The Baylor Bears baseball team will look to bounce back from a loss against New Mexico State in a three-game series against the Texas Tech Red Raiders this weekend.
The No. 25 Red Raiders have a record of 10-6 and should prove to be a formidable challenge to the Bears (7-9).
The Bears average five runs per game, while allowing an average of six runs per game, versus the Red Raiders who average seven runs per game while allowing six runs per game on average.
One of the keys to victory for the Bears could be to score first, since Texas Tech is 6-2 in games in which they have been the first team to score.
Another key for the Bears will be effective pitching, with Texas Tech having several good batters this season, including sophomore infielder/outfielder Tanner Gardner who is batting .449 on the season, and senior infielder Eric Gutierrez who has already recorded 15 RBI’s.
Head coach Steve Rodriguez said the expectations are high during conference play and he is prepared for the intensity to increase.
“I think the overall emotion and intensity will be lifted a little bit for sure, just because it is conference,” Rodriguez said. “It’s the biggest part of our season, making sure we do well in conference. So the intensity and everything should be raised up for sure.”
Despite the added pressure of conference play, Rodriguez said he is focused on the team playing good baseball, and taking care of the small things that it can control in a game in order to get big wins.
“For us, its just really the quality of baseball that we are going to be playing is the biggest thing for me,” Rodriguez said. “We just have to make sure that we minimize our mistakes and capitalize on others’ mistakes and hopefully the wins will take care of themselves.”
The Bears are set to host the Red Raiders at Baylor Ballpark today, Saturday and Sunday at 2:05 p.m., 3:05 p.m., and 1:05 p.m., respectively.
