Here is your Texas Tech news roundup for Friday, May 24, 2024.
Texas Tech baseball stays alive in Big 12 Tournament
Throughout much of the Tim Tadlock era, the Texas Tech baseball team has been known for quick exits from the Big 12 Tournament. Of course, in almost all of those years, the Red Raiders already had an NCAA Tournament bid sown up.
That's not the case this season though as the Red Raiders likely need to win the Big 12 Tournament in order to get into next week's NCAA Regionals. Fortunately, Tadlock's team is still fighting in Arlington, Texas.
After beating Texas to open the tournament on Tuesday and then falling to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, the Red Raiders topped Cincinnati on Thursday, 10-5 to stay alive.
The formula for the Red Raiders was early offense from the bats and a strong start on the mound from Ryan Free.
Jumping out to an 8-0 lead after two innings, thanks to a five-run second, Tech gave Free all the freedom he needed to attack the strike zone and be aggressive. The result was his best start of the year.
Free worked 6.2 innings giving up three runs on three hits while striking out four Bearcats. Picking up the win, he moved to 6-2 on the season.
At the plate, Gage Harrelson and Tracer Lopez each collected two hits and scored two runs. Meanwhile, Owen Washburn led the way with three RBI despite not picking up a hit on the evening.
The work is far from finished for the Red Raiders, though. If they want to advance to the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, they will have to beat Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m. and then turn right around and beat Central Florida in the second game of what would be a doubleheader.
If the Red Raiders lose either of those games, they will be eliminated and likely will miss out on the NCAA Tournament. But at least Tadlock and his team still have a fighting chance to extend their season.
Texas Tech basketball adds home games against Wyoming
In each of the next two seasons, the Texas Tech basketball team will host the Wyoming Cowboys, it was announced this week. The deal comes as part of a larger settlement between Texas Tech and Wyoming as part of the buyout of former Cowboys' head basketball coach Jeff Linder who is now part of Grant McCasland's coaching staff as associate head coach.
According to Wyoming beat reporter Alex Taylor, Tech will pay Wyoming $150,000 for each basketball game. What's more, the payment for Wyoming football to come to Lubbock in 2028 has risen from $300,000 to $500,000. In return, Wyoming has agreed to waive Linder's buyout.
Jeff Linder’s buyout with Wyoming was converted to the following:
— Alex Taylor (@alex_m_taylor22) May 21, 2024
-Two road basketball games at Texas Tech this season and next ($150k each, $300k total)
-$200k increase to UW’s road football game guarantee at Texas Tech in 2028 (from $300k to $500k)
Last season, Wyoming was 15-17 overall under Linder's guidance. Next season, the Cowboys will be led by new head coach Sundance Wicks.
In 2023, he led Green Bay to an 18-14 record. Prior to that, he spent two seasons at Missouri Western.
Tech Tennis duo ends historic season
Thursday, the Texas Tech women's tennis doubles team of Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova saw their historic run come to an end. The first pair in program history to reach the NCAA Tournament's quarterfinals, the Red Raiders fell to Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia, 6-3, 4-6, 0-1 (9).
The No. 5-seeded Red Raiders took the first set but dropped the second to the No. 14-seeded Bulldogs. In the tie breaker, the Bulldogs outscored the Red Raiders 11-9.
According to TexasTech.com, "Komac and Sayfetdinova end their historic season as All-Americans, All-Big 12 First Team Selections and the Big 12 Position Championships at Court One Doubles. They finish with an impressive, 30-6 overall doubles record with six ranked doubles victories."