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Texas Tech baseball: Newcomers steal the show on opening weekend

By Matthew Conner

CORAL GABLES, FL - MAY 30: Head coach Tim Tadlock #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on as the Columbia Lions take fielding and batting practice prior to the start of the Coral Gables Regional at the NCAA Baseball Tournament on May 30, 2014 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
CORAL GABLES, FL - MAY 30: Head coach Tim Tadlock #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on as the Columbia Lions take fielding and batting practice prior to the start of the Coral Gables Regional at the NCAA Baseball Tournament on May 30, 2014 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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Detail of the statue welcoming fans to Rosenblatt Stadium before the men’s 2010 NCAA College Baseball World Series between (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Detail of the statue welcoming fans to Rosenblatt Stadium before the men’s 2010 NCAA College Baseball World Series between (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

As the Texas Tech baseball team opened the season 4-0, it was a host of new faces that led the way to a historic offensive explosion.

It’s hard to ask more of the Texas Tech baseball team than we received in the first weekend of the season.  Sweeping all four games (two with Houston Baptist and two with Northern Colorado), the Red Raiders are now ranked No. 1 in the nation in two of the six national polls.

In the four games, Tim Tadlock saw his team outscore its opponents by a combined score of 65-11.  That included a combined score of 46-7 in Saturday’s doubleheader (one game against both opponents).

The Texas Tech baseball official website provides some interesting context on this offensive outburst.

  • The 65 runs were the most for Tech in a four-game stretch since putting up 76 from April 13-17 of 2018 against K-State and New Mexico.
  • The 65 runs were the most in a four-game weekend since Feb. 5-7, 1999 against Howard when Tech compiled 81 runs.
  • Tech scored four or more runs in eight of the 28 innings it came to the plate this weekend.

Interestingly, it was the newcomers that were the stars of the show.  Of course, the familiar faces on the roster did their share of the heavy lifting as well.

Senior second baseman Brian Klien, this team’s unquestioned leader, was 6-12 at the plate with three RBI, one homer and one double while scoring four runs.  That’s a nice start for the player that is expected to be the most steady hitter in the lineup.

Meanwhile, junior Dylan Neuse was also hot with the bat.  Going 8-14 (.571), he drew four walks, knocked in six runs, and scored nine times.  Interestingly, all of his hits but one were singles.

Catcher Braxton Fulford saw action in only two games as he eased his way into the season.  Going 2-5 (.400), he had three RBI while also drawing five walks.

Of course, we shouldn’t be ready to break out the anointing oil just yet.  The competition Tech saw in the season’s opening weekend was not quite the level of what awaits this weekend.

Participating in the Round Rock Classic in Round Rock, Texas, the Red Raiders will face off against Tennessee, Stanford, and Houston at Dell Diamond.  If the Red Raiders are able to breeze their way through that trio of teams, it will be a more concrete sign of this team’s quality than beating a pair of teams that are not anywhere in Tech’s stratosphere as was the case this past weekend.

Still, it was a fantastic start to the season and what fans seemed to enjoy most was the opportunity to see some of the new faces for the first time.  So let’s take a look at the top-performing newcomers because they are players with whom we apparently need to become rather familiar in a hurry being as they are wasting no time making an impact.

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