Texas Tech at West Virginia
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday, noon Sunday
WHERE: Monongalia County Ballpark | Morgantown, West Virginia
RECORDS: Texas Tech 24-7, 5-4 Big 12 Conference; West Virginia 13-14, 4-5 Big 12 Conference
RANKINGS: Texas Tech – No. 8 DIBaseball.com, No. 7 USA Today/coaches’ poll
LAST MEETING/SERIES: The Mountaineers edged the Red Raiders 2-0 in a Big 12 Conference Tournament matchup in 2019, the third of that weekend – with WVU winning two. That was the Mountaineers’ fifth win in the last seven meetings and gave WVU a 14-13 edge in the series. West Virginia has won three of the four series in the Mountain State since joining the league.
LAST TIME OUT: The Red Raiders rallied past Stephen F. Austin for a 7-5 victory to take both games of a midweek series at home, stretching their winning streak to four games. WVU topped Marshall 9-3 on Wednesday, a second win in a row after the Mountaineers snapped a five-game skid by salvaging the last game vs. Baylor, 8-4 last Sunday.
SFA RECAPS: Game 1 | Game 2
RADIO: 97.3-FM | TuneIn Radio App
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
INTERNET: RedRaiderDugout.com
TWITTER: @RandyRosetta | @RedRaiderDugout | @KeithBPatrick
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – Texas Tech LH Patrick Monteverde (5-1, 45.1 IP, 2.58 ERA, 52 SO/6 BB, .215 BAA) vs. WVU LH Jackson Wolf (3-3, 41.1 IP, 3.05 ERA, 45 SO/18 BB, .188 BAA)
Saturday – Texas Tech RH Micah Dallas (1-2, 26.2 IP, 3.37 ERA, 32 SO/10 BB, .232 BAA) vs. WVU LH Adam Tulloch (0-3, 24.1 IP, 7.03 ERA, 37 SO/13 BB, .258 BAA)
Sunday – Texas Tech LH Mason Montgomery (1-1, 35.2 IP, 4.13 ERA, 36 SO/17 BB, .222 BAA) vs. WVU LH Ben Hampton (3-0, 20.1 IP, 3.10 ERA, 18 SO/6 BB, .159 BAA)
OUT OF THE BULLPEN
Texas Tech – RH Ryan Sublette (4-0, 1 save, 21.1 IP, 2.95 ERA, 29 S)/6 BB, .205 BAA), RH Chase Hampton (1-0, 1 save, 17 IP, 3.71 ERA, 10 SO/9 BB, .179 BAA), RH Brendan Girton (1-0, 1 save, 15 IP, 4.20 ERA, 15 SO/10 BB, .271 BAA); LH Derek Bridges (0-0, 5.2 IP, 4.76 ERA, 7 SO/0 BB, .318 BAA); RH Connor Queen (1-0, 4 saves, 11 IP, 4.91 ERA, 9 SO/5 BB, .310 BAA), LH Eli Riechmann (1-0, 5 IP, 5.40 ERA. 5 SO/4 BB, .278 BAA) RH Josh Sanders (0-0, 6.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 5 SO/2 BB, .118 BAA)
West Virginia – RH Jacob Watters (1-0, 2 saves, 10.2 IP, 1.69 ERA, 21 SO/14 BB, .216 BAA); RH Noah Short (0-0, 14.2 1.84 ERA, 22 SO/5 BB, .176 BAA); RH Skylar Gonzales (0-1, 1 save, 17.1 IP, 3.63 ERA, 11 SO/5 BB, .364 BAA); RH Zach Ottinger (0-1, 11.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 16 SO/4 BB, .368 BAA)
LINEUP LEADERS
Texas Tech – LF Dru Baker (.427/.500/.563, 33 R, 15 RBIs, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 11-13 SB); 2B Jace Jung (.404/.517/.851, 32 R, 46 RBIs, 6 2B, 15 HR, 28 BB); SS Cal Conley (.326/.386/.512, 20 R, 29 RBIs, 9 2B, 5 HR, 5-6 SB); C Braxton Fulford (.269/.376/.559, 21 R, 23 RBIs, 7 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR)
West Virginia – DH/C Vince Ippoliti (.324/.442/.405 15 R, 15 RBIs, 2 HR); 1B/LF Hudson Byorick (.320/.433/.520, 12 R, 13 RBIs, 7 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 14 BB); SS Mikey Kluska (.311/.368/.453, 15 R, 19 RBIs, 1 2B, 1 3B 4 HR); CF Victor Scott (.259/.411/.435, 22 R, 16 RBIs, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 23 BB, 9-12 SB); RF Austin Davis (.247/.326/.306, 14 R, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B, 9-10 SB)
UP NEXT
Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hodgetown Stadium in Amarillo
AROUND THE HORN
- Texas Tech hits the road with two key offensive players out and one still questionable: Dylan Neuse has been deemed out for the season with a back ailment, Kurt Wilson is on the shelf for six weeks with a thumb injury, and Dru Baker is battling a quad strain. Baker could return this weekend.
- Another injury to starting pitcher Brandon Birdsell has prompted a rotation shuffle for the second week in a row. Left-hander Patrick Monteverde slides into the Friday night spot, Micah Dallas will be the Saturday starter and Mason Montgomery returns to the weekend mix on Sunday. Birdsell is also out for an extended period with a non-surgical rotator cuff strain.
- West Virginia enters the series as the Big 12 Conference’s least productive offense with only 155 runs scored and a .254 team batting average. The Mountaineers have struggled on the mound as well with a 5.51 team ERA but have surrendered a league-low 19 home runs. By contrast, Texas Tech hitters have cleared the fences a Big 12-best 51 times.
- In five of the last six meetings, WVU has limited the Red Raiders to 3 runs or fewer with a pair of shutouts mixed in.
- This is the Red Raiders’ second junket outside the state of Texas and will be the 10th – 12th games away from Lubbock. They are 4-5 in road or neutral games, including back-to-back losses at Kansas State on April 2-3.
