Big 12 Tournament Preview- Game 2 vs. No. 15 TCU

OKLAHOMA CITY–No. 5 Texas Tech will face no. 15 TCU in game eight of the Big 12 tournament on May 27 at 4:00 p.m. CT. The game will be played at Chickasaw Bricktown Park and will be streamed to ESPN+.

Texas Tech is coming off of an 11-4 win over Baylor in their first game while TCU is following a 7-6 walk-off thriller over Kansas State.

Texas Tech owns the season series over the frogs 2-1. Both teams need this game as they are both fighting for one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA Tournament.

Pitching

TCU head coach, Jim Schlossnagle, announced that 6’9″ Russell Smith will get the start. Smith is currently touting a 3.91 ERA through 13 starts that have garnered him a 6-3 record on the season. He also has a very impressive strikeout to walk ratio as he has punched out 83 batters while only walking 15.

In Smith’s last game against the Red Raiders he struck out 12 batters and only allowed two runs in seven innings to give TCU their only win of the series.

In the pen, I would expect to see some combination of Haylen Green, Charles King, and Marcelo Perez. Each of these players has recorded over 11 appearances this season and are the most reliable arms left that were not used in the Kansas State game yesterday. Their stats are below

This trio is efficient, confident, and productive. Each of them does not allow many walks and hits but can find their spots to deliver crucial strikeouts with the game on the line. How Texas Tech’s offense manages TCU’s pitching will likely be the determining factor in this game.

Batting

As for the TCU batting lineup, they have a lineup full of very good contact hitters. TCU ranks second in the Big 12 with a .291 batting average. TCU has four players who hit at or above .317 in their starting lineup. Their stats are below.

Tadlock announced yesterday that the starter will most likely be Patrick Monteverde. The junior has become one of Texas Tech’s most reliable arms as he has recorded a 6-2 record with a 3.66 ERA and an 81-17 strikeout to walk ratio.

It will be pivotal for him to start out strong in order to keep Texas Tech in this game. If these TCU bats get going, it could be a long afternoon for the Red Raiders.

Up Next

The winner of this game will advance to game 12 of the Big 12 tournament, which would secure a spot in the Big 12 Division One Regional Final. The loser will advance to game 10, which is a play-in game for that Regional Final