The Morning Stake: March 22nd

Baseball

Texas Tech Hosts New Mexico. I’m not going to have time to get up an open thread for this mid-week game, but Texas Tech will host New Mexico this afternoon, first pitch is at 2:00 pm. LHP Ty Damron (1-1, 4.80) gets the start for Texas Tech and RHP James Harrington (3-1, 5.04) starts for New Mexico.

The LAJ has a notebook sort of article previewing this game. Someone asked about pitcher Ryan Moseley and pitching out of the bullpen:

“I feel like he can strengthen our bullpen,” Tadlock said. “He can really bridge the gap to the back end with Robert Dugger, Hayden Howard, Chandler Eden and Parker Mushinski. We can also flip those roles like we have with Dugger and Howard some already between the bridge guy and the closer. I like his ability for him to come out and bridge to the back end or be the back end at the end of the game.”

I’m not satisfied with this answer. The article notes that Moseley has an ERA of 7.58 and is 2-2 on the year and he has struggled mightily this year, starting or otherwise. Moseley was part of the meltdown in the loss against Baylor. Moseley isn’t himself and it seems like he’s fading fast in terms of effectiveness. Head coach Tim Tadlock doesn’t talk about if a player was hurt until after the season, if at all and that probably means we won’t really hear about any issues that Moseley has until after the season.

Gardner and Martin Receive Honors. Sophomore outfielder Tanner Gardner and freshman right-handed pitcher Davis Martin received all-Big 12 honors yesterday. Gardner was named the Big 12 Player of the Week and Martin was named the Big 12’s top newcomer.

Gardner led all Big 12 players last week with a .615 average (8-for-13) that included at least two hits in three of four games. The successful week pushed Gardner’s average to a Big 12-leading .467 clip for the season. He is also the conference leader with a .568 on-base percentage and ranks second with 28 hits and fourth with a .600 slugging percentage.

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Martin, meanwhile, became the first Red Raider freshman in school history to earn the win in a Big 12 opener last Friday as he tossed six shutout innings in a 5-0 victory over Baylor. Martin, just the first Tech freshman to start a Big 12 opener since current Miami Marlin closer AJ Ramos in 2006, allowed just two hits and struck out four en route to leading the Red Raiders to their second shutout ever in a Big 12 opener.

Basketball

Big 12 Basketball Just Got Tougher. Yesterday evening, TCU hired Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon, who went to school at TCU so many years ago, and Oklahoma State hired SFA head coach Brad Underwood. The coaches in the Big 12 are at a ridiculous level. Better bring it.

Football

Castaneda Shows Out in Rivals Camp. Via Rivals’ Adam Gorney, 2017 Texas Tech offensive line commit Tyler Castaneda was one of the top 15 offensive players in the Dallas camp this past weekend:

Performance: The three-star offensive guard likes to play physical in the trenches and didn’t back down to some excellent defensive linemen including Wilson, the top prospect in the class. Castaneda has a thick but muscular, physical build and he uses it to manhandle people inside. Castaneda is a tough kid who isn’t afraid to get in the mix a little bit.

I’ll be interested to see what older brother, Robert, does this year for the offensive line. Robert seems like a guy that’s made to be inside and he had a nasty disposition (which is good) in his high school tape.

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