Series Details
Dates: Friday, June 1st – Monday, June 4th
Good Guys: (1) Texas Tech Red Raiders (39-17)
Bad Guys: (2) Louisville Cardinals (43-17); (3) Kent State Golden Flashes (39-16); (4) New Mexico State Aggies (40-20)
Location: Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field | Lubbock, Texas
Game Notes: Preview | PDF
TV/Stream: WatchESPN
Radio/Stream: Broadcast Affiliates
Live Stats: SideArm Stats
You ready? Yeah, me too. Texas Tech is set to host this regional with Louisville, Kent State and New Mexico State and I think we’re all just a bit nervous of Texas Tech’s prospects this year. We don’t need to relive history, but losing two starting pitchers at the beginning of the year has made this particular year a bit tougher than expected, and despite that, the Red Raiders are still hosting an NCAA Regional Tournament and that’s probably pretty good given the circumstances.
I’ve posted the stats below and it’s always tough to detail how these teams compare given different conferences and things like that. There are nuances to each conference, big or small, but I think it’s safe to say that this could be a really offensive-minded regional. It seems that all of the teams in this regional can hit and put runs on the board. Whoever can keep a pitching staff together for four games will likely be standing at the end.
A couple of numbers for you to chew on. Louisiville had the 24th best RPI (their only significant non-conference opponent was Texas Tech), Kent State is 61st overall, and New Mexico State was 87th overall. In terms of strength of schedule, Louisville was 63rd, Kent State was 204th and New Mexico State was 212th. Texas Tech was 10th in RPI and 16th in strength of schedule and if you want to know why Texas Tech was this close to being a national host, it’s the hellish schedule that Tadlock put this team through, particularly early in the year. It’s somewhat amazing to consider that this team only suffered 17 losses with that schedule.
Schedule
News, News, News, News
D1Baseball’s Eric Sorenson: Lubbock Regional Breakdown
Las Cruces Sun News’ Jason Groves: New Mexico State familiar with NCAA Regional opponent Texas Tech
Courier-Journal’s Jeff Greer: Heat is on for Louisville pitchers this weekend at the NCAA Tournament
MinorLeagueBall’s Shaun P. Kernahan: Breaking down every player to watch in this weekend’s NCAA Regionals
CourierJournal’s Randy Rosetta: Louisville baseball faces challenge of playing away for NCAA tourney
A-J Media’s Carlos Silva, Jr.: Red Raiders poised to play better baseball in postseason
A-J Media’s Don Williams: Pitchers make NMSU darkhorse in Lubbock Regional
Las Cruces Sun-News’ Jason Groves: Pitching has led the way for New Mexico State entering NCAA Regional
Team Stats
| TTU (1) | UL (2) | KSU (3) | NMSU (4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| avg | .309 | .289 | .290 | .313 |
| slg% | .509 | .422 | .413 | .481 |
| ob% | .423 | .397 | .385 | .412 |
| ERA | 4.36 | 3.26 | 3.56 | 3.95 |
| Oavg | .238 | .215 | .219 | .261 |
| SO/9 | 9.24 | 9.67 | 9.65 | 9.05 |
| BB/9 | 5.57 | 4.36 | 3.51 | 4.31 |
| fld% | .971 | .968 | .977 | .977 |
Key Hitter Stats
| Key Texas Tech Hitters | avg | slg% | ob% | fld% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF Grant Little | .378 | .675 | .477 | .981 |
| INF Cameron Warren | .337 | .586 | .458 | .989 |
| INF Gabe Holt | .339 | .474 | .440 | .962 |
| INF Josh Jung | .381 | .650 | .484 | .950 |
| OF Brian Klein | .317 | .482 | .428 | .989 |
| DH Zach Rheams | .336 | .687 | .461 | 1.000 |
| Key Louisville Hitters | avg | slg% | ob% | fld% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF Josh Stowers | .341 | .572 | .470 | .993 |
| 1B Logan Wyatt | .336 | .505 | .487 | .979 |
| OF Drew Campbell | .308 | .399 | .376 | .951 |
| INF Devin Mann | .299 | .495 | .440 | .951 |
| INF Jake Snider | .282 | .350 | .415 | .988 |
| INF Tyler Fitzgerald | .265 | .387 | .335 | .974 |
| Key Kent State Hitters | avg | slg% | ob% | fld% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF Nick Kanavas | .358 | .422 | .439 | .984 |
| OF Mason Mamarella | .323 | .383 | .442 | .985 |
| C/INF Tim DalPorto | .319 | .500 | .378 | .990 |
| OF Reilly Hawkins | .304 | .450 | .396 | .985 |
| INF Pavin Parks | .292 | .542 | .464 | .942 |
| C Brad Hamilton | .267 | .453 | .352 | .987 |
| Key New Mexico State Hitters | avg | slg% | ob% | fld% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INF Nick Gonzalez | .349 | .608 | .430 | .956 |
| INF Caleb Henderson | .339 | .579 | .438 | .991 |
| OF Tristen Carranza | .332 | .530 | .435 | .986 |
| OF Marcus Still | .326 | .401 | .424 | 1.000 |
| OF Logan Ehnes | .325 | .533 | .439 | .967 |
| C Mason Fishback | .306 | .500 | .403 | .987 |
Game Recaps:
Game 1 – Friday, June 1st @ 1:00 p.m. (WatchESPN)
(4) New Mexico State: LHP Jonathan Groff (11-2, 2.49) vs. (1) Texas Tech: LHP Dylan Dusek (3-0, 2.39)
Final Score: Texas Tech 9 (40-17), New Mexico State 2 (40-21)
Box Score: Recap | Box Score
A sterling pitching performance by Dylan Dusek and Ryan Shetter as they combined for 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts (5 of them from Shetter). Dane Haveman started the 8th inning, but was replaced by Connor Queen after Haveman gave up a run relatively quickly, and Queen allowed 3 hits and no runs and it was game-over. Zach Rheams started the offense on the right foot as he hit a 2-run home run in the first (Grant Little had a double that scored the first run). Michael Davis was fantastic, going 2-3 with 3 RBI. Rheams was 1-3 with 2 RBI and 2 walks. Cam Warren was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Josh Jung was 2-4, while Gabe Holt was 2-5.
This game set up perfectly for head coach Tim Tadlock, with Dusek getting the start adn eating up a few innings, and Shetter just shutting down New Mexico State. Now, Caleb Kilian will get the start against Louisville.
Game 2 – Friday, June 1st @ 6:00 p.m. (WatchESPN)
(3) Kent State: RHP Joey Murray (9-1, 1.71) vs. (2) Louisville: LHP Adam Wolf (7-2, 2.26)
Final Score: Louisville 13, Kent State 6
Box Score: Box Score
WP: Adam Wolf (7.0 IP; 7 H; 6 ER; 3 BB; 4 SO)
Logan Wyatt (2-4; 2 HR; 7 RBI) | Jake Snider (3-4; 2 2B; 2 RBI) | Zach Britton (2-4; 2 2B; 2 RBI)
Game 3 – Saturday, June 2nd @ 2:00 p.m. (WatchESPN)
(4) New Mexico State: vs. (3) Kent State
Final Score: Kent State 2, New Mexico State 1
Box Score: Box Score
WP: Jared Skolnicki (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO)
C Pete Schuler (1-4, 2 RBI, HR)
Game 4 – Saturday, June 2nd @ 7:00 p.m. (WatchESPN)
(1) Texas Tech: LHP Caleb Kilian (8-1, 2.30) vs. (2) Louisville
Final Score: Texas Tech 10 (41-17), Louisville 4 (44-18)
Box Score: Recap | Box Score
Caleb Kilian and Ty Harenau were really good, very good, to hold a terrific offensive team like Louisville to just 4 runs and the fact that those two went the entire 9 innings means that Tadlock has a ton of options available to him for the game on Sunday. Kilian (9-1) went 5.1 innings, allowing just 2 runs, 2 walks, striking out 4 on 103 pitches. Probably not as efficient that he would have liked, but I’ll take it. Ty Harpenau (S,3) went 3.2 innings, allowing 2 runs, 2 walks and striking out 2 on 52 pitches. The offense was terrific at the top of the lineup, Gabe Holt went 1-4 with 2 RBI (that hit was a double that scored Braxton Fulford), Brian Klien went 3-5 with 2 RBI. Josh Jung homered while going 2-2 with 3 walks, and 2 RBI. Grant Little went 2-4 with a walk, 2 RBI and a double that scored Jung.
Texas Tech will play the winner of Louisville vs. Kent State, which starts at 2:00 p.m., and the second game today will be at 6:00 p.m. If Texas Tech loses, both teams will be back on Monday for a win-or-go-home game to advance.
Game 5 – Sunday, June 3rd @ 2:00 p.m. (WatchESPN)
(3) Kent State vs. (2) Louisville
Final Score: Louisville 12, Kent State 6
Box Score: Box Score
Game 6 – Sunday, June 3rd @ 6:00 p.m. (WatchESPN)
(2) Louisville vs. (1) Texas Tech: RHP Davis Martin (6-5, 4.64)
Final Score: Texas Tech 11 (42-17), Louisville 6 (45-19)
Box Score: Recap | Box Score
I didn’t notice until yesterday that TexasTech.TV has the highlights and presser, so that’s why these aren’t embedded.
With last night’s win, Texas Tech wins the NCAA Lubbock Regional and advances to a super regional, to be determined. Davis Martin was the old Davis Martin and Zach Rheams hit the heck out of the ball. Martin (W, 7-5) went 5 innings, giving up 2 runs, 1 walk and striking out 1 on just 66 pitches. Jose Quezada went 2 innings allowing a run, walking 2 and striking out 2. Caleb Freeman made things a little closer than they should have, giving up 3 runs in an inning or work, while Ty Harpenau made short work of the 9th inning, shutting down Louisville on just 10 pitches.
Rheams went 4-4 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI and just mashed the ball. As a team, Texas Tech collected 14 hits with Gabe Holt, Brian Klien, Grant Little and Cody Farhat all having multi-hit games. Farhat was 2-4 with 3 RBI and a home run while Jung was 1-5 with 2 RBI. Texas Tech would score the first 7 runs of the game before Louisville got on the board and would score in every inning through the 6th inning. Texas Tech would tack on two insurance runs in the 9th inning, including one of those Rheams home runs.