Preview & Series Thread: Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma

Series Details

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (30-14, 11-7)
Bad Guys: Oklahoma Sooners (30-15, 8-7)
When to Watch: Friday, May 3rd – Sunday, May 5th
Where to Watch: L. Dale Mitchell Park | Norman, Oklahoma
How to Watch: 5/3: Fox College Sports; 5/4: FSOK; 5/5: ESPNU
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
Game Notes: Preview | PDF
Live Stats: SideArm Stats
Weather:

This is the last big road test before post-season play starts. The interesting thing is that Oklahoma is sort of in the same situation that Texas Tech was in last week as the Sooners are sitting a few games behind Texas Tech and could make up a lot of ground if they win. There are still 6 conference games for Texas Tech remaining and with Texas Tech at 10-8 and Oklahoma at 8-7, the Sooners are a series behind the Red Raiders and will probably make that up while Texas Tech is taking a weekend off for finals here pretty soon (which is what they always do).

The spot where the Sooners struggle is on offense, where they’re just hitting about .250 on average and not really much power at all, .351 compared to .430 to Texas Tech. They are very good in the pitching department, but in Big 12 play, the Sooners carry a 4.41 ERA in conference play and 7.82 strikeouts per 9 innings compared to a 3.55 ERA for Texas Tech and 9.32 K’s per 9. That’s quite a bit different than the stats detailed below.

News, News, News, News

A-J Media’s Carlos Silva, Jr. – No. 11 Red Raiders poised to prove road woes in the past:

“Their rotation is a handful,” Tadlock said of the Sooners (30-15, 8-7). “Those guys got good arms. Got good bullpen arms. You talk about the left side of their infield, Brylie Ware and (Brandon) Zaragoza, as good as their is in our league. Those guys are really good baseball players. … We’ll have to go up there an earn it. No doubt about it.”

Texas Tech certainly earned all of their seven wins at home, including a wild 19-11 triumph Wednesday afternoon over UTRGV. The Red Raiders trailed 9-0 after the second inning before outscoring the Vaqueros 19-2 the rest of the contest to split the midweek series and claim some positive momentum before traveling to Norman, Oklahoma.

Norman Transcript’s Tyler Palmateer – OU baseball: Oklahoma’s Brady Harlan picking up baseball right where he left it:

Harlan committed as a walk-on, started throwing and hitting with a college roommate for about two months, then showed up to OU in January. A hamstring injury set him back but he still made 13 starts before Big 12 play began.

He’s been in right field the past four games since his performance in Minnesota, and has bolstered the bottom of the order. He hit .400 (4 for 10) last week with two doubles and drove in three runs during a victory at Wichita State.

“He’s had to knock a lot of rust off,” Johnson said. “He’s still knocking rust off. I think the biggest thing for us is he’s helped from a depth standpoint. Now, it’s kind of working into more than that.”

Team Stats

Texas Tech Red Raiders Oklahoma Sooners
avg .306 .368
slg% .477 .382
ob% .412 .377
ERA 4.16 3.31
Oavg .260 .235
SO/9 9.07 8.69
BB/9 4.07 3.58
fld% .976 .979

Key Hitter Stats

Key Texas Tech Hitters avg slg% ob% fld%
INF Josh Jung .338 .592 .478 .975
OF/INF Gabe Holt .317 .421 .408 .940
1B Cameron Warren .325 .619 .429 .995
INF Brian Klein .355 .464 .460 .982
DH Cole Stilwell .301 .437 .433 1.000
OF Dylan Neuse .335 .602 .463 .988
Key Oklahoma Hitters avg slg% ob% fld%
INF Tyler Hardman .309 .464 .392 .993
INF Brylie Ware .285 .430 .400 .961
INF Brandon Zaragoza .280 .321 .395 .957
INF Conor McKenna .273 .366 .354 .977
C Brady Lindsly .259 .422 .338 .990
OF Brady Harlan .255 .340 .365 .948

Probable Starters and Game Recaps

Game 1 – Friday, May 3rd @ 6:30 p.m. (FCS)
Probable Starters: Texas Tech’s RHP Micah Dallas (4-0, 4.31) vs. Oklahoma’s RHP Nathan Wiles (7-2, 3.71)
Final Score: Texas Tech 10, Oklahoma 6
Winning Pitcher: Hunter Dobbins (2-0); S: Taylor Floyd (2)
Losing Pitcher: Z Matthews (0-3)
Key Hitters: Cameron Warren 4-4, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR; Josh Jung 3-4, 4 R; Cody Masters 2-4; Kurt Wilson 1-2, 3 BB
Links: Recap | Box Score

Senior Cameron Warren and junior Josh Jung combined for seven hits and eight runs to help No. 10 Texas Tech baseball overcome a 6-3 deficit and run away with a 10-6 victory in the series opener on a wet Friday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Red Raiders (31-14, 12-7) have now won six straight Big 12 games for the first time since 2016 and move to a game out of first place in the league standings. During its six-game conference win streak, Tech is outscoring foes 53-19.

Playing in his home state, Warren finished 4-for-4 with two home runs and a double for his second career multi-home run game, the other also occurring in the state of Oklahoma at the 2018 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City. He connected on a solo blast to leadoff the top of the sixth, before following up an inning later with a three-run shot that put Tech in front, 7-6.

Game 2 – Saturday, May 4th @ 2:00 p.m. (FSOK)
Probable Starters: Texas Tech’s RHP Caleb Kilian (7-2, 4.22) vs. Oklahoma’s LHP Levi Prater (6-4, 2.54)
Final Score: Texas Tech 7, Oklahoma 3
Winning Pitcher: Connor Queen (3-0)
Losing Pitcher: L. Smith (0-1)
Key Hitters: Gabe Holt 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI; Brian Klein 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI; Josh Jung 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR; Cam Warren 2-3, 1 R, 2 BB; Braxton Fulford
Links: Recap | Box Score

No. 10 Texas Tech baseball plated four runs in the seventh for its second straight comeback win over Oklahoma, securing the series victory with a 7-3 win on Saturday at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

After taking the lead Friday night with three runs in the seventh, the Red Raiders (32-14, 13-7) put up four in the seventh on Saturday to flip a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 advantage. Junior infielders Brian Klein and Josh Jung came up with the key hits as Klein put Tech in front with a two-run double to right and Jung hit a two-run blast that extended the lead to three.

The win is Tech’s seventh straight conference win and clinches its third straight Big 12 series victory. This is Tech’s first series win in Norman since 1999.

Tech starter Caleb Kilian and OU starter Levi Prater pitched scoreless games into the fifth before the Sooners (30-17, 8-9) took a 2-0 lead. Kilian was replaced after the fifth with junior Connor Queen (3-0), who tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in the win while junior Dane Haveman held off the Sooners for the final 1.1 frames.

Game 3 – Sunday, May 5th @ 1:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Probable Starters: Texas Tech’s RHP Bryce Bonnin (3-1, 5.68) vs. Oklahoma’s RHP Ben Abram (6-1, 3.21)
Final Score: Texas Tech 8, Oklahoma 4
Winning Pitcher: Bryce Bonnin (4-1)
Losing Pitcher: Ben Abram (6-2)
Key Hitters: Gabe Holt 3-4, 2 R, 1 BB; Brian Klein 2-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, Josh Jung 4-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, Cody Masters 3-5, 2 RBI
Links: Recap | Box Score

After getting it done in the latter stages of the game Friday and Saturday, No. 10 Texas Tech baseball pounced on the Sooners early to finish off a series sweep of Oklahoma with a 8-4 victory Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Red Raiders (33-14, 14-7) jumped out to a 5-0 lead through four innings, and sophomore right-hander Bryce Bonnin tossed six shutout innings of two-hit ball before turning it over to the bullpen.

While Saturday’s win clinched Tech’s first series win in Norman since 1999, Sunday’s victory gave Tech its third sweep of the Sooners under head coach Tim Tadlock. The Red Raiders have now posted eight straight conference wins back-to-back sweeps of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to move 0.5 games out of first in the league standings.

Junior infielder Josh Jung continued his tear, going 4-for-5 with three doubles and two runs driven in. Sophomores Gabe Holt and Cody Masters added three hits apiece as Tech compiled 15 hits in the contest to Oklahoma’s six and matched its season high with seven doubles.

Back To Top