Tech dominates TCU takes on West Virginia and SFA
In their last matchup, the red raiders took on the No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs. Tech wins the hard-fought series won 2-1 after dropping the first game and then convincingly winning the next two. With another conference win, the red raiders will look to win five straight in a busy week ahead.
In the week ahead, Texas Tech Baseball takes on Stephen F. Austin on April Tuesday 13th and Wednesday the 14th in Lubbock. They then turn around this weekend, April 16th, 17th, and 18th, and play against West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia. With both teams being 12-14, if the red raiders take care of business, it should be a five-win week for the team.
TCU Rundown
In a top 10 matchup the No. 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders took on the No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock, Texas. In the first game of the series, the red raiders lost 3-7 and struggled batting throughout the game. With the absence of Dru Baker, the team had many uncharacteristic mistakes throughout the game.
In the second game of the series, the red raiders came back to win the game to tie the series 1-1. The win came at the hands of Cal Conley, who had a walk-off home run for the red raiders. It was Conley’s fifth home run of the season and couldn’t have come at a better time as he hit the ball over the wall into left field. With the momentum on Texas Tech’s side the red raiders headed into Sunday to decide the fate of the series.
In the third and final game of the series, the Texas Tech Red Raiders annihilated the TCU Horned Frogs 17-7. The red raiders came out in a team effort led by Jace Jung, who hit three home runs of the teams five for the game. The team won in a run-rule victory that lifted the red raiders to a 22-7 record and moves to 18-2 at home for the season.
Week ahead
The Texas Tech Red Raiders have a busy week ahead with 5 games with the first two being at home at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park and the other three being in Morgantown, West Virginia. The first matchup is a mid-week matchup against Stephen F. Austin, which takes place on Tuesday, April 13th and April 14th in Lubbock.
Stephen F. Austin is currently 12-14 for the season and has been struggling to stay consistent throughout the season. The lumberjacks only have three players that bat above .250 and don’t have a single-player batting above .305 for the season. Two players to keep an eye on are Jake Zarello and Skylar Black who both have the potential to make big time plays for the lumberjacks. Jake Zarrello is a junior and Florida native who plays for the lumberjacks and is averaging .275 batting for the season. Skylar Black is from Paradise, Texas, and is a senior and thus far has three years playing for the Lumberjacks and prior JUCO ball at Eastfield College. Black throughout the years has remained consistent and this year is averaging .303 batting for the season and leads the team.
West Virginia
The West Virginia Mountaineers, while having a rough season, are still very dangerous even when sitting at 12-14. The Mountaineers are dangerous at the plate but have proven to have many errors when on the defensive side, so the Red Raiders will have to take advantage. The Mountaineers have three players who are batting above .300 and should be kept an eye on. Those players are Hudson Byorick, Vince Ippotliti and Mikey Klusha.
Hudson Byorick is from Auburn, Washington and plays either first base or outfield for the Mountaineers and is a fifth-year senior. This is Byorick’s first year at West Virginia and previously played at Pierce College from 2016 to 2018. He also played at Wofford from 2019 to 2020. For the season he has a .315 batting averaging and is a major threat when up at-bat.
The next player to watch out for the Mountaineers is Redshirt Junior Vince Ippoliti from Houston Texas. As a freshman, Ippoliti started his collegiate career out at Sam Houston State in 2018 and after a year transferred to McLennan Community College where he averaged .360 for the season. He then transferred to West Virginia to become a redshirt sophomore and has since impressed many. Ippoliti plays both catcher and outfielder for the mountaineers and has the second-highest batting average for the season at .324.
The last player to keep an eye on for the mountaineers is Mikey Kluska who is a West Virginia Native from White Sulphur Springs and attended IMG Academy and is a freshman. Kluska is an infielder for the mountaineers and as a freshman thus far has impressed by leading the team in hits and batting average at .324 for the season.
Tech Players
Three players to continually keep an eye on for the red raiders are Cal Conley, Jace Jung and Dru Baker. All three are currently batting above .325 for the season and have been on fire as of late and will look to keep up the momentum into the five-game week ahead. Look for all three to be game changing players for the red raiders, with all three having the ability to hit a home run and any time when up to bat.
Recap
To recap the Texas Tech Red Raiders takes on Stephen F. Austin at home at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock at on April Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th in Lubbock and then followed April 16th, 17th and 18th against West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia. With a busy week ahead, the red raiders will look to win all five, which is the very plausible week to win out. You can watch all five games on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and TTSN (Texas Tech Sports Network).
Want more? Head to our sports tab. Want to look back at past games? Check out the Texas Tech Vs. South Florida Overview.
Written by Trinity Porter, Campus Live Intern