Starting Friday, the Texas Tech baseball team will open a three-game weekend series against West Virginia at Dan Law Field, looking to stop a five-game losing streak including blowing a three-run ninth inning lead to New Mexico on Tuesday.
The series will include the evening affair on Friday before two afternoon games on Saturday and Sunday.
After dropping five-straight, the Red Raiders head back to Lubbock with a 27-13 overall record and are 7-5 in conference play.
West Virginia makes the trip to Lubbock with a 23-12 overall record coming off a mid-week victory over Pittsburgh at PNC Park on Wednesday.
Pitching:
The Red Raiders will send Andrew Morris, Brandon Birdsell, and Chase Hampton to the mound this weekend, but Mason Molina should see an extended appearance in one of the matchups after not appearing in the mid-week against the Lobos.
Tech’s back end was shaky in the mid-week matchup as Trenden Parish blew a three-run ninth inning lead leading to the Lobos walk-off home run on Tuesday.
The state of the bullpen looks even more bleak after Thursday's press conference with Tadlock. Arguably the best reliever in the back-end, Brendan Girton, who has been out since Mar. 20 is likely out for the season.
Countering the Red Raiders starters for West Virginia will be Chris Sleeper (2.97 ERA, 1.22 WHIP), Ben Hampton (3.05 ERA, 1.04 WHIP), and Carlson Reed (5.16 ERA, 1.72 WHIP).
Tech will also likely see Jacob Watters (3.28 ERA, 1.37 WHIP) for an extended outing in the series.
The Mountaineers top reliever is Trey Braithwaite (1.23 ERA, 0.77 WHIP) who leads the team in saves and has seen 22 innings of work this season.
Hitting:
The West Virginia offense is lead by catcher McGwire Holbrook who carries a .981 OPS and has homered four times. Holbrook has only struck out nine times in his 96 at bats this season.
The Mountaineer’s center fielder Victor Scott II is second on the team in OPS with a mark of .969. Scott II has homered five times this year, leading the way for the team along with 30 stolen bases in 35 attempts.
West Virginia has four more players with double-digit stolen bases which is good enough for its Big 12 leading mark of 115 stolen bags on the season, which in a way makes up for the team’s lack of power as the team is second to last in the conference in slugging.
The Tech offense struggled against TCU last weekend but scored 10 against a poor Lobos’ pitching staff, they will look to continue to stay hot in the series that will be televised on ESPN+.
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