
 

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

  • Friday, April 8: RHP Andrew Morris (3.72 ERA, 3-0) vs. RHP Griffin Hassall (4.70 ERA, 3-4)
  • Saturday, April 9: RHP Brandon Birdsell (2.31 ERA, 4-1) vs. TBA
  • Sunday, April 10: TBA vs. TBA


SECOND BIG 12 HOME SERIES UP NEXT
The Red Raiders are 4-2 in Big 12 play after its first two conference series in the books. The first was a 2-1 series win at home against then-No. 2 Texas, followed by a 2-1 series win on the road at Kansas last weekend. Texas Tech is currently one of four teams with a conference record above .500. Texas Tech was voted third in the 2022 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll. Positioned No. 3, the Red Raiders face their first uphill fight after four-straight seasons (2018-2021) being pegged as the preseason favorite. The last time Tech was not picked preseason No. 1, they were slotted third in 2017, the Red Raiders won the Big 12 regular season title and hosted a regional as the No. 5 national seed in 2017. Texas took the top spot in 2022, its first time being atop the preseason league poll since 2010.

GOOD TO BE HOME
Texas Tech will welcome coming home on Friday, having not played in front of its home crowd since March 30. It's a distinct home-field advantage, ranking Top 20 in the country for average attendance, including three sellouts of 4,432 this season. The Red Raiders home-field advantage has pushed Tech to a 15-1 record at home this season, and a blistering 231-60 mark since 2013 when the Tim Tadlock era began. 

JACE JUNG EARNS BOBBY BRAGAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Jung was named the Week 6 Slugger of the Week on April 7, by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation. In two games versus Stephen F. Austin and three against Kansas, he hit .600, had a .680 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of 1.300. Jung, who was a finalist for the award last year, led the Bragan Collegiate Slugger award watch list with 12 hits, 12 RBI, 12 runs scored and eight extra base hits (five doubles and three HRs). Against SFA on March 29, Jung went 5-for-6 with three doubles and a homer while scoring five runs and driving in five.  

 
Kurt Wilson
 

SCOUTING - KANSAS STATE

  • Kansas State is 15-13. The Wildcats are 4-10 away from Manhattan, including an 0-3 mark in the same State Farm Collegiate Showdown Texas Tech opened the season with.
  • Tech will be the third-straight ranked conference opponent K-State will play to open Big 12 play after seeing both No. 19 TCU and No. 6 Oklahoma State this season. 
  • The Wildcats enter the weekend having won back-to-back games, defeating Creighton 7-5 on Tuesday night after taking down No. 6 Oklahoma State Sunday 7-2.
  • Under fourth-year head coach Pete Hughes, it was the 14th win against a ranked team, and the first of 2022 (1-6). He has three career ranked wins on the road, at Texas twice in 2019 and at Baylor in 2019.
  • Last time out, Kansas State's pitching staff punched out 18 batters. The 18 strikeouts were one shy of its program record of 19 set in 1976 against Wayne State.
  • Dylan Phillips recently became KSU's all-time career leader in home runs. He is the Big 12's current Player of the Week after launching four home runs over five games.
  • In a vote of the league's head coaches, Kansas State was selected to finish seventh in the 2022 Preseason Big 12 Baseball Coaches' Poll. 
  • Dylan Phillips was the Wildcats' one honoree on the Big 12 preseason team.

SERIES HISTORY

  • Friday's meeting will be the 79th 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.
  • Texas Tech holds a 46-31-1 advantage in the all-time series and is 24-8-1 in Lubbock.
  • Tim Tadlock is 18-10 all-time against Kansas State. Tadlock is 9-0 in games against KSU in Lubbock.
  • Tech has lost three-straight to the Wildcats. It's final two in last year's series in Manhattan, in addition to being eliminated from the 2021 Big 12 Tournament by KSU.
  • Tech has not lost at home to Kansas State since May 18, 2012.

THIS-N-THAT

  • The Red Raiders are 15-1 in home games this season. 
  • Texas Tech went 17-3 in the month of March.
  • Tech has won 42 consecutive nonconference home games, the last home non conference loss was UTRGV, 6-3, on 4/30/19.
  • Tech is 16-5 this season when scoring first. 
  • Tech is 21-5 this season against unranked opponents. 
  • Tech has scored six runs or more in 22 of 32 games this season. TTU is 21-1 in those games, falling for the first time on April 6 after entering the ninth inning trailing 8-2 and scoring five in a comeback that fell short, 8-7.
  • Tech has scored in double-digits 13 times out of 32 games.
  • Tech has hit five grand slams, out of its total 48 home runs. If Tech hits a sixth this season, it would be the first time in a season to have six grand slams since 2004 - Blair (3), Brady (1), Fuller (1), Mask (3).
  • Texas Tech is 18-4 this season when having at least one home run.
  • Tech has scored in the first inning 16 times this season. TTU was 13-0 in those situations until the last three games. Tech lost for the first time against Kansas on Sunday, April 3, and again on Tuesday and Wednesday against Grand Canyon.
  • Texas Tech scored five or more runs in the first inning for the first time since Feb. 15, 2020, vs. Northern Colorado when it scored seven in the first inning against #2 Texas on March 26.
  • Parker Kelly is the first Red Raider to own three grand slams in the same season since Cameron Blair achieved the feat in both 2004 and 2005. Kelly's grand slams were achieved in a five-day span - two in the same game vs. Merrimack on March 5 at home, and again vs. No. 23 Mississippi State on March 9 in a neutral site game in Biloxi.
  • Brandon Birdsell's 15 strikeouts against Rice on March 12 were the most by a Red Raider since Bobby Doran's 16 versus Missouri on May 1, 2010.
  • Against SFA on March 29, Texas Tech had double-digit doubles (10) in a game for the first time since registering 12 against Kansas on April 25, 2010. 
  • Tech matches its highest-ever ranking in the Perfect Game poll, reaching No. 3 on April 4. It was the sixth time they came in at No. 3 in its poll, and first time since March 9, 2020.


--TECH--