California road trip proves disasterous for young Red Raiders

8 games in California over 11 days seemed like a good idea to test the young Texas Tech baseball team, unfortunately, the Red Raiders scored a 12.5 on the test. With only 1 win on the road trip, Tech dropped their season record to 6-8, 0-7 away from Dan Law Field.

The story of the week was the Raiders inability to hold a late-inning lead, and a folly of fielding errors that allowed 22 unearned runs to score. In 6 of the 7 losses, the Red Raiders held a lead at 1 point, but gave up the lead with multiple-run innings, and were unable to match their opponents scores. Four games were lost after 5 innings, including a 9th inning loss to Cal-State Northridge.

The bullpen struggled behind the fielding woes, allowing 33 runs, but only 14 earned runs and collecting 4 losses with no wins. As a team, the Raiders fielding percentage was only .945, well below their season average at the start of the road trip. 3B Justin Berry’s hot start faded quickly after 4 errors in 25 chances. The return of preseason starter Garrett Totten was marred by 3 errors in 4 games, including 2 in his first appearance. CF Kengray Fleming dropped a fly ball that allowed a run to eventually score, and misplayed another ball against UC Riverside. The errors were not limited to the freshmen, as Joey Kenworthy, Chris Richburg and Jeremy Mayo each collected 2 errors a piece.

The hitting faced its own challenges in California. After striking out only 28 times and amassing 34 walks in the first 6 games, the Raider offense drew 29 walks, but struck out a staggering 80 times, including 5 straight games of 10+ strikeouts.

With all the bad came 2 very bright spots. SS Joey Kenworthy exploded in the final 5 games after being benched for the 3rd game against Cal-State Northridge. The small-statured Jr. responded with 4 3-hit games in 7 games, hitting .591 and scoring 7 runs. Senior pitcher A.J. Ramos continued his hot start, throwing 6 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts against Gonzaga on Saturday. Ramos, still limited by a pitch count, has not given up a run in 13 innings so far this season. His 18 strikeouts are 2nd on the team behind Miles Morgan’s 19.

NOTES:

Fr. Justin Berry extended his hitting streak to 11 games, and has hit safely in 13 of 14 games this season.

Fr. Garrett Totten returned from his preseason injury in time for the Palm Springs Invitational. Totten started all 4 games at 2B.

Fr. RHP Brennen Stewart was sent home from California after injuring his elbow on March 1st.

Fr. Brandon Foster and Colton Farrar each made their Red Raider debut in California. Foster pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings against UC Riverside  on March 3rd while Farrar appeared for an inning in both Riverside contests.

So. Chad Bettis made his first career relief appearance, walking 1 batter in 2/3 of an inning against San Francisco. He followed that with his first career save in 3 innings against Gonzaga.

Big 12 Update

With 2 weekends under the belt, the Big 12 race is beginning to take shape. As is usual, the Texas Longhorns are sitting atop the Big 12 standings at a perfect 9-0, followed by 6-1 Oklahoma State, 7-2 Texas A&M, 6-2 Baylor, 5-2 Kansas State, 7-3 Oklahoma, 5-3 Nebraska, 5-4 Texas Tech, 2-3 Kansas and 2-7 Missouri.

#7 Texas has won their first 9 games thanks to an incredible pitching staff. The Longhorn staff has posted an astounding 1.15 ERA with 3 shutouts. The most impressive game came on Sunday vs. Penn State where Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Brandon Workman threw the school’s 21st no-hitter. On the weekend, Texas gave up a pair of runs in the first 2 games, followed by back-to-back shutouts of the Nittany Lions. Texas-Arlington is the only team to score more than 2 runs in Austin, plating 3 on February 23rd in a 3-4 loss in 10 innings. Offensively, Texas is led by SS David Hernandez, DH Preston Clark and LF Tant Shepherd, all hitting above .400. The Longhorns share a .322 batting average through 9 games.

Oklahoma State has used a different tactic to win 7 games. With a staff ERA of 7.40, Oklahoma State has simply outscored their opponents. With a 3-0 record in 1 run games, Oklahoma State does just enough with their bats to keep their staff out of trouble. Neil Medchill’s 13 RBIs is good for 2nd among Big 12 players, while his .440 average ranks 8th. Doug Kroll leads the Big 12 with 5 home runs in only 7 games.

#4 Texas A&M, the preseason favorite in the Big 12, has losses to Centenary College and #9 Rice sandwiched around an impressive win against #5 UC-Irvine in Houston. A&M has one of the Big 12’s deepest pitching staffs. The Aggies boast a 2.78 ERA with 9.33 strikeouts per 9 innings. Alex Wilson, a transfer from Winthrop and former National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, leads the starters with a 1.42 ERA and 21 strikeouts in only 12.2 innings of work. Kyle Thebeau and Travis Starling have combined for 3 saves so far in 2009. Offensively, Caleb Shofner has cooled down from his .900 start and settled in with a .542 average and .676 OBP, the latter leading the Big 12. Dylan Petrich, the teams DH, is 2nd on the team with a .500 BA while P/LF Brooks Raley is batting at .406.

Baylor is lead by Logan Verrett, an early candidate for Big 12 Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Verrett’s 3 wins is the most of any Big 12 pitchers, while his 0.00 ERA is tied for first with Texas’ Brandon Workman and A.J. Morris of KSU. Freshman Joey Hainsfurther leads all Big 12 hitters with a .565 BA and 0 strikeouts in 23 at bats. Baylor’s start was rough, winning 2 of 3 at home against Pacific in a series where all 3 games were decided by 1 run. LF Adam Hornung leads the Bears with 3 home runs, and is 1 of 5 players hitting better than .300.

Both of Kansas State’s losses have come by only 1 run, while their 5 wins have been by an average of 6.6 runs. Kansas State has been one of the most well-rounded teams so far, with a 3rd best .313 BA and a 2nd best 1.97 ERA. Jason King and Justin Bloxom pace the Wildcats with .479 and .379 BAs, respectively, while all 4 starting pitchers have ERAs ranging from A.J. Morris’s 0.00 to Lance Hoge’s 2.45. On the base path, Kansas State has a Big 12 high 20 stolen bases on 29 attempts.

The Oklahoma Sooners average 10 runs and 13 hits per game, with a Big 12 best .362 BA. With 3 players hitting better then .440, the Sooners have yet to meet a pitcher than cannot hit. Through 2 weekends, the Sooners lead the Big 12 in almost every offensive category. Jamie Johnson, hitting .500, is in the top 5 in BA, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, runs, total bases, OBP and walks. A Sooner sits atop the Big 12 leaders in an impressive 7 of 11 categories. The pitching staff does not have the accolade that the hitters do, unfortunately, sitting ahead of Oklahoma State, only, in ERA. Andrew Doyle leads the staff with a 3.46 ERA.

Nebraska’s 5-3 start is below the norm for teams from Lincoln. The Huskers hitters are only at a .286 BA, while the pitching staff ‘s ERA is a hair over 4 at 4.03. Tyler Farst is the top hitter with a .435 BA, while Big 12 Player of the Week, Adam Bailey, is 2nd in the Big 12 with 4 home runs. P Mike Nesseth’s 0.75 ERA leads the team along with his 19 strikeouts in 12 innings. Casey Hauptman has surrendered only 1 run in 10.2 innings of relief work for the Huskers.

Texas Tech’s hot 5-1 start fizzled over the weekend after a series sweep by Cal-State Northridge. The Raiders are without veteran Willie Rueda, and are forced to use a bevy of freshmen in an attempt to bridge the gap. Transfer Kellen Monreal is the new team leader in BA at .364 after Chris Richburg finished the weekend 0-11. Scott LeJeune, the starting DH, has hit safely in 7 consecutive games after failing to record a hit in his first career game. On the mound, A.J. Ramos has yet to surrender a run in his first 2 starts, both limited by pitch count after returning from Tommy John Surgery. Fr. Ben Flora has been a pleasant surprise out of the bullpen, striking out 6 batters in 4.2 innings of work.

Kansas had the best start of any Big 12 team, beating Air Force on opening day behind Schaefer Hall’s no-hitter, before dropping 2 games to Memphis. Kansas then rebounded with a series split against #21 Arkansas, running their record to 2-3 on the year. Kansas is the only Big 12 team without a home run hit, so far. The team is batting .263, 9th of 10 schools in the Big 12 with baseball teams. The pitching staff, behind Hall’s no-hitter, has a combined ERA of 3.60, 5th in the Big 12.

Missouri’s 2009 campaign has been a complete disappointment for a team with veterans on all sides. A tough schedule has knocked the Tigers to 2-7 after 7 consecutive losses to Gonzaga, Nevada, Arizona State and Oregon State. With 4 veteran hitters under .300 and a staff ERA above 5.00, Missouri has yet to put anything together that will help them out of their slump. Kyle Gibson, the teams top pitcher, has been stellar, with a 1.38 ERA in 2 starts, but the rest of the starters have not seen the same success that Gibson has on the mound.

The season is still young, but the Big 12 teams have already started showing what their seasons will be like. Texas and Texas A&M have the talent to stay afloat while other teams suffer from a lack of veterans and experience. With 11 weeks until the Big 12 tournament, there is still room for improvement.

West Coast not kind to Texas Tech

Murphy’s Law states, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” No truer statement can be used to describe the first weekend of Texas Tech’s 11 day road trip through California.

The Red Raiders began their exploration of California’s collegiate baseball squads with a 3-game series against 1-3 Cal-State Northridge. Most pundits expected the Red Raiders to emerge from Northridge with an 8-1 record, or 7-2 if something went wrong. Nobody outside of Northridge’s clubhouse expected the Red Raiders to leave at 5-4.

Game 1 began with each team matching scores until the 6th inning, when Texas Tech secured the lead at 4-3. The Red Raider bullpen then came to life as Cory Large retired 5 consecutive Matador hitters before everything came to a crashing halt. A solo home run by CSN catcher John Parham sent Large to the dugout in favor of Jordan Stern. 2 batters into Stern’s appearance, 1B Dominic D’Anna lifted a 2-run home run to right field, giving the Matadors their first lead of the game at 6-4.

Northridge would add a pair of runs in the 8th inning while Texas Tech failed to score either of the runners they put aboard in the final 2 at bats. It was the beginning of a long weekend full of base running errors and fielding blunders that would cost Tech all 3 games.

Saturday started off well for Texas Tech. Before recording an out, Tech managed to load the bases with leading hitter Chris Richburg at the plate. Unfortunately, Murphy’s Law stepped up in place of Richburg. With Michael Reed at 3rd, Taylor Ashby at 2nd and Joey Kenworthy on 1st, Richburg hit a hard grounder to 2nd base. Westley Wright flipped the ball to Jason Dabbs for the first out at 2nd base, then Dabbs threw to Dominic D’Anna at 2nd to complete the double play, but they weren’t done there. With Reed safely across the plate, Taylor Ashby got too far off 3rd base. D’Anna quickly threw the ball to 3rd baseman Ryan Pineda, who caught Ashby in a rundown. A quick flip to D’Anna, who applied the tag, and the Matadors had completed the triple play.

Northridge wasted absolutely no time with their momentum shift, stealing 3 bases and scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the first. With that, the Matadors cruised to a 7-3 win, and a clinch of the series. Michael Reed was the lone bright spot for the Raiders, going 3-5 with a run and 2 RBIs in the losing effort. Starting pitcher Miles Morgan suffered the loss in his 4.1 innings. Unlike his 11-strikeout season debut, Morgan managed only 1 strikeout against 5 walks and an HBP. Louis Head struck out 4 and surrendered only 1 hit in his 3.2 innings of relief.

The most unnerving statistic was Tech’s inability at the plate with runners on base. On the day, Tech scored 3 runs out of 16 runners to reach base; 3 were erased with double or triple plays while one was picked off 3rd base with 1 out. The Red Raiders managed to go 1-10 with runners in scoring position. The 2 fielding errors each led to a CSN run.

Sunday was a new day, until the 9th inning. Texas Tech came out with a shuffled lineup, leaving Joey Kenworthy on the bench for the first time all year. With a new breath about them, Tech continued to commit base running errors that cost them runs.

The first inning saw Justin Berry being picked off 1st base with a runner on 3rd for the final out. Scott LeJeune was thrown at attempting to score from 2nd on a ground ball to RF, and Kellen Monreal was caught stealing at the front end of a possible high-scoring inning for the Raiders. Fortunately, both Raider runs were scored on throwing errors from catcher John Parham.

A.J. Ramos, still hampered by a pitch count, threw a masterful 4 innings. Although 6 hits were collected by CSN, Ramos collected 6 strikeouts of his own. After Ramos, Texas Tech display a revolving door policy, sending Lorenzo Douglas, Austin Quick, Brennan Stewart and Ben Flora to the mound in a span of 1.1 innings. After Flora, Coach Gustafson called on veteran Brian Cloud to finish off the Matadors. Cloud did just as he was asked, but the defense cost him a sure save.

Trailing by 1 with only 3 outs left, CSN put their lead off hitter aboard. A quick FC put the Raiders 2 outs from victory. Following this weekend’s them, the Raiders executed to perfection…for the home team. A sharp grounder by C John Parham got the best of sure-gloved 3B Justin Berry. Richard Cates followed with a double, and was nice enough to allow Pineda to collect the game-winning single, scoring Parham who reached on the Berry error.

If you wear scarlet and black and you didn’t come away from this weekend with any frustration, then you must wear some other team’s scarlet and black. My expectations for this season are currently falling, fast. It appears that not even Amdahl’s Law can predict how long it will take for Dan Spencer to bring Texas Tech back to the glory days.