On the Fairways

Ludvig Aberg is at his first Masters and is currently -2 through 11 holes (there was a rain delay yesterday morning so he and others will finish their first round and then tee off again.

On the Court

Well that wasn’t a stressful handful of hours yesterday morning. Baylor head coach Scott Drew decided it would be best to stay at Baylor, which is what my gut told me he would do. Drew doesn’t seem like a guy who will chase dollars and apparently the main reason he stayed at Baylor is that he’s got college-aged and high school-aged kids who didn’t want to move to Lexington and stay in Waco at Baylor. I understand that and he chose family happiness over whatever Kentucky offered and I am guessing that Baylor will pay Drew whatever they can afford and I would too.

With Drew staying at Baylor for the biggest school, it is likely that Grant McCasland is staying at Texas Tech and I think that McCasland is cut from the same cloth that Drew is from and my guess is that McCasland may will make Lubbock and Texas Tech his home and this is a long-term play for McCasland. I won’t ever say never, but I feel pretty good about that and if he ever does leave he won’t trash everything on his way out, he’ll be as dignified as he was when he arrived.

On the Diamond

Softball is hosting Kansas this weekend, the Jayhawks have a 10-5 conference record while Texas Tech is just 4-8 and I’m guessing that they need to get some wins to move on in the post-season.

Texas Tech (24-12, 4-8) is set to host (RV) Kansas (25-12-1, 10-5) this weekend with game one beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday followed by a 4 p.m. Saturday game and a 12 p.m. Sunday game. The Jayhawks enter the weekend having swept three of the last four Big 12 opponents they faced after taking all three against Iowa State last weekend. Kansas boasts one of the better pitching duos in the Big 12 with Katie Brooks and Kasey Hamilton both having sub 3.00 ERAs and have 21 of the teams 25 wins credited to them. The Red Raiders are coming off a 1-2 weekend against No. 21 Baylor. After taking the first game, Tech dropped the final two but played the Bears close on Saturday thanks to a stellar outing by freshman pitcher Mimi Blackledge.

Baseball is on the road in Ft. Worth at TCU for a 3-game stretch, the weird thing is that both of these teams are not having the season that they thought they would have, Texas Tech is 8-7 in conference play and TCU is 5-10. Here are your weekend match-ups.

GAME ONE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (25-9, 8-7 Big 12) at TCU (20-11 5-10 Big 12)
DATE: Friday, Apr. 12, 2024
TIME: 6:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Lupton Baseball Stadium & Williams-Reilly Field (Fort Worth, Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: LHP Ryan Free (3-0, 6.63 ERA) vs. LHP Peyton Tolle (3-2, 3.74 ERA)

GAME TWO:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (25-9, 8-7 Big 12) at TCU (20-11 5-10 Big 12)
DATE: Saturday, Apr. 13, 2024
TIME: 3 p.m.
LOCATION: Lupton Baseball Stadium & Williams-Reilly Field (Fort Worth, Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Kyle Robinson (3-3, 4.10 ERA) vs. RHP Louis Rodriguez (3-1, 3.14 ERA)

GAME THREE:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech (25-9, 8-7 Big 12) at TCU (20-11 5-10 Big 12)
DATE: Sunday, Apr. 12, 2024
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Lupton Baseball Stadium & Williams-Reilly Field (Fort Worth, Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Mac Heuer (3-2, 5.03 ERA) vs. TBA

On the Gridiron

Offensive line coach Clay McGuire with the drill of the day.

You win up front 💪

Drill of the Day with @ClayMcGuireTTU and our OL!#WreckEm | @THSCAcoaches pic.twitter.com/hz3fzPCH6i

— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 12, 2024

Cooking with Jacob Rodriguez and Jacob Rodriguez.

Developing skills that go beyond the gridiron.

Come along to the Cash for meal prep class with @TexasTechFB!@RaiderFuel x @UnitedWestTexas pic.twitter.com/3aamuYlczW

— Texas Tech Red Raiders (@TechAthletics) April 11, 2024

Athlon Sports has the returning starters and production for football and Texas Tech is one of two teams that just doesn’t return a ton of talent, Texas Tech returns 5 on offense and 4 on defense for 9 starters total. Texas Tech is just one of two programs that’s in single digits. If there was a reason to pause about how good Texas Tech will be next year, this will be it, lack of experience and lack of returning starters.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams asked receivers Caleb Douglas and Josh Kelly why they chose to come to Texas Tech. Here’s a bit on why Kelly chose to transfer:

“Obviously, I went to the Pac-12 to play in the Pac-12,” Kelly said. “Once I heard they were going down to a lower level, I know that’s the league I came from, the Mountain West, and I didn’t want to go back to the Mountain West. I see myself as a better player, just trying to find a bigger stage.”