Coming off of a series win against Baylor and a midweek victory over New Mexico, Texas Tech continues Big 12 play against Oklahoma State starting this evening at 6:30 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. Head coach Tim Tadlock and Cameron Warren spoke to the media ahead of the series.

Tim Tadlock

- Tadlock emphasized Oklahoma State’s hot streak. “With Simpson sitting in the middle of the order, he’s definitely a guy that’s been around a lot of Big 12 at-bats and he’s a guy where you definitely need to know where he is.”

- Simpson currently leads the Cowboys in RBIs with 37 and has eight home runs and seven doubles in 35 hits. He has a .240 batting average and a .452 slugging average.

- Against New Mexico, Texas Tech left runners on base that were in scoring position numerous times, “All you can do is get a good pitch to hit. Guys can go up there and separate balls and strikes and hit it hard, you can’t control whether they catch it or not.”

- Tadlock said the team has had a sense of urgency since going into the Baylor series.

- Tadlock praised Dru Baker’s performance at third base but said if it was just a matchup deal, he would probably play Parker Kelly and if it was just about throwing, Baker would play at shortstop. “It’s just Josh, the game is a little bit slower, heart rates a little bit slower, he sees things maybe a young guy doesn’t see and excited about seeing Dru being able to go compete over there.”

- Tadlock said the routines for game preparation are a little better at home and the challenge is taking all of the routines on the road. “There’s definitely a difference, I’ve been thinking about how to take it on the road.”

- Micah Dallas will start on Friday, Caleb Kilian will start on Saturday and Bryce Bonnin will start on Sunday. Mason Montgomery and Erikson Lanning will likely start in the two games against UTRGV on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cameron Warren

- Warren said the team is starting to hit the ball better. “We’re putting together better innings even if we’re not scoring a lot of runs, we’re still having better at-bats and quality at-bats up and down the lineup.”

- Warren also praised Baker’s performance at third base. “He’s worked a little bit over there since Josh moved to shortstop. “

- Warren said the team felt urgency going into the Baylor series. “We just weren’t playing very well past few weeks and we just need to start playing better.”