MANHATTAN, Kan. – Winners of five of its last seven games, Texas Tech Baseball hits the road again for a three-game series at Kansas State this weekend.
Looking to build upon Tuesday's 10-7 come-from-behind win over Tarleton State, the Red Raiders and Wildcats meeting this weekend will be between two of the top four programs in the Big 12 standings.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
GAME ONE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (8-13, 4-2 Big 12) at Kansas State (15-8, 5-1 Big 12)
DATE: Friday, March 28
TIME: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Manhattan, Kansas (Tointon Family Ballpark)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Mac Heuer (1-2, 5.18 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Frost (0-0, 4.44 ERA)
GAME TWO:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (8-13, 4-2 Big 12) at Kansas State (15-8, 5-1 Big 12)
DATE: Saturday, Mar. 29
TIME: 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Manhattan, Kansas (Tointon Family Ballpark)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Tyler Boudreau (1-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. LHP Michael Quevedo (4-0, 4.13 ERA)
GAME THREE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (8-13, 4-2 Big 12) at Kansas State (15-8, 5-1 Big 12)
DATE: Sunday, Mar. 30
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Manhattan, Kansas (Tointon Family Ballpark)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Zane Petty (0-1, 4.22 ERA) vs. LHP Lincoln Sheffield (4-2, 4.46 ERA)
MATCHUP NOTES:
YOUTH MOVEMENT
In Tuesday's win over TSU, the Red Raiders youth on the roster powered the squad to their biggest and most impressive come-from-behind win of the season when they overcame a 7-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth to beat Tarleton 10-7. The rally started in the four run bottom of the fifth when the Red Raiders used a lead-off home run from third baseman Garet Boehm to pull to within 7-2. After a single by Kendyl Johnson and stolen base placed another runner in scoring position, the Red Raiders got an RBI single from Coleman Ryan to pull to within 7-3. An infield single and a throwing error placed runners on second and third before Bravo was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. The Red Raider used a pair of sac-flies from Logan Hughes and Robin Villeneuve to pull to within 7-5. After a pair of scoreless innings by Freshman Will Jordan, Tech ultimately tied the game and went ahead in the seventh inning using a two-run single from catcher Davis Rivers and a go-ahead two-out triple from Kendyl Johnson to take a 9-7 lead. The Red Raiders ultimately added their 10th and final run of the night on an RBI single from Coleman Ryan. Up by three runs, the Red Raiders got two shutout innings from Jonny Lowe who recorded his first career save and nailed down Jordan's first career win. In the end, the victory was earned by a true freshman (Jordan) as eight of the Red Raiders 10 runs were driven in by freshmen and sophomores and all four multi-hit games were recorded by underclassmen (Johnson, Ryan, Thompson and Boehm).
ALL FOUR TIME ZONES IN THE FIRST MONTH
In the first four weeks of the season the Red Raiders have been busy, as Tech played in four different states and four different time zones in the seasons first 14 games. The Red Raiders opened the season in North Carolina and the eastern time zone before coming home to Lubbock for a weekend set with UCI. The Red Raiders after spending a weekend in Las Vegas (PT), traveled to Arizona to face GCU. On Friday and Saturday, Arizona was on Mountain Time before the spring ahead on Sunday morning switched Arizona to Pacific Time.
SNAPPED THE ROAD STREAKS
The Red Raiders snapped a 17-game road losing streak last weekend in the road sweep of Houston. Dating back to last season the Red Raiders had lost 17-straight road games, the longest streak by a Red Raider team under head coach Tim Tadlock. The Red Raiders last true road win prior to the series sweep at UH was last Apr. 14 at TCU. The previous longest losing streak on the road under Tadlock was 10 straight (Mar. 10-May 15) losses back in his first season as head coach of the Red Raiders in 2013. The Red Raiders also snapped a nearly two year road series losing streak, as in the series against UH, Tech won a road series for the first time since Apr. 14-16, 2023 against Oklahoma. The series sweep of UH was the first series sweep by a Red Raider squad since May 13-15 when Tech swept then No. 3 Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
LED FOR 24
In the weekend series sweep at UH, the Red Raiders led for 24 of a possible 26 innings. After not scoring in either of the first or second innings on Friday, Tech raced out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning that the Red Raiders were able to close out. With one victory in its pocket, Tech got off to a strong start on Saturday night in Houston, as the Red Raiders struck for two runs in the first, four in the second and five in the third to take an 11-2 lead to the fourth. The fast start allowed the Red Raiders to close out a 13-8 win. On Sunday, the Red Raiders again struck first in the opening frame, as Tech used three first inning runs to cruise to an 11-1 victory in eight inning. The Red Raiders never trailed in the weekend series.
RACKING UP THE FREQUENT FLYER MILES
This weekends series at UH will mark the third and final consecutive weekend of games away from Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Pakr for the Red Raiders and will close a stretch of 12-of-17 games on the road. The Red Raiders after opening the season at then No. 6 North Carolina returned to Lubbock for a three-game set against UC Irvine. Following the weekend with the Anteaters, Tech hit the road for the Las Vegas College Classic before heading to Grand Canyon last weekend. Since Feb. 24, the Red Raiders have played just home games: last week's midweek series against UCSD. The Red Raiders have racked up nearly 8,000 miles (7, 378 miles) of travel through the first five weeks of the season.
ROAD RED RAIDERS
The Red Raiders will become accustom to the road in 2025 as Tech will play just 26 of 53 games at home this season. Starting with the weekend set at No. 6 UNC, the Red Raiders will play 12 of their first 17 games away from the friendly confines of Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field and will play just 10 of their first 26 games at home. In the end, Texas Tech's 27 road games will bring the squad to seven different states: (Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and West Virginia). The Red Raiders in 2025 will play just 31 of 53 games inside the State of Texas. The Red Raiders 26 home games are the fewest in a season since 2022 when Tech also played just 26 games at Rip Griffin Park. The fewest home games the Red Raiders have played in a season was 2009 when Tech played just 22 total home games. This weekend series at GCU will mark the second of three straight road trips for the Red Raiders who open Big 12 play next weekend at Houston. The Red Raiders over the first 17 games of the season (three this weekend and three next weekend) will play just five total road games.
KYE IS A THREAT ON THE BASES
After recoding 43 stolen bases in his lone season at Galveston College a season ago, Texas Tech sophomore Kyeler Thompson has flashed some of that patented speed in so far as Thompson has stolen a Big 12 leading 17 bases thus far and has not been caught stealing. Thompson also sits with the third most runs on the team as the outfielder has scored 21 times in 21 games. Thompson's 15 stolen bases are the second-most in the league and the 10th-most per game in D-I Baseball. Thompson ranks first in the Big 12 in steals per game (0.81) and is 15th overall in steals per games. Thompson is one of seven players in the country with at least 17 steals without being caught.
BIG MAC IS TURNING THE CORNER
After struggling in two of his first three starts of the season against UC Irvine and Illinois, Sophomore Mac Heuer has come on as of late, as the righty has pitched to a 1.93 ERA over the last three weekends. After a strong Friday night start at GCU where the righty allowed just one run in five innings and struck out six, Heuer earned his first run of the season the next weekend at Houston when the righty did not allow a hit into the fourth inning and allowed just one hit total. Heuer allowed just a solo home run and struck out five. Last weekend against TCU, the Georgia native ran into bad luck as the right-hander allowed just one earned run of the six TCU scored off him. Heuer was done in ultimately by a third inning where the Red Raiders committed an error on the lead-off batter and lost a ball in the sun one batter later.
ROBIN HAS BEEN A KEY TO VICTORY
The 2023 JUCO home run leader, Tennessee transfer Robin Villeneuve has been a huge spark plug for the Red Raiders this season. In the Red Raiders eight victories this season Villeneuve is hitting .552 (16-for-29) with three home runs, 17 RBIs and 15 runs scored. On the flip side in the Red Raiders 13 total losses, Villeneuve is hitting just 12-for-44 (.273) with one home run and three RBIs. For the entire season, Villeneuve is hitting .384 with 10 doubles, four home runs and 20 RBIs. Villeneuve is one of three Red Raiders this season to have driven in at least 20 runs. He is joined in that trio by Logan Hughes and Damian Bravo. Hughes leads the Red Raiders in RBIs (26) while Bravo and Villeneuve each have 20.
HUGHES BRINGS THE BOOM
After running into some hard luck of the first couple of weekends of the season, Stetson transfer Logan Hughes continues to shine at the plate, as the outfielder is now 17 for his last 41 overall with a pair of doubles, two triples and four home runs. Hughes has driven in 13 runs in that span and has recorded a slash line of .414/.444/.854. In Big 12 play, Hughes is hitting 12-25 (.480) with four hour runs and eight RBIs. On the season, Hughes is hitting .313 (26-for-83) ont he season with three doubles, two triples and seven home runs. Hughes' seven home runs are the most on the Red Raider squad while his 26 runs batted in are also a team-high. In his freshman season at Stetson, Hughes hit .292 with eight home runs, 10 doubles and 34 RBIs.
JACK ATTACK
After starting the season inside the rotation for Tim Tadlock and the Red Raiders, righty Jack Cebert has found a home in the bullpen since his two starts against UNC and UC Irvine. In his five 'pen appearances, Cebert has pitched 14.1 innings and allowed just four total runs. The righty has struck out 15 and is holding opposing batters to a paltry .232. Cebert, who has earned the victory in the last two Saturday's for the Red Raiders has allowed just two runs and one walks in two Big 12 appearances. Entering in a 11-8 game, Cebert tossed the final five and two thirds of the Red Raiders 13-8 win. The righty allowed just two hits and no runs in his 5.2 innings and struck out eight Cougars. After the successful outing against the Cougars, Cebert built upon his success against TCU when he tossed four innings and allowed just two runs.
HERE COMES COLEMAN
After playing sporadically through the first five weeks of the season, Freshman Coleman Ryan has started the last three games at shortstop in place of the injured TJ Pompey. Ryan is 6-for-his-last-11 at the plate with four runs scored and two RBIs. The three-game hot stretch for Ryan has raised the Freshman's average to .308 on the season. The infielder has walked five times and struck out just six times in his 26 at-bats.
BOEHM AT THE HOT CORNER
Sophomore Garet Boehm has taken his opportunity and run with it the last seven games. After spending the beginning portion of the season as a reserve, Boehm entered the lineup for the weekend series against Houston and has seized control of the hot corner. In his seven games as the starter at third base, Boehm has gone 9-for-31 with a pair of doubles and four runs scored. After struggling in the early portion of the season, Boehm had a big day on Tuesday afternoon against Tarleton State when he went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and two runs scored. Boehm has also excelled in in the field, as he's made just one error in 17 chances.
BIG WILL
Seeking to stabilize the game, the Red Raiders turned to Freshman Will Jordan on Tuesday afternoon in the 10-7 win over Tarleton. Back to within a reasonable margin, Jordan kept the momentum with the Red Raiders as the freshman tossed a scoreless seventh to allow the Red Raiders to pull to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh. The win for Jordan was his first career and lowered his ERA on the season to 3.16. The righty has now struck out 16 batters in 11.1 innings.
BRAVO AND ROB EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
After a strong weekend that saw the duo go a combined 14-for-27 at the plate with two home runs and eight RBIs, Texas Tech Red Raiders Damian Bravo and Robin Villeneuve were named to the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic All-Tournament. Bravo who homered on both Friday and Sunday, jumpstarted an epic six-run come-from-behind victory over Illinois with his lead-off blast to begin the ninth inning. The outfielder drove in five over the weekend and scored three times. The other All-Tournament team selection, Villeneuve, doubled three times, drove in three and scored three times over the weekend.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders head to Frisco for a midweek contest against Oklahoma. First pitch from Riders Field is set for 6:30 p.m.