Starting Friday, the Texas Tech baseball team will open a three-game weekend set against Kansas State at Rip Griffin Park.
The weekend series will include a night start on Friday along with matinee affairs on Saturday and Sunday.
The Red Raiders are coming into the series after a tough mid-week series where they dropped both against Grand Canyon. Despite the late rally in the second game, the offense struggled to capitalize on a multitude of opportunities as they left 19 runners on base in the series.
Kansas State rolls into the Hub City having won their last two games including stealing the Sunday matchup against No. 6 Oklahoma State last weekend. The Wildcats are 15-13 overall this season but only have the one win in Big 12 play for a 1-5 record.
Pitching:
The Red Raiders will send the usual weekend trio of Andrew Morris (3.72 ERA, 1.27 WHIP), Brandon Birdsell (2.31 ERA, 1.00 WHIP), and Mason Molina (4.55 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) to the mound this weekend.
Birdsell has been especially impressive this season, notching some notice from college analysts around the nation. Birdsell has graded out with the 17th best stuff in college baseball this season, according to Mason McRae’s Stuff+ model.
Birdsell along with Morris, Chase Hampton, and Brendan Girton appear on the slider Stuff+ leaderboards which helps explain the pitching staff’s 10.5 strikeouts per nine rate.
On the other hand, this weekend the Wildcats will likely send right-handers Blake Corsentino (2.67 ERA, 1.09 WHIP), Griffin Hassall (4.70 ERA, 1.22 WHIP), and Connor McCullough (3.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) to face the Red Raiders lineup.
Corsentino combined with left-hander Wes Moore to strikeout 17 Creighton hitters over 6.2 innings during the mid-week.
Hitting:
Coming into the series, the Kansas State lineup has been hot as they haven’t scored less than six runs since Mar. 27 against No. 23 TCU.
The Wildcats’ outfield stands out from the rest of their lineup as left fielder Dominic Johnson (.412 AVG, 1.087 OPS), right fielder Dylan Phillips (.327 AVG, 1.032 OPS), and center fielder Cole Johnson (.349 AVG, .970 OPS) have started all 28 games this season. Four more Wildcat regulars carry an OPS over .800.
The Red Raider offense, as we know, is one of the most potent in the nation but has seen some changes of late as the struggling Dillon Carter has been replaced in center field by Sam Hunt. In the six games Hunt has started, he has gone 11-26 with four doubles and six runs.
Jace Jung homered during the midweek pushing him to nine on the season and to a .407 AVG and 1.305 OPS. Jung and Parker Kelly are the only Red Raiders with an OPS above 1.000 but Kurt Wilson and Ty Coleman are above the .940 mark.
After the offensive struggle in Phoenix, the Red Raiders have the opportunity to right the ship and ride the momentum of the late rally back at home. The series will be televised via Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
