Well, it’s safe to say that winning and scoring runs and just generally doing things other than losing really helps make everyone feel a little better. After dropping the first three games of the season, Tim Tadlock and the Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball team have managed to win five games in a row.
And yeah, being 5-3 is so much better than being 0-3. That’s just simple, straightforward math right there.
Now, it’s absolutely important to remember that Texas Tech hasn’t exactly been able to beat a great team just yet. The Red Raiders haven’t really done well when facing a team that is likely to have a great season. Wins over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley or Albany aren’t really going to solve all of Texas Tech’s issues.
But weekend sweeps are better than getting swept. And I’ll take easy wins over outmatched opponents over losses any day of the week.
So, without any further ado, let’s show just how impressive Texas Tech’s weekend was. With numbers!
No. 1: Texas Tech managed to average over a dozen runs per game when matched up with Albany
Scoring was a huge issue for Tadlock’s team to start the season, but the Red Raiders had no issues getting runs on the board when facing off against Albany. In the first three games of the season, Texas Tech scored just 11 runs.
Against Albany, Texas Tech managed to average 12.25 runs per game. 49 runs in just four games. That’s a great way to get a few wins. In total, Texas Tech racked up 51 hits, 36 walks, and then turned all of that into those 49 runs.
That’s fun.
No. 2: Lukas Pirko was absolutely effective and efficient in dealing with Albany on Saturday
I think it’s a good thing to go out and throw a complete game. I think it’s a very good thing to see a pitcher completely and totally dominate an opponent and then only have to throw 90 pitches in seven innings en route to a run rule, complete game sort of win.
Against Albany, Pirko averaged just under 13 pitches per inning and only had a couple of walks while he struck out seven batters. As part of a doubleheader, it’s an encouraging thing for a starting pitcher to show up, take control, and then be able to save the bullpen.
No. 3: Averaging nine walks a game is a good thing, I think
Albany’s pitchers really struggled with command against Texas Tech over the weekend and here’s another great area where it’s observable. Nine walks per game against Albany. NINE OF THEM.
Essentially, we’re talking about how the entirety of a lineup got a walk in each of the Red Raiders’ four games against Albany over the weekend. It’s so good. So, so good. Texas Tech had no issues at the plate and it’s a bit that I skipped over earlier that we need to talk about right now. Part of the Red Raiders’ success over the weekend is the way they managed to just get on base on a very consistent basis. They’ll need more of that down the stretch of the rest of the season, but this is a good start.