Tennis

Men’s Tennis Takes Down Two Ranked Opponents. This really shouldn’t be buried, but congrats to the men’s tennis team for doing the same thing the men’s basketball team did, which is take down two ranked opponents two matches in a row at the ITA National Indoor Championships. On Saturday, Texas Tech defeated No. 4 Baylor, 4-3, thanks in large part to Felipe Soares terrific play:

No. 11 ranked Soares won a matchup of two highly ranked competitors as he outlasted No. 19 Julian Lenz 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. The victory gave Texas Tech its third win over a nationally ranked team. It was Tech’s second win over Baylor in 20 tries and its first team triumph over the Bears since 2012.

“Felipe stepped up in the third and played a great set,” Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. “He fought off break points, had some unreal volleys and again came through for us. He’s been known to do that and he definitely showed it today.”

Then, to top it off, on Sunday, the men’s team took down No. 11 Georgia, 4-2 on Sunday fueled by Connor Curry and Bjorn Thomson in doubles play:

“Connor and Bjorn are doing things for our team that you can’t teach as a coach,” Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. “Their toughness and will to win has been key for us all season. There have been times where Connor has struggled to close out sets. We’ve talked about it, and he’s learned some valuable lessons. It’s about redeeming yourself when the opportunity arises. I was proud of the fight that Bjorn showed to win the last four games of the second set.”

Track & Field

School Records Set. The Texas Tech track and field teams were split between Nashville and Fayetville and more records continue to be set, including Bradley Adkins continuing to jump higher and higher and tied the school record of 7-6 set by JaCorian Duffield

Softball

Softball Goes 3-2 in Vegas. The softball team ended up 3-2 for their opening tournament in Las Vegas this weekend, beating Long Beat State and losing to Minnesota, who is No. 14 in the nation. Texas Tech only lost to two ranked opponents, for the tournament and will head to San Diego for a weekend tournament.

Lady Raider Basketball

Lady Raiders Blown Out by Baylor. The Lady Raiders were blown out by Baylor on Texas Tech’s senior day, 66-36. Texas Tech only managed double-figures in one quarter, the first, before being held to 6, 9 and 7 in the final three quarters.

Baseball

LAJ Preview of the Team. The LAJ has a full preview of the team as the season starts on Friday at Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field with a 4 game set against University of Milwaukee.

• LAJ’s Krista Pirtle: Texas Tech baseball aiming for return trip to Omaha
• : Sanchez gives depth at catcher for Tech baseball
• LAJ: Texas Tech baseball estimated positional breakdown
• LAJ’s Krista Pirtle: Neslony healthy after up and down junior campaign

Men’s Basketball

Tubby Named Coach of the Week. ESPN’s C.L. Brown has a terrific write-up on Tubby Smith and named him the coach of the week for taking down Iowa State and Baylor this week:

It’s amazing that Smith kept the team believing after it dropped seven of eight games last month and had fallen to 2-6 in the Big 12. Now at 5-7 in the Big 12, Texas Tech can believe it has a chance to earn its way into the NCAA tournament. Both Texas and Oklahoma State earned bids last season with 8-10 records in the Big 12. Not even a .500 league record would guarantee a bid, but the Red Raiders are positioned to at least have hope. And that’s more than could be said a month ago.

Validated. DMN’s Chuck Carlton writes that Tubby Smith is proving to validate Texas Tech’s choice to hire him three years ago. Smith says that it’s been about changing the culture:

“But there is excitement around our program, for our players, for our fans and for our administration,” Smith said. “We came here to change the culture, so whatever good things happen for our program, it’s because the guys are believing in each other and playing hard for one another.”

Temple Making a Mark. For the Times Record News by Carlos Silva, Jr., junior forward Matthew Temple is making a mark as a contributor for Texas Tech:

“He was in the same fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, as my cousin (Travis). So I had heard about this tall kid that could play at the rec center,” said Lammert, a former walk-on during the Billy Gillespie years. “You know, you never think someone off campus can come into a program and start for the team in conference play. But he showed a lot of promise.”

With that in mind, Temple took a deep breath and walked into the Texas Tech basketball offices last May.

“When you have a 6-10 kid walk in, they’re not necessarily pushing you out of the door,” Temple said, chuckling. “So, I got to talking with (assistant) coach (Vince) Taylor and some of the other coaches as well, and they mentioned an open gym where I could come out and play with the guys and see what happens.”

Football

Cincinnati’s Bid to be Part of the Big 12. Well, those emails have finally been published as the Cincinnati Enquirer has the emails, travel records and other documents from Cincinnati regarding their desire to join the Big 12. There’s a ton there, so go check it out. Everything from OU’s David Boren, BU’s Ken Starr and WVU’s Gordon Gee all being in favor of bringing in Cincinnati, to the type of data they are presenting to the Big 12 to just about anything else.

Miscellaneous. Wreck’Em 24/7’s Carlos Silva Jr. and Michael LaBarre have their weekly recruiting show and Michael turned 21 this weekend, which means you can now buy him all sorts of beers . . . via CollegeFootballTalk, Baylor will add some counselors and additional training for the faculty for sexual assault cases . . . also via CollegeFootballTalk, LSU is not above poaching any coach from any staff as they poached Auburn Dameyune Craig as the the new receivers coach (and Craig even played at Auburn) . . .