Just about nothing went well for the Texas Tech baseball team over the weekend. Thankfully, that weekend series against the TCU Horned Frogs isn’t the only time that the Texas Tech Red Raiders will get to play this season.
There’s still time for things to get back on track, but time is running out. And so tonight’s game against the ACU Wildcats is pretty important.
With Texas Tech getting back on the field, I have some questions for Tim Tadlock’s team as they work to bounce back after a devastating and frustrating series sweep from over the weekend.
No. 1: Will the Red Raiders be able to take advantage of their home field advantage and hand the ACU Wildcats a loss?
Texas Tech can’t seem to win a game outside of Lubbock, but the Red Raiders are somehow incredibly difficult to beat when they’re playing at Rip Griffin Park. When Texas Tech is back home in Lubbock, the Red Raiders are 13-3.
So, while that TCU sweep is frustrating and painful, Texas Tech has demonstrated that it can win a lot at home. Will that happen tonight?
No. 2: How does Texas Tech pitcher Adam Hayes perform after such a strong outing last week against New Mexico?
Last week, we got to see Texas Tech’s midweek starter Adamn Hayes have a soloid showing as he tossed five scoreless innings against New Mexico. In that matchup, Hayes managed to allow just four hits and struck out four opposing batters. If he can do that again against ACU, then the Red Raiders will have a chance to position themselves well for the upcoming weekend series.
No. 3: Similarly, can the Red Raiders get their bullpen some rest? Because Texas Tech has a bit of a problem with its bullpen.
Look, there are all sorts of issues with the Texas Tech pitching staff, but one big deal that Tadlock and the REd Raiders are having to navigate is the lack of depth in the bullpen.
And unfortunately, that mess of a TCU series that resulted in three frustrating losses also happened to tax the pitching staff. Game 2 went 13 innings and the Red Raiders had to shuffle pitchers quite a bit throughout the weekend.
Can a strong outing from Hayes allow the Red Raiders to rest their bullpen some?