On the Diamond
Texas Tech run-ruled SFA 16-4 yesterday afternoon. Good news is that Trendan Parish went 3.2 innings without walking anyone and gave up 3 hits and no runs. Gavin Kash and Owen Washburn each had 3 RBI and both homered. It is possible that I’ll get a series preview up for the UCF series happening Thursday through Saturday.
On the Court
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese confirmed with a Texas Tech official that KyeRon Lindsay has entered his name in the transfer portal. Not a surprise that he’s decided to move on, there was some friction between Grant McCasland and Lindsay and McCasland’s expectation of how to play defense. Also of note is that Lindsay was away from the team the last 3 games and during the NCAA Tournament.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Stephen Garcia spoke with Lady Raider head coach Krista Gerlich about how the season went, the injuries, the players entering the transfer portal and what to expect moving forward:
Gerlich said she’s sure there are people “on the outside looking in” who believe the Lady Raiders “aren’t making any progress,” but she vehemently disagreed.
“We’re making tremendous progress,” Gerlich said. “The way we built our roster this last year, I was really proud of, and we saw glimpses. … Our program just isn’t there yet where we could still win with players, Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10.”
Gerlich said she puts pressure on herself to get Tech back in the NCAA Tournament and eventually competing for a national championship.
“That’s what I came here to do,” Gerlich said, “is to help this program get back to that type of success.”
The coach said the process to get there is ongoing, but she’s confident she has those in-house to get it done.
“Our kids have a great mindset right now,” Gerlich said. “… They certainly are not happy with the way things went. They feel like they’ve got a lot to prove, but they also really have a lot of trust in each other and in our staff to get them where they’re going. It’s part of the process and part of the journey. Unfortunately we took a really big hit with some misfortune this year.”
On the Gridiron
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams on the battle between A.J. McCarty and B.J. Jordan at the star position:
Jordan, 6-foot and 210 pounds, and fellow freshman safeties Chapman Lewis and Jordan Sanford made a quick and favorable impression on Tech coaches after they came aboard in January 2023. Their maturity and appetite for post-practice videotape study stood out, and they all wound up playing in virtually every game last season.
“I just want to be smarter,” Jordan said. “A lot of times last year … there were plays where I could have made the play. It was me overthinking too much and not seeing the right formations or not seeing the right keys. I feel like that’s a big step, because I see in the pros, a lot of them are real film junkies, and that’s what I want to be.
“Rabbit (free safety) Dadrion Taylor-Demerson did a good job setting the standard for that, and I feel like if I took that to the next level, then the sky’s the limit for me.”
Red Raider Sports’ Ben Golan has reactions to the players who visited during spring practice. The funny thing here is that the first kid is from the 2029 class and currently in middle school. Youssouf is from the 2030 class and that’s all too real for me and recruiting a 7th grader seems different for sure.