Texas Tech Baseball Looks to Continue Big 12 Play with a Series Win Against Kansas State

The Texas Tech Red Raiders Baseball team will take on the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas starting tonight! These two teams have been heading in opposite directions over the past week or so as the Red Raiders have won five games in a row. The Wildcats were just swept by Oklahoma State last weekend.

Pitching:

Kansas State has a couple of solid pitchers and has their weekend rotation set. Their starter tonight will be Jordan Wicks. He has a 4-1 record, a 2.50 ERA, and will pitch around 100 pitches which is a bunch. They would be very happy if Wicks could last the entire game. His last outing resulted in a loss to Oklahoma State when he pitched six innings and allowed five runs.

Their Friday starter is Carson Seymour. He has a 1-2 record with a 4.50 ERA. Seymour also can go deep into games and pitch well over 100 times. The Red Raider batters will have to rough him up if they are to get him off the hill early in the game. In his last outing, he got the no-decision, pitching six innings and only allowing two runs.

The starter for the series finale is Connor McCullough. He is 1-1 on the season and has started six games for the Wildcats. He has a 3.23 ERA this season and has struck out 31 batters. McCullough was roughed up last weekend against Oklahoma State but pitched 93 times in that outing.

The bullpen for the Wildcats is honestly nothing to write home about. The team’s best chance to win is for their starter to give them seven or eight quality innings of work with the bullpen hanging on win games for them. They have three quality starting arms and a good amount of bats to provide the offense.

Hitting:

Their lineup is led by three solid bats and one good power hitter. Dylan Phillips is their best overall hitter, as he hits .342 on the season and bats fourth in the lineup. He has five home runs on the season and 25 RBI. He also leads the team with 29 hits and is tied for first place with six doubles on the year.

Zach Kokoska is the team’s best power hitter. He currently has nine home runs on the season and leads the Big 12 in that category. He is second on the team in RBI with 24 and leads the team with 57 total bases. Nick Goodwin is one of their leadoff hitters and is hitting .295 on the season. He has 26 hits on the season and will look to get on base and score runs.

The Red Raiders should win this series, but it’ll be harder than some think. These Wildcats could be in the top half of the Big 12 by the time the regular season comes to an end. They have adequate starting pitching and if their offense comes alive, watch out. I am predicting a sweep, but I believe the Red Raiders will have to win a couple of close games to make that happen!