Tech Baseball Looks to End the First Part of it’s Schedule on a High Note Against UConn

The Texas Tech Red Raiders will be taking on the UConn Huskies in a four-game series this weekend. The Huskies are currently 4-6 on the season, but that doesn’t explain how good this team is. I expect the Red Raiders to get tested before they move on to conference play next weekend.

Hitting:

The Huskies have a bunch of talented hitters in their lineup. They are led by Reggie Crawford. He leads the team in total bases (32), home runs (5), and RBI with 17 this season. He is also second on the team in batting average (.310). This first baseman is only a freshman (he was also a freshman last year) and will look to lead this program for years to come. He will bat in the middle of the lineup and play first base for the Huskies.

Leading off for the Huskies is shortstop Zach Bushling. He has a batting average of .294 on the season and has hit two home runs. Bushling is one of their best in terms of getting on base. He has an On-Base-Percentage (OBS) of .429, one of the best on the team.

This team is still trying to figure out their lineup as they have five guys that play every game and about eight or nine players fighting for the other four spots. The Red Raiders will potentially see a wide variety of players this weekend.

Pitching:

The first three pitchers of the weekend have been decided for the Huskies, the Monday starter is still up in the air, but we have a solid idea of who it might be. Ben Casparius will most likely take the mound Friday. He is currently 1-1 on the season and has started three games for the Huskies. Casparius is coming off an eight shutout innings against Miami (OH), where he struck out 11 batters. He has an ERA of 2.61.

Joe Simeone will be the Saturday starter for the Huskies. He has also started three games this season with an 0-1 record. Coming off of a 3.2 inning start last weekend against Davidson, Simeone will looking for a better outing against the Red Raiders. Austin Peterson should start Sunday for UConn. He has started two games this season for the team and has a record of 1-0.

The Monday starter is up for a bit of debate but based on last week, it appears that Pat Gallagher will get the start. He has only started one game this season but has made a couple more appearances. Gallagher did not have a good outing last week against Coastal Carolina as he pitched 1.1 innings and gave up five runs.

Prediction:

The Red Raiders will be given a challenge this weekend against a UConn team that will push for a postseason appearance. Most Red Raider fans will expect a dominant sweep of UConn. I think UConn is too good to get swept by anyone and will most likely steal a game from the Red Raiders this weekend.