The odds are stacked against the Texas Tech baseball team this week at the Big 12 tournament in Surprise, Arizona. To extend its season, Tech will have to win five games in five days, and the last time the Red Raiders won more than three in a row was in late February.
Hey, at least the Red Raiders made it this far.
Tech is the No. 12 seed in the 12-team tournament that starts Tuesday, May 19, at Surprise Stadium. The Red Raiders will play the first game of the tournament at 6:30 p.m. CDT against No. 9 seed Brigham Young. Both teams are 27-27. Tech took two of three against BYU in Lubbock the next-to-last week of the regular season.
The Red Raiders will go with what worked that week. They’ll start pitcher Jonny Lowe (4-1, 4.67 earned-run average), who won the first and third games of the series against the Cougars. The senior righthander went a scoreless two innings in relief in a 2-1 triumph on May 7, then was the winning pitcher again May 9, allowing a run in a one-inning relief appearance of a 15-11 victory.
BYU will counter with Blade Paragas (1-0, 3.00), a redshirt freshman righthander who’s worked only three innings this season.
The bracket is single-loss elimination. The Tech-BYU winner will play another 6:30 p.m. CDT game Wednesday, May 20, against No. 8 seed Baylor (28-26). The survivor among those three teams gets No. 1 seed Kansas (39-16) at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, May 21.
The tournament’s top four seeds — Kansas, West Virginia (37-13), Arizona State (36-18) and Central Florida (31-20) — each get a double bye through the first two rounds. Baylor and No. 7 seed TCU (33-20) each get a first-round bye.
Tech will miss the NCAA tournament for the third year in a row unless the Red Raiders do the unthinkable and sweep through the field to claim the automatic bid.
Texas Tech left fielder Logan Hughes (.372 average, 17 home runs, 68 runs batted in) and third baseman Connor Shouse (.360-10-66) finished the regular season fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Big 12 in RBIs, and shortstop/third baseman Linkin Garcia (.339-4-58) is next behind them.
Second baseman Tracer Lopez (.366-1-36) is atop the conference in doubles (21) and sacrifice flies (9). Designated hitter Caden Ferraro (.375-8-46) leads the team in batting average and homered in both ends of a doubleheader Friday at Cincinnati.
BYU’s big sticks include first baseman Ezra McNaughton (.342-15-51), shortstop Ryder Robinson (.316-10-35) and third baseman Easton Jones (.295-12-41).
Texas Tech baseball vs. BYU at Big 12 tournament
∎ When: 6:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday, May 19
∎ Where: Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Arizona
∎ Records: Texas Tech 27-27; BYU 27-27
∎ Tournament seeds: Texas Tech No. 12, BYU No. 9
How to watch Texas Tech baseball vs. BYU
∎ Online streaming: ESPN+
Texas Tech baseball vs. Cincinnati pitching matchup
∎ Texas Tech RHP Jonny Lowe (4-1, 4.67 earned-run average) vs. RHP Blade Paragas (1-0, 3.00)
Texas Tech baseball recent results
∎ Thursday, May 7: BRIGHAM YOUNG*, W 2-1
∎ Friday, May 8: BRIGHAM YOUNG*, L 12-3
∎ Saturday, May 9: BRIGHAM YOUNG*, W 15-11
∎ Thursday, May 14: at Cincinnati*, L 13-1
∎ Friday, May 15: at Cincinnati*, W 6-5
∎ Friday, May 15: at Cincinnati*, L 8-7
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How to watch Texas Tech baseball vs. BYU at Big 12 tournament, preview
Reporting by Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
